Thursday's Children (1954) - full transcript
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.
"Monday's child is fair of face."
"Tuesday's child is full of grace."
"Wednesday's child is full of woe."
"Thursday's child has far to go."
"Dennis will be father.
June will be mother."
"Janet is going to give baby a bath."
"And Alan will fetch the water."
"This is the way we play. This
is the way we start our lessons."
"Every morning at 9 o'clock we
come in and we find our chairs."
"Our teacher is called Miss Taylor."
"She looks after us when we are in
school. She gives us all our lessons."
"There are different lessons every day."
"But every morning
starts in the same way."
Bless us.
"But we do not hear Miss Taylor."
"We watch her speaking."
"But we do not hear anything."
"Because we are deaf."
"Alan is deaf."
"When he was three, he had meningitis."
"Since then, the world has
been a silent place for him."
"In this classroom, only
Miss Taylor can hear."
"To Robert and Rosemary there
is no such thing as a sound."
"No such thing as language."
"They don't even know what a word is."
"Without words."
"There can be no thoughts.
Only feelings."
"With nothing to join them together."
"What is a prayer to John?"
"How can he know what a prayer is,
if he doesn't even know what a word is?
"But first thing .. is to
give him some words."
"So we start with a game for John."
"Who does not know what a word is."
"And for Rosemary."
"Who has never heard a sound."
"They have never been to school before."
"Joan and Brian have been here a year."
"And they know that to win this game."
"You've got to watch
Miss Taylor's lips."
"For Robert, a shoe
will never be a shoe."
"It will just be .."
"Now the game begins."
"And first of all it is John who is
going to come to try to learn a word."
"Which of all these toys does she mean?"
"It's hard to tell just from
the way she moves her lips."
"This time John has to be helped."
"One day he learned that
that movement means .."
"A doll."
"And he's played this
game as often as Joan."
"Things you pick up have names."
"And so have things you do."
"At first this is
difficult to understand."
"Miss Taylor's lips tell
Rosemary nothing."
"But Brian has learned
what 'jump' means."
"Brian has learned to lip read."
"So Brian falls."
"And Joan runs."
"And Robert walks."
"And Joan loves Brian."
"And now it is John's turn again."
"John knows what his word looks like."
"But he isn't sure what it means."
"Perhaps it's the same as Brian's."
"Who can tell John
what 'washing' means?"
"So John learns what
washing means and .."
"And 'falling' and 'jumping' and
'walking' and 'loving'."
"He is beginning to
understand what words are."
"You could talk to him and he
will know what you are doing."
"Soon, when he is a bit older."
"There will be a new game
to learn and a harder one."
"These children are going to learn
how to make words themselves."
"This is a game .."
"Called 'speech'."
"We learn words by imitating sounds."
"When we were too young even to know."
"If you never heard a sound,
you can't imitate one."
"These children have to be
shown what sound .. looks like."
"There are all kinds
of games that help."
"When you want to make other letters."
"You have to start using your voice."
"You can't do it by hearing."
"So you do it by feeling."
"Miss Taylor speaks."
"And the balloon vibrates and you
catch the feelings on your fingers."
"Your fingers must be ears to catch that
voice and send it back to Miss Taylor."
"Speech .. is coming."
"And there are other games."
"Miss Taylor holds your
hand on her cheek."
"And you can feel the sound."
"And all the time."
"You are getting nearer
and nearer .. to words."
Bath.
"These children are starting
to pass through the door .."
"That silence has put between
them and the world outside."
"They are beginning to
understand each other."
"The great thing is a letter from home."
"Dennis can't read
his letter by himself."
"But he knows what it
is and where it is from."
"He can take it to Miss Taylor."
"And she can put it in the
simple words he knows."
"So Dennis would know
that his mother and father .."
"His brothers and
sisters who are not deaf."
"Have not forgotten him."
Dear Dennis.
I hope you are well.
Mother will send you a parcel.
Baby Irene sat in the pram.
"Sometimes, Miss Taylor
will make a mistake."
"But Dennis will not be caught."
Brother Ray has 12 rabbits.
