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Thursday's Children

1954 · 21 min

A hushed, humane black-and-white portrait that watches children's faces closely, leaving a quiet ache of tenderness and admiration.

Overview
Won the Academy Award for the Best Documentary Short of 1954. The subject deals with the children at The Royal School for the Deaf in Margate, Kent. The hearing-handicapped children are shown painstakingly learning what words are through exercises and games, practicing lip-reading and finally speech. Richard Burton's calm and sometimes-poetic narration adds to the heartwarming cheerfulness and courage of the children. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with British Film Institute in 2005.

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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
    Pacing
    measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
    Attention
    engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
    Themes
    • education
    • identity
    • isolation
    • healing
    Places
    • school
    Era
    contemporary
    Audience
    adult
    Form
    • documentary
    • true story
    Content intensity
    • Gore none
    • Language none
    • Violence none
    • Sex none
    All scales, 0 to 10
    Scales, 0 to 10
    ScaleValue0 to 10
    Action0
    Horror0
    Humour1
    Realism10
    Romance0
    Tension2
    Darkness2
    Complexity3
    Emotional weight6

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    Where to watch in the UK

    No UK streaming, rental or purchase options are known.

    Streaming data from JustWatch.TMDB

    Details

    Genres
    documentary
    Directed by
    Guy Brenton, Lindsay Anderson
    Written by
    Guy Brenton, Lindsay Anderson
    Starring
    Richard Burton
    Cinematography
    Walter Lassally
    Runtime
    21 min
    Country
    United Kingdom
    Languages
    English

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