OK, pretty much summed up the question in the title. I looked at a few sites including RottenTomatoes.com and it’s difficult to find a solid favorite among the many film and TV adaptations that have been made of Turn of the Screw. Any personal favorites, anyone?
My own personal favorite is The Innocents. Deborah Kerr is remarkable (as always), and the child actors are wonderfully creepy without being over-the-top Wednesday and Pugsley Addams types.
Seconded. Screenplay by Truman Capote.
Thirded. The cinematography is stunning, so as well as being scary, it’s one of the most beautiful black and white movies ever.
The Innocents. Oh god, yes.
The passing in the hall.
The dance in the gazebo.
The woman in the reeds.
The kissy-kissy.
OK! The Innocents it shall be - thanks!
I’d say The Innocents too. I didn’t even know there were other versions.
Totally useless of-miniscule-importance trivia that I’d never get to put anywhere else so might as well: Kate “no relation” Bush’s song “The Infant Kiss” was directly based on that movie. She saw it as a kid and certain scenes stayed with her. When she grew up she wrote the song, which appeared on her 3rd album Never For Ever.
Even more trivial, but we’re proud of it: Around 1984, my husband took a copy of the movie, and edited scenes from it to Kate’s song, just as a fun exercise and to learn the editing equipment his then-boss had just bought. I got in on it too, and helped put in a few key scenes, but he did the bulk of it. For the hell of it, he sent a copy to Kate, and amazingly enough, she loved it, enough to call him from England to tell him (I was at work, drats). This will contain spoilers for those who don’t know the story, but if anyone’s interested, here it is. I’d be curious as to what people who know the story/movie well think.
His original was done using footage taped from late-night television and audio from a cassette. This version was re-done by using the DVD, and CD-quality audio, but otherwise it’s exactly the same with regards to scenes and timing.