That is father rabbit.
That's mother rabbit.
Love from mummy and daddy.
"By the time these
children are 6 or 7 .."
"These children are still a long
way behind children who can hear."
"They still don't know many words."
"It's only through words that their minds
can grow and reach out into the world."
"But they have started to work together
and work is a more serious business now."
"Miss Massey's children are beginning
to know where they are in the world."
Is it Wednesday?
Is it the 7th?
Eighth.
Eighth.
No.
No.
Shall I rub it off?
No.
"Little Black Sambo has
taken the children's fancy."
"They only met him yesterday when Miss
Massey told his story the first time."
"They can follow a story now."
"Retold in the words they know."
"But even the simplest story has
words that are new to these children."
A beautiful green umbrella.
Um-brell-a.
"But best of all, like any children."
"They like to take part in a
story and act it for themselves."
Black Jumbo gave Little Black Sambo ..
A beautiful green umbrella.
Black Mumbo gave Little Black Sambo
a lovely little pair of purple shoes.
Then Black Sambo put on
his beautiful little red coat.
Then he went for a walk in the jungle.
There were tigers in the jungle.
The tigers were very fierce.
Little Black Sambo was
not afraid of the tigers.
Little Black Sambo was very grand.
"That is why nobody wants
to lose Little Black Sambo."
Don't you want me to rub it off?
No!
Alright. I'll leave it on then.
"Every story and every game
like this is a lesson as well."
"Giving the children more
words, more understanding."
"Lip-reading must become
instinctive to them."
"As natural as hearing."
Maurice.
Tell Maurice.
Maurice. Please fetch the mirrors.
"All the time Miss Massey is drawing
the children out of themselves.
"Into the life of the class."
"Getting them used to the idea
of doing things on their own."
"It is Linda's turn to
give the mirrors round."
"She is quite aware of
what Miss Massey wants."
"And quite aware of why
Katharine is making a fuss."
"She doesn't want just any mirror."
"She wants her own mirror."
"The mirrors are for speech."
"By this time, learning
to speak is less like play .."
"And more like work."
We, we, we. La, la, la, la.
"And so you start to recognise
what sounds look like."
"When you are making them yourself."
"But a mirror can't
show you how to speak."
"There must be someone to help."
"Choosing the words that have come
up in class. Perhaps in the story."
"Miss Massey sets to
work. Day after day."
"To give her children speech."
"Showing them the shapes
their mouths must make."
"Making them feel the sound of a voice."
"When someone speaks to you
it is natural to watch their eyes."
"Deaf children have to
learn to watch mouths."
Little Black Sambo.
Little.
Black.
Black.
- Black.
Black.
Sam .. bo.
Beautiful green umbrella.
A beautiful ..
"Over and over the sounds
must be repeated."
"A word comes very slowly."
"If you only get it right by remembering
exactly how it feels when you say it."
Beautiful.
Beautiful.
Beautiful.
A beautiful ..
Green umbrella.
"So sounds grow to words."
"The words grow to phrases."
"And Katharine is
going to say a sentence."
Who is that?
Little Black Sambo.
And what is that?
"Only one out of three children who are
deaf can hope to achieve real speech."
"They must be given strength
and devotion from the outside."
"And they must have devotion
and strength themselves."
"Like Katharine."
Little Black ..
Sambo.
And.
A beautiful ..
Green.
Umbrella.
That's right.
"Only one deaf child in three."
"Will achieve real speech."
Little Black Sambo.
"Thursday's child."
"Has far to go."
"4 years old seems early to be
leaving home to go to school."
"But for these children."
"School is the safest and happiest way
of learning to live with other people."
"So they learn together."
"And live together."
"And as they live, they learn."
"Linda will find a place in life.
She is the managing kind."
"John and Rosemary are already getting
used to their first term at school."
"And starting to look outside
themselves and enjoying what they see."
"Faces become brighter when
there is understanding in them."
"Eyes and hands are lively.
Expressing what words cannot say."
"After a time, you find that you can use
some of the words you have learned."
"These children are being saved
from the worst enemy of the deaf."
"From being alone."
