The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane
The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane is a
1976 award-winning
color film. It's a Canadian-American-French co-production
directed by
Nicolas Gessner and
written by
Laird Koenig, who also wrote the 1974
novel of the same title. The film fits mostly in the genre of psychological thriller drama with romance and some horror film elements.
Plot
Rynn, a highly intelligent thirteen year old girl, is
orphaned when her father dies shortly after the two move to a small
New England town. Rynn keeps his death a secret so she can continue to live indepedently. She finds a friend in Mario, an older boy, but also attracts unwelcome attention from an adult man. When he begins stalking her, Rynn must use all her cunning to protect herself and her secrets.
Skip all spoilersDetailed plot
It's
Halloween evening in a
New England seaside town, and Rynn is celebrating her thirteenth birthday with a cake and candles. She is alone. Frank Hallet, the adult son of the landlady, drops by and asks where Rynn's father is. She explains that her father, a poet, is upstairs writing. Frank has an unwholesome interest in Rynn and begins to touch her inappropriately. Before Rynn can do much in reaction, Frank backs away and says it was all just fun. His stepchildren arrive at the door and he leaves to take them trick-or-treating.
The next morning Rynn leaves the house and sees Frank sitting in his car outside. He opens the door to offer her a ride, but she ignores him. Cora Hallet, the
landlady, drives by later to pick some apples from the trees in Rynn's yard. She behaves as if she were at home, even rearranging the furniture. Mrs. Hallet discreetly asks Rynn about Frank. Rynn understands that Mrs. Hallet knows about her son's preference for underaged girls but wants to keep this information private. Rynn's snappy answers and self-confidence unsettle Mrs. Hallet, who demands to know why Rynn is not in school and where her father is. Rynn says that she studies at home and that her father is in
New York to see his publisher. Mrs. Hallet says she will have to talk to the school committee about Rynn. Rynn resents Mrs. Hallet's meddling, and is particularly angry about her habit of taking the best fruit from the property. The situation gets more tense when Mrs. Hallet wants to get her jelly glasses from the cellar. Rynn refuses to let her in the cellar and states repeatedly that Mrs. Hallet is in her house and must obey her wishes. Mrs. Hallet slaps Rynn in her face but eventually gives in to Rynn's demand that she leave.
Rynn goes to the town hall to find out about the school committee. She runs into Frank, who again offers her a ride.
Officer Miglioriti steps in and offers to take Rynn home himself. He is suspicious of Frank's motivations and he worries about Rynn being alone. After Miglioriti leaves, Mrs. Hallet stops by to pick up her glasses. Rynn has retrieved them from the cellar but forgot the rubber seals. Mrs. Halet, refusing to be put off again, opens the cellar door and steps down to get the seals herself. Suddenly terrified by something she sees off-camera, Mrs. Hallet tries to rush up again. She knocks the cellar door support and the cellar door slams down on her head.
Rynn sits down on the floor in shock. When she opens the cellar door she sees that Mrs. Hallet is dead. She realizes that Mrs. Hallet's car is outside and worries that someone will come looking for her there. Rynn attempts to drive the car off the property but it won't start. Mario, Miglioriti's teenaged nephew, passes by. He is dressed as magician and is on his way to perform magic tricks at a party. Mario recognizes the car, but offers to help Rynn move it after his performance.
Later in the evening Rynn and Mario have dinner together at Rynn's house. He tells her he drove Mrs. Hallet's car back to the real estate office but kept the keys. The two teenagers have fun talking together and seem to get along very well. Miglioriti comes by to check on Rynn and asks if she's seen Mrs. Hallet. He wonders why Rynns father isn't there, but Mario tells him he saw Rynn's father earlier and that he's gone to bed. After Miglioriti leaves the two teens have a big laugh about how they fooled the police officer, but Rynn still hasn't told Mario yet why this secrecy is necessary.
