History Film / TheInnocents

* PleaseWakeUp: Miles did this on discovering the dead Quint.

** Flora is the Latin for 'flower', and FlowerMotifs abound in the house. Miss Giddens is often tending to flowers that fall apart or decay, just like how Flora appears angelic but is deeply troubled.
** Miles is Latin for 'soldier', like MilesGloriosus. Miles is bold and daring - but it just serves to go with his TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour.

* RedHerring: Anna the maid is sometimes assumed to be who Miss Giddens sees or hears before she starts to believe it's Miss Jessell.

* AdaptationDyeJob: Peter Quint was red haired in the book but is dark haired in the film (it's in black and white but Miss Giddens says he has dark hair).

* BigDamnKiss: Miles asks Miss Giddens to kiss him goodnight - and plants one of these on her. Startling the hell out of her. [[spoiler: When he dies, she kisses him on the lips as well]].

* BoardingSchoolOfHorrors: Inverted. The boy who got sent away to school was expelled because '''he''' was the one scaring all the students.

* ChildrenAreInnocent: Flora talks about a time where she felt bad that so many of the rooms in the house were unused and describes Mrs Grose as being "quite startled" when she wished it was possible to sleep in several rooms at once. [[InnocentInnuendo Oh Flora]]...

* CrapsaccharineWorld: Bly is a beautiful country house with gardens that overflow with flowers and sculptures. But of course there are dark shadows everywhere, and the house may be haunted. There are frequent shots of insects emerging from statues or decaying flowers - which was a touch by Truman Capote to show "the skull beneath the skin".
* CreepyChild: Both of them. Flora has her humming of the song "Willow Waly" to herself and responding to questions she doesn't like with "I don't think I remember". Miles with [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior giving Miss Giddens a long, lingering kiss]] and being played by Martin Stephens (from ''[[Film/VillageOfTheDamned1960 Village of the Damned]]'').

* DarkReprise: The song "Willow Waly" is a little creepy at the start but gets even worse as it's discovered Miss Jessel used to sing it to Flora.

* DreamMelody: Miss Giddens, as a result of hearing Flora humming "Willow Waly" at night.

* FreudianExcuse: Whether or not the children are possessed, it's understandable they aren't the best behaved little people. First of all, they're orphans and can't be any older than eight years old. Secondly their only living relative couldn't care less about them and doesn't bother to take care of them. Third of all, they had to live in a house with an open abusive relationship going on in front of them (where they both looked up to both people). Fourth of all, Miles '''found''' Quint dead on the steps and Miss Jessel then killed herself. Fifth of all, Miles gets sent away to school and Flora is pretty much alone in the house with only the servants until Miss Giddens gets there. And if she wasn't messed up before she arrived...

* GorgeousPeriodDress: Miss Giddens has some splendid crinoline dresses and bustle skirts, with HighClassGloves - possibly a bit too splendid for [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality a modest parson's daughter]].
* GothicHorror: Taking place in a big country mansion, with several night time scenes involving thunder and wind - as well as using shadows to great effect in the corridors.
* HarmfulToMinors: Miss Jessel and Quint--on multiple levels.

* IronicNurseryRhyme: The film opens with Flora singing "Willow Waly" to creepy effect. It's later found out to be a song Miss Jessel sang to her, and Miss Giddens has a dream of the two dancing to it.

** And if there are no ghosts, then it would appear Miss Giddens has become this by the end. She even gets a scene wandering around in a nightgown with her hair loose - convinced she's hearing voices.

* ShipTease: Some rather odd subtext going on between Miles and '''Miss Giddens'''. He asks her to kiss him goodnight and then gives her a rather passionate kiss on the lips. [[spoiler: She also kisses him on the lips after he dies]].

--> "Haven't we worse to fear than a scandal?"
* SmallRoleBigImpact: The Uncle, played by Creator/MichaelRedgrave. He appears for 5 minutes max but is continually discussed by Miss Giddens and Mrs Grose, reflecting the former's infatuation with him. It doesn't help that Miles is said to [[TheCasanova greatly resemble his Uncle]]. [[spoiler: Also, the Uncle is largely to blame for what happens at the end, because had Miss Giddens been able to consult him, she might not have taken the drastic steps that lead to Flora's breakdown and Miles' death]].

** Mrs Grose is perfectly willing to let abusive relationships and TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour go on behind closed doors in favor of solving the problem or looking for help out of fear of a scandal.

