''The Caretakers'' (released in the UK as ''Borderlines'') is a 1963 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

starring

Robert Stack Robert Stack (born Charles Langford Modini Stack; January 13, 1919 – May 14, 2003) was an American actor. Known for his deep voice and commanding presence, he appeared in over forty feature films. He starred in the highly successful ABC tele ...

Polly Bergen Polly Bergen (born Nellie Paulina Burgin; July 14, 1930 – September 20, 2014) was an American actress, singer, television host, writer and entrepreneur. She won an Emmy Award in 1958 for her performance as Helen Morgan in '' The Helen ...

Diane McBain Diane J. McBain (May 18, 1941 – December 21, 2022) was an American actress who, as a Warner Brothers contract player, reached a brief peak of popularity during the early 1960s. She was best known for playing an adventurous socialite in the 1960 ...

Joan Crawford Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion pict ...

and

Janis Paige Janis Paige (born Donna Mae Tjaden; September 16, 1922) is an American retired actress and singer. Born in Tacoma, Washington, she began singing in local amateur shows at the age of five. After high school, she moved to Los Angeles, where she b ...

in a story about a mental hospital. The screenplay was adapted by Henry F. Greenberg from a story by

Hall Bartlett Hall Bartlett (November 27, 1922 – September 7, 1993) was an American film producer, director, and screenwriter. Early life Hall Bartlett was born in Kansas City, Missouri, he graduated from Yale University Phi Beta Kappa, and was a Rhodes ...

and

Jerry Paris William Gerald Paris (July 25, 1925 – March 31, 1986) was an American actor and director best known for playing Jerry Helper, the dentist and next-door neighbor of Rob and Laura Petrie, on ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'', and for directing the majo ...

based on the 1959 novel ''The Caretakers'' by Dariel Telfer. The film was produced and directed by Bartlett, co-produced by Paris and distributed by

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stu ...

. ''The Caretakers'' is reminiscent of ''

The Snake Pit ''The Snake Pit'' is a 1948 American psychological drama film directed by Anatole Litvak and starring Olivia de Havilland, Mark Stevens, Leo Genn, Celeste Holm, Beulah Bondi, and Lee Patrick. Based on Mary Jane Ward's 1946 semi-autobiogra ...

'' (1948), a film set in a similar hospital. The on-screen text in opening credits states: "Dedicated to the caretakers whose research and sacrifice discover truth. For Beba, Alice, Paul, Cathy, Laurie, Pearl, Margaret, Warren, Arthur".

Plot

Optimistic psychiatrist Dr. Donovan MacLeod wants to prove his theory that mental patients can benefit from

group therapy Group psychotherapy or group therapy is a form of psychotherapy in which one or more therapists treat a small group of clients together as a group. The term can legitimately refer to any form of psychotherapy when delivered in a group format, i ...

. His method of treatment, with no violence or punishment, is met with a great deal of resistance from his unyielding and self-righteous head nurse, Lucretia Terry, who believes in traditional methods such as strait-jackets and padded cells for treating the mentally ill. Head of the hospital Dr. Harrington is weak-willed. Terry's assistant, nurse Bracken, supports her superior's stand. After much trial and error and the harrowing near-rape of a patient, MacLeod's ideas prevail in spite of the opposition and meet some success. Patients include distraught mother Lorna Medford, former prostitute Marion, pyromaniac Edna, and former schoolteacher Irene.

Cast

as Dr. Donovan MacLeod *

as Lorna Melford *

as Alison *

as Lucretia Terry * Virginia Munshin as Ruth *

Ellen Corby Ellen Hansen Corby (June 3, 1911 – April 14, 1999) was an American actress and screenwriter. She played the role of Esther "Grandma" Walton on the CBS television series '' The Waltons'', for which she won three Emmy Awards. She was also ...

as Irene *

Barbara Barrie Barbara Barrie (born Barbara Ann Berman; May 23, 1931) is an American actress and author. Her film breakthrough came in 1964 with her performance as Julie in the landmark film ''One Potato, Two Potato'', for which she won the Best Actress Awar ...

as Edna *

Herbert Marshall Herbert Brough Falcon Marshall (23 May 1890 – 22 January 1966) was an English stage, screen and radio actor who starred in many popular and well-regarded Hollywood films in the 1930s and 1940s. After a successful theatrical career in the Uni ...

as Dr. Harrington * Sharon Hugueny as Connie *

Robert Vaughn Robert Francis Vaughn (November 22, 1932 – November 11, 2016) was an American actor noted for his stage, film and television work. His television roles include the spy Napoleon Solo in the 1960s series '' The Man from U.N.C.L.E.''; th ...

as Jim Melford * Susan Oliver as Cathy * Ana St. Clair as Ana *

Constance Ford Constance Ford (born Cornelia M. Ford; July 1, 1923 – February 26, 1993) was an American actress and model. She is best known for her long-running role as Ada Lucas Hobson on the daytime soap opera '' Another World'', which she played from 1 ...

as Nurse Bracken *

Van Williams Van Zandt Jarvis Williams (February 27, 1934 – November 28, 2016) was an American actor best known for his leading role as Kenny Madison in both Warner Bros. television detective series ''Bourbon Street Beat'' (1959–1960) and its sequel ...

as Dr. Larry Denning *

as Marion

Production

Co-writer/co-producer Jerry Paris appears in ''The Caretakers'' as a passerby Lorna bumps into on the street. Joan Crawford arranged for each day's scenes with veteran actor Herbert Marshall, an old friend who was in frail health, to be shot first, thus allowing him to finish his work early in the day. Crawford was on the board of directors of

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manufa ...

, and product placements for Pepsi-Cola include a scene at the hospital picnic, which features a wagon that is dispensing the soft drink.

Reception

''Variety'' wrote "Miss Crawford doesn't so much play her handful of scenes as she dresses for them, looking as if she were en route to a Pepsi board meeting", and called the film a "superficial, ineptly-plotted drama" Bosley Crowther of ''The New York Times'' noted "Altogether, this woman's melodrama is shallow, showy, and cheap - a badly commercial exploitation of very sensitive material." Some individual performances were better received by reviewers. ''Variety'' said "Diane McBain and Susan Oliver, as nurses, and Sharon Hugueny, as a young patient, do nicely." James Powers wrote in the ''Hollywood Reporter,'' "Diane McBain and Susan Oliver are good as young nurses." Despite some negative reviews, the film grossed over $3 million worldwide, ranking #57 on Variety's list of top grossing films for 1963.

Awards and nominations

''The Caretakers'' received an Academy Award nomination for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White for

Lucien Ballard Lucien Ballard, A.S.C. (May 6, 1908 – October 1, 1988) was an American cinematographer. He worked on more than 130 films during his 50-year career, collaborating multiple times with directors including Josef von Sternberg, John Brahm, Henry H ...

. It received Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Motion Picture - Drama, Best Motion Picture Actress - Drama for Polly Bergen, and Best Motion Picture Director for Hall Bartlett.

Home media

''The Caretakers'' was released on Region 1 DVD on April 15, 2010, through Amazon.com as part of the MGM Limited Edition Collection.

References

Sources

* *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Caretakers, The 1963 films 1963 drama films American black-and-white films American drama films Films scored by Elmer Bernstein Films about psychiatry Films based on American novels Films set in psychiatric hospitals United Artists films Films directed by Hall Bartlett 1960s English-language films 1960s American films