Frank Hallet makes a surprise visit that same night. He is suspicious and looking for answers about the whereabouts of his mother and Rynn's father. He becomes violent and kills Rynns pet hamster. Mario stands up to Frank and manages to frighten him away. After this display of loyalty and courage, Rynn trusts him enough to show him the cellar. Down in the cellar are two corpses: Mrs. Hallet and Rynn's own mother.
Rynn tells Mario everything. Rynn's father had a terminal illness. He and her abusive mother had divorced long ago, and he wanted to protect Rynn from winding up back in her mother's custody after his death. He decided to move to an isolated area where no one knew them and made plans to allow Rynn to live alone after his death. Rynn's father chose to commit suicide in the ocean so his body would not be found. However, Rynn's mother managed to learn Rynn's current address and came to get her. Rynn's father had left Rynn with a special powder and told her to give it to her mother if she ever came, saying that it would make her less aggressive. Rynn put it in her mother's tea, and it killed her. Rynn realized that the drug wasn't a sedative but rather the poison
potassium cyanide.
Another day Rynn and Mario go for a walk along the shore. Rynn explains more of her motivations and what she learned from her father. Mario says she must at least trust someone. She gives him the keys to Mrs. Hallet's car to throw in the sea. Then they go to bury the two bodies together. It starts to rain heavily and Mario catches a cold. Rynn makes him a bath. Frank calls Rynn on the phone, but she cuts him short. Mario and Rynn end up cuddling together on the couch in front of the fireplace.
Mario is expected for dinner at home and leaves. He promises to come back after dinner if he can. Rynn is visited by Miglioriti who wonders again why her father never seems to be around. Rynn tells him she can call her father if he insists. She calls for him and an older man comes down the stairs, welcomes Miglioriti, and even signs a book of poetry for him. Miglioriti leaves, reassured that everything is fine. Rynn walks upstairs and we see that Mario, his voice deepend by his cold, had disguised himself as Rynn's father using his old clothes. Rynn and Mario undress and go to bed together. Mario says he loves her and Rynns says she needs him and doesn't want him to leave ever.
Later, some time after Mario really leaves, Miglioriti comes by again. He tells Rynn that Mario's cold has developed into something more serious and he's been sent to the hospital. Miglioriti drives her to the hospital to see Mario, who is unconscious. She says she loves him and can't make it without him. Her father had planned it all out but it won't work without Mario.
As Rynn is going to bed that night she hears a noise. She goes downstairs to investigate and is shocked to see Frank coming out of the cellar. He has put the pieces together and realized that Rynn's father is gone and that Rynn killed her mother and Mrs. Hallet. He can't prove it, but has enough evidence to go to the police. Frank wants to take advantage of this situation and have his way with Rynn. In return for her cooperation he promises to protect her secrets.
Rynn is hesitant to give in to Frank's sexual demands. He suggests that they both have a cup of tea and chat. Rynn goes to the kitchen, prepares the tea, and puts some powder in one of the tea cups while Frank goes on about how they will spend nice hours and days together. Rynn comes back into the living room with everything set on a tray. The poisoned cup is on her side of the tray. Noticing that Rynn is staring expectingly at his tea, Frank becomes susicious. He claims she has poured more milk into her tea and he wants her cup. He takes her cup and Rynn takes his and they both drink. He remarks about the taste of the tea and Rynn assures him that it is just the taste of the cookies. Frank drinks more and coughs a little. Rynn sits still, waiting, while Frank talks slowly about how nice her hair shines and coughs a little more...
Characters
Rynn (Jacobs)
She doesn't trust adults except her father and wouldn't seek help with adults. She tries to solve problems alone and manages well (as she is more mature than other teenagers and intelligent) but has to go on the criminal side. She proves a personality who is not only
considering murder as a solution if she's very much under pressure and sees no other escape.
She learns that sometimes she needs the help of others. Mario is a great help to her and loyal from the beginning. She opens up to him and trusts him. But in the end of the film he cannot be there.
