Could that really be Mrs. Robinson? Anne Bancroft made a permanent mark on film culture with her galvanizing turn as the desiccated, predatory housewife of The Graduate. Yet it would be unfair to let that performance overshadow her other formidable work, especially her Oscar-winning turn as Helen Keller’s teacher here. The Miracle Worker has all the makings of a treacly, phony inspirational drama, but the movie proves to be exactly the opposite: harsh, unsettling and littered with difficult truths. Bancroft’s Anne Sullivan is a whirlwind: once blind as well, she throws herself into the work of opening Helen’s mind as if it were a matter of life and death. Indeed, she seems to be the only one in the family who sees that Helen (Patty Duke) has a chance at a rewarding life. Exhausted from years of failed communication, her parents have grown numb to her tantrums and complete lack of manners. That means Anne must start from scratch, and be prepared for a battle. The picture’s definitive scene – and the likely reason both Bancroft and Duke won Oscars – is Anne and Helen’s rough-and-tumble showdown over eating with a spoon at dinner. Penn and his actors make it clear that this is a confrontation between two smart, stubborn people – that Helen is fighting to maintain what little identity she has and Anne is fighting to give her a new and better one. At the end of the prolonged scene, huffing and puffing, Bancroft delivers the movie’s signature line: ‘The room’s a wreck. But her napkin is folded.’
