The Nanny (1965 film)

Joey spends two years at a school for emotionally disturbed children after being blamed for drowning his younger sister Susy. The school's headmaster informs Joey's father, Bill, that his son harbors an intense dislike of middle-aged women. This extends to the family's nanny, whom Joey distrusts and disrespects.

When Joey returns home, he refuses to eat the meals Nanny prepares because he suspects she may poison him. He abandons the room Nanny has decorated for him and moves to one with a strong lock on its door. Joey's rude behavior upsets his neurotic mother, Virginia, who is prone to melancholy and crying spells, still grieving the death of Susy. Nanny comforts Virginia as she did when she cared for her and her sister Pen when they were children.

In a flashback, Susy accidentally dropped her doll in the bath. She tried to retrieve it by reaching behind the shower curtain but fell into the tub. Nanny entered the bathroom and absently turned on the tap by reaching through the closed shower curtain without looking inside. Unable to summon Susy for her bath, Nanny searched for her. When she returned to the bathroom, she found Susy floating face down in the water. Her mind snapped and she bathed the girl's lifeless body. Joey witnessed this but Nanny did not see him. Eventually she realized that Joey knows that she caused Susy's death.

Joey persuades Bobbie Medman, the 14-year-old daughter of a doctor living in the flat above, to witness a cruel prank: he places a doll face down in the bathtub, opens the tap, and persuades Nanny to turn the spigot off. She is aghast when sees the floating doll because it reminds her of finding Susy after she drowned in the bath. Later, Joey appears at Bobbie's window dripping wet and claims that Nanny tried to drown him.

Bill is a Queen's Messenger who is frequently away on business. He flies to Beirut for a few days after seeing Joey's hostility toward Nanny fail to subside. Joey refuses to eat the steak and kidney pie Nanny has cooked for him, so she spoon-feeds Virginia the pie which she has laced with poison. After Virginia falls ill and is taken to hospital, Joey is blamed for the incident. Joey's Aunt Pen, who has a weak heart as a result of childhood rheumatic fever, comes to babysit him.

Pen wakes during the night and finds Nanny standing outside Joey's door holding a pillow. Nanny claims the pillow is an extra one for Joey, but Pen remembers she would not allow her and Virginia to have pillows when they were children. Suspecting Nanny intends to suffocate Joey, Pen asks her what really happened earlier when Joey emerged from the bathroom soaking wet. She gets over-excited and has a heart attack, but Nanny snatches her heart medicine from her.

As Pen lies dying, Nanny tells her she was a single mother who was called to the deathbed of her daughter, Janet, who died from an illegal abortion. Already shaken, she returned home to find Susy's body, which drove her over the edge. Nanny says she cannot let Joey live for fear that someone may believe his story and put nannies' livelihoods at risk because people entrust their children to them. When Nanny finishes her speech, Pen is dead.

Nanny tries to enter Joey's bedroom, but his alarm system wakes him and he tries to escape. Nanny grabs him by the ankle, causing him to fall and knocking him unconscious. She carries him into the bathtub and fills it with water. Soon the memory of finding Susy's body returns and Nanny pulls Joey from the tub.

Dr Medman visits Virginia's hospital room and explains that Nanny is mentally ill and will receive long-term care. Virginia discovers Joey is at the hospital and would like to see her. She tells him she knows everything about Nanny. Joey is no longer sullen; instead he hugs his mother and behaves like a joyful ten-year-old boy.

• Psycho-biddy

• The Nanny at AllMovie
• The Nanny at IMDb
• Bette Davis is The Nanny (TCM Movie Morlocks)
• The Nanny at the BFI's Screenonline