** Mrs Grose is perfectly willing to let abusive relationships and TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior go on behind closed doors in favor of solving the problem or looking for help out of fear of a scandal.

** Miles is Latin for 'soldier', like MilesGloriosus. Miles is bold and daring - but it just serves to go with his TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior.

* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: Miles again. At one point, he kisses Miss Giddens in a very adult manner. This shocks her. Earlier, he also starts strangling her and thinks it's funny when Miss Giddens says he's hurting her.

The film is notable for leaving the existence of the ghosts up to debate; like in Henry James's original book, it's never confirmed [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane whether the ghosts are real or a product of Miss Giddens' imagination]] . It has also been the basis for other horror films such as ''Film/TheOthers2001'' with Creator/NicoleKidman, and its soundtrack was sampled for the cursed tape in ''Film/TheRing''. Deborah Kerr considered this to be her best performance, calling the film "criminally underrated".

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_0704.JPG]]

->''"Enter my lord. Come from your prison. Come from your grave, for the moon is arisen. Welcome, my lord."''

''The Innocents'' is a 1961 British horror film directed by Jack Clayton and starring Creator/DeborahKerr. It is adapted from Henry James's novella ''Literature/TheTurnOfTheScrew''.

!! ''The Innocents'' provides examples of:

The film is notable for leaving the existence of the ghosts up to debate; like in Henry James's original book, it's never confirmed [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane whether the ghosts are real or a product of Miss Giddens' imagination]] . It has also been the basis for other horror films such as ''Film/TheOthers'' with Creator/NicoleKidman, and its soundtrack was sampled for the cursed tape in ''Film/TheRing''. Deborah Kerr considered this to be her best performance, calling the film "criminally underrated".

* CreepyChild: Both of them. Flora has her humming of the song "Willow Waly" to herself and responding to questions she doesn't like with "I don't think I remember". Miles with [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour giving Miss Giddens a long, lingering kiss]] and being played by Martin Stephens (from ''[[Film/VillageOfTheDamned1960 Village of the Damned]]'').

** Miles is Latin for 'soldier', like MilesGloriosus. Miles is bold and daring - but it just serves to go with his TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour.

* AdaptationalVillainy: In the original novella, there was no mention of Peter Quint striking Miss Jessel.

* DestructiveRomance: Peter Quint and Miss Jessel.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: It's established early on that Miss Giddens has a big imagination and is used to living in a cramped city house - so there is a chance the ghosts are only her imaginations. She doesn't see Quint's ghost up close until after she's seen his picture in the attic. But there are a couple of incidents that make more sense if there are ghosts in the house.

* ISeeDeadPeople: Present but it's never stated whether Miss Giddens is seeing ghosts or just imagining. Flora and Miles possibly too.

* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: Miles again. At one point, he kisses Miss Giddens in a very adult manner. This shocks her.

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: The estate of Bly, a non-human example. In the book Bly is described as being fairly ugly. In the film it's a gorgeous house full of quirky architectural details and with grounds overflowing with flowers and life.
* AdaptationalVillainy: In the original novella, there was no mention of Peter Quint striking Miss Jessel.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: "Sometimes waking a child from a bad dream is worse than the nightmare. It's the shock..."

* TheOphelia: Miss Jessel is portrayed this way, and is said to have completely despaired after Quint was found dead. Like Ophelia, she drowned herself.

** Miles is Latin for soldier, like MilesGloriosus. Miles is bold and daring - but it just serves to go with his TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour.

The film is notable for leaving the existence of the ghosts up to debate; it's never confirmed [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane whether the ghosts are real or a product of Miss Giddens' imagination]] (like in Henry James' original book). It has also been the basis for other horror films such as ''Film/TheOthers'' with Creator/NicoleKidman, and its soundtrack was sampled for the cursed tape in ''Film/TheRing''. Deborah Kerr considered this to be her best performance, calling the film "criminally underrated".

* TroubledButCute: Miles is a very young example. He's TheCharmer who can flatter any woman. But he was expelled from school for bullying other children, and has a very twisted sense of humour.

* WomanInWhite: Flora. She's the only character who wears all white.

* CrapsaccharieWorld: Bly is a beautiful country house with gardens that overflow with flowers and sculptures. But of course there are dark shadows everywhere, and the house may be haunted. There are frequent shots of insects emerging from statues or decaying flowers - which was a touch by Creator/TrumanCapote to show "the skull beneath the skin".

** Miles is Latin for soldier, like MilesGlorisious. Miles is bold and daring - but it just serves to go with his TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour.