The scene is set by the initial articulate titles - a spoilt husband, a forgotten heroine and Nana, the all wise one. John is the "master of the house" - a tyrant who complains from the time he opens his eyes in the morning - no spoons, not enough butter, shoes need mending, coffee should be on the table before he sits down etc. Mary is the hidden heroine - the wife who is up before sunup, attending to the house so it runs like clockwork, even on the limited housekeeping budget she receives. Every morning there is a struggle to get all the tasks done on time before John returns for lunch. Nana, an old nurse who looked after John when he was a child, comes in the morning to do sewing - and she doesn't like what she sees, although for Mary's sake she stays silent. She does fetch Mary's mother and then they are all a witness to one of John's tirades. Over the years he has become a bully but Mary feels it has become worse since he lost his business and she is now broken in mind and body.
When demanding John returns from work he finds Mary has been whisked away by her mother and now Nana has taken her place. Life is very different for John now and within a month he finds himself once again "a small boy terrified of his nurse's wrath" - so the title says. He becomes closer to his young daughter and, through her admissions, he realises all the little sacrifices Mary made for his comfort - sewing far into the night to earn extra money for luxuries like meat and butter.
It is the little scenes of home life that make this picture so perfect. The frugalities such as scraping butter from the children's bread so John will have plenty and scrimping and saving so there will be enough to have John's shoes repaired. (I love the scene where Mary dashes to the cobblers to pick up John's repaired shoes before she goes on her "holiday", gives them to Nana who carefully locks them in the cupboard with a wry little smile!!!) It is hard to say whether the actors are great, they are just so real in their roles, but in my opinion, dominating the film is Mathilde Nielson as the all wise Nana - who never seems to sleep, who sees everything that goes on and decides that the right time for Mary to come home is the time when John is made to stand in the corner!!!
Highly Recommended.
When demanding John returns from work he finds Mary has been whisked away by her mother and now Nana has taken her place. Life is very different for John now and within a month he finds himself once again "a small boy terrified of his nurse's wrath" - so the title says. He becomes closer to his young daughter and, through her admissions, he realises all the little sacrifices Mary made for his comfort - sewing far into the night to earn extra money for luxuries like meat and butter.
It is the little scenes of home life that make this picture so perfect. The frugalities such as scraping butter from the children's bread so John will have plenty and scrimping and saving so there will be enough to have John's shoes repaired. (I love the scene where Mary dashes to the cobblers to pick up John's repaired shoes before she goes on her "holiday", gives them to Nana who carefully locks them in the cupboard with a wry little smile!!!) It is hard to say whether the actors are great, they are just so real in their roles, but in my opinion, dominating the film is Mathilde Nielson as the all wise Nana - who never seems to sleep, who sees everything that goes on and decides that the right time for Mary to come home is the time when John is made to stand in the corner!!!
Highly Recommended.