Yet it is not all her fault and choice. Her life took an unfortunate course almost from the beginning: abandoned by her mother, the disease of the father and losing him, the death of her mother being almost an accident and the unlucky death of Cora Hallet which was more accidental. Also her father told her she is different, so she has little chance to fit in.
On the other hand it's her choice to be not willing to compromise to find a place inside the community, rather stay outside. Of course it's hard to have the will to fit in because some of the people shown are not very likeable.
The film is much about how far she goes to protect herself and her individuality.
Rynn's father (Lester Jacobs)
He is her role model in a way and has raised her as independent mind, not taking care of the other side: she eventually has to live in a society.
Another PoV is that Rynn showed more capability in living in society than many adults twice her age. By the time she was able to emancipate herself, she would have had a lot more experience and confidence than many others of her own age that had been treated as children until they turned 18.
Rynn's father is never seen in the film.
Mario (Miglioriti)
He befriends Rynn probably because he is also an outsider. He is physically handicapped (from
polio) and he has a somewhat unusual interest as his hobby (magic tricks). He protects Rynn, takes even part in her criminal actions and also fails to seek help with adults or the law (his own uncle). Once he is seen stepping out of church with his family. Another short shot suggests he is working at a service station.
(Ron) Miglioriti
He is the local police officer and Marios uncle. He is shown as a sympathetic, well-meaning man with the teenagers. But he cannot really help them because they wouldn't ask him, tell him what's going on. Also, he has tried to stop Frank Hallet in the past to no avail, so it's probable that all he could really do is hurt Rynn anyway.
He is not married and has dates with different women on every Saturday night.
Frank Hallet
It's hinted that he has a sexual interest in Rynn. It seems he is a known aggressive
Ephebophile throughout the town, which puts him under the supervision of his mother. She married him to a woman with two children as a cover up. To gain control over Rynn, he tortures and kills her pet animal.
Mrs. (Cora) Hallet
The mother of Frank Hallet. She is the landlady of the house that Rynns father rented and runs a
real estate agency. She seems to feel psychologically threatened by a teenager that shows much intelligence and a strong sense of freedom. She strongly dislikes Rynn for this and her lifestyle.
Themes
Some themes that are shown or hinted at in the film.
Common themes
*Teenager growing up
*Teenage romance
*Teenage outsiders
*Adult - Youth - Conflicts
Critical themes
*Social Darwinism / The Individual Vs. Society
*Sociopathy / Psychopathy
*Murder
*The Ambiguous Roles of Children and Adults in Late 20th Century Society
*Racism (esp. AntiSemitism)
*Aggressive
Ephebophilia / Youth Exploitation
*Violence against an animal
Censorship
In order to earn a
PG rating, the
US version of the film differs from the international release in two ways. First, a line of dialog containing an expletive is absent in the US version. Second, the international cut contains a scene in which Rynn is naked, with her buttocks and part of her breast visible. (Rynn is played by Jodie Foster's older sister for that scene.)
MGM's
Region 1 DVD for the film contains the international version of the film, though the packaging still lists the PG rating.
Camera
There's a lot of "quiet" shots with the camera not moving, long takes inside the house. This is mostly
not action-orientated camera-work.
Colours, lighting
In some scenes the colours are warm: the light in the house at night from candlelight or the fireplace. In general there's not much colour to see: the outside landscape, sea and sky are brown, black, gray and white. The interior of the house is mostly brown or white. Also the clothes, cars and houses in town are not overly colourful.
The lighting outside is bright suiting for a cold, northern place near the sea with flat land and little forest. Some inside shots by day are bright as well. The night inside shots are sometimes quite dark with only little light from some lamp or fire, so only fractions of the room are visible and there are dark corners (maybe the brightness varies on different prints of the film).
* Rynn:
Jodie Foster plays the leading role. She was at a career peak in 1976 having just finished
Taxi Driver,
Bugsy Malone and
Freaky Friday while only being 13 or 14 years old. Later she plays in the film
Foxes (1980) a somewhat similar character of independent minded teenager growing up without much help (but some problems) from adults.
