The Children's Hour is a 1934 American play by Lillian Hellman. It is a drama set in an all-girls boarding school run by two women, Karen Wright and Martha Dobie. An angry student, Mary Tilford, runs away from the school and, to avoid being sent back, tells her grandmother that the two headmistresses are having a lesbian affair. The accusation proceeds to destroy the women's careers, relationships, and lives. The play was first staged on Broadway at the Maxine Elliott Theatre in 1934, produced and directed by Herman Shumlin. In 1936, it was presented in Paris and at London's Gate Theatre Studio.
Adaptations (2)
The Children's Hour has been adapted into 2 films, from 1936 to 1961.
These Three1936 · film · 93 min · dir. William Wyler · IMDb ↗IMDb7.4100%Close friends Martha and Karen build a private boarding school together with the aid of the local doctor Joe. The school takes off and many students enroll, one of whom is a trouble-maker who tells a scandalous lie that threatens to destroy the trio's lives.
The Children's Hour1961 · film · 108 min · dir. William Wyler · IMDb ↗An unruly student at a private all-girls boarding school scandalously accuses the two women who run it of having a romantic relationship.