* Frank Hallet:
Martin Sheen. This role falls between his performances in
Badlands (1973) and
Apocalypse Now (1979).
* Mrs. Hallet:
Alexis Smith* Miglioriti:
Mort Shuman is better known as songwriter and film music composer. He was also the music supervisor for this film.
* Mario:
Scott Jacoby1977
Saturn Award (by the American
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films) [
1]:
* Best Horror Film
* Best Actress: Jodie Foster
* The film was shot in
Canada in November and December 1975.
* Rynn is sort of a
latchkey kid. She wears a key around her neck but it's the key to the
Safe deposit box on the bank, not to the house.
* Differences to the novel:
**In the novel, Rynn has been born and raised in England ("mostly London") and speaks with a (sometimes exaggerated) English accent. In the film, however, Rynn speaks in an American accent.
**Mario is introduced wearing a fake magician's moustache in the novel.
**The novel emphasizes the budding romance between Rynn and Mario more than the film.
**In the film Mrs. Hallet is killed accidentally when she knocks the cellar door support and the door falls on her head. In the novel, Rynn intentionally murders her by locking Mrs. Hallot into the cellar and using the hose from the gas heater to poison her.
The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane: publishing history / variations / interpretationsAs
novel by Laird Koenig:
The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane (New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan; 1974; hardcover, 217 pgs.)
The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane (London: Corgis; 1975; softcover)
La Petit Fille au bout du Chemin (
French translation)As
drama by Laird Koenig:
The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane (New York: Dramatists Play Service, Inc.; 1997; chapbook, 71 pgs.)As (unofficial) poetic interpretation by
R. W. Watkins:
New England Country Farmhouse (Newfoundland: Nocturnal Iris Publications; 2005; chapbook of
haiku based on or inspired by
The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane; with an introduction by visual artist and former
Fifth Column musician
G.B. Jones, 24 pgs.)
Continuity Errors: Film Criticism as a Haibun, The Haibun as Film Criticism (from Koenig/Foster fanzine
Cellar No. 1 [see below]; Watkins meticuously outlines the film's continuity foul-ups in the form of a
haibun - the Japanese literary form consisting of prose interspersed with haiku of a similar theme; 10 pgs.)
* "La Petit Fille au bout du Chemin" (from
Contemporary Ghazals No. 1, 2003; Watkins represents some of the key elements of the novel/screenplay's plot in the form of a
ghazal--the Middle Eastern/Indian subcontinent form of poetry written in couplets that feature inner rhyme and end-word/phrase repetition; 1 pg.)As subject of a
fanzine:
Cellar (Newfoundland: Nocturnal Iris Publications; 2003- ;
R. W. Watkins, Editor. A Laird Koenig/Jodie Foster "Appreciation Journal", focussing primarily on
The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane; featuring essays, poetry, artwork, etc. by R. W. Watkins, Robin Tilley, Rynn Jacobs,
Jena von Brücker, etc.)
The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane: soundtrack music's availabilityThe Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by
Christian Gaubert (Japan: Polydor Records, 1976; "small press run") (This album has never been reissued on CD or in any other format, and no "official" bootlegs are known to exist.)
Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 1 performed by
The London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Elishu Inbal and featuring
Claudio Arrau on piano (U.K.: Philips, 1968) (Side 1 of this record was featured prominently on the film's soundtrack, but was not included on the official soundtrack album. This LP has since been reissued in CD format.)
*http://www.jodiefosterhome.com/: a review of the film (a little different) and more about latchkey kids
*http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0074806/usercomments?start=10 : IMDb User Comments; includes R. W. Watkins's relatively brief yet rare in-depth discussion of the film's symbolism, continuity errors, influences, and other trivial matters difficult to find elsewhere on the web.
*http://www.geocities.com/rynnfrink/favmovie.html Brief fansite featuring rare cover artwork of early VHS versions, promo poster, film stills, etc.
*http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/l/little-girl-who-lives-down-the-lane-script.html Uncensored transcript of the film's dialogue.