"Cut off in silence."
"There are many good things in life
that these children can never have."
"They will never hear music
or the sound of a voice."
"They will find that the world
outside is often in a hurry."
"And that luckier people
who have hearing."
"Are often impatient with
those who have none."
"But these children will
not be unprepared."
"There is a spirit ?n them."
"Which will make up for some of the
good things they have got to miss."
"Their world will never
be the same as our world."
"But it can be a good world."
"All the same."
T-G o?
"Tuesday's child is full of grace."
"Wednesday's child is full of woe."
"Thursday's child has far to go."
"Dennis will be father.
June will be mother."
"Janet is going to give baby a bath."
"And Alan will fetch the water."
"This is the way we play. This
is the way we start our lessons."
"Every morning at 9 o'clock we
come in and we find our chairs."
"Our teacher is called Miss Taylor."
"She looks after us when we are in
school. She gives us all our lessons."
"There are different lessons every day."
"But every morning
starts in the same way."
Bless us.
"But we do not hear Miss Taylor."
"We watch her speaking."
"But we do not hear anything."
"Because we are deaf."
"Alan is deaf."
"When he was three, he had meningitis."
"Since then, the world has
been a silent place for him."
"In this classroom, only
Miss Taylor can hear."
"To Robert and Rosemary there
is no such thing as a sound."
"No such thing as language."
"They don't even know what a word is."
"Without words."
"There can be no thoughts.
Only feelings."
"With nothing to join them together."
"What is a prayer to John?"
"How can he know what a prayer is,
if he doesn't even know what a word is?
"But first thing .. is to
give him some words."
"So we start with a game for John."
"Who does not know what a word is."
"And for Rosemary."
"Who has never heard a sound."
"They have never been to school before."
"Joan and Brian have been here a year."
"And they know that to win this game."
"You've got to watch
Miss Taylor's lips."
"For Robert, a shoe
will never be a shoe."
"It will just be .."
"Now the game begins."
"And first of all it is John who is
going to come to try to learn a word."
"Which of all these toys does she mean?"
"It's hard to tell just from
the way she moves her lips."
"This time John has to be helped."
"One day he learned that
that movement means .."
"A doll."
"And he's played this
game as often as Joan."
"Things you pick up have names."
"And so have things you do."
"At first this is
difficult to understand."
"Miss Taylor's lips tell
Rosemary nothing."
"But Brian has learned
what 'jump' means."
"Brian has learned to lip read."
"So Brian falls."
"And Joan runs."
"And Robert walks."
"And Joan loves Brian."
"And now it is John's turn again."
"John knows what his word looks like."
"But he isn't sure what it means."
"Perhaps it's the same as Brian's."
"Who can tell John
what 'washing' means?"
"So John learns what
washing means and .."
"And 'falling' and 'jumping' and
'walking' and 'loving'."
"He is beginning to
understand what words are."
"You could talk to him and he
will know what you are doing."
"Soon, when he is a bit older."
"There will be a new game
to learn and a harder one."
"These children are going to learn
how to make words themselves."
"This is a game .."
"Called 'speech'."
"We learn words by imitating sounds."
"When we were too young even to know."
"If you never heard a sound,
you can't imitate one."
"These children have to be
shown what sound .. looks like."
"There are all kinds
of games that help."
"When you want to make other letters."
"You have to start using your voice."
"You can't do it by hearing."
"So you do it by feeling."
"Miss Taylor speaks."
"And the balloon vibrates and you
catch the feelings on your fingers."
"Your fingers must be ears to catch that
voice and send it back to Miss Taylor."
"Speech .. is coming."
"And there are other games."
"Miss Taylor holds your
hand on her cheek."
"And you can feel the sound."
"And all the time."
"You are getting nearer
and nearer .. to words."
Bath.
"These children are starting
to pass through the door .."
"That silence has put between
them and the world outside."
"They are beginning to
understand each other."
"The great thing is a letter from home."
"Dennis can't read
his letter by himself."
"But he knows what it
is and where it is from."
"He can take it to Miss Taylor."
"And she can put it in the
simple words he knows."
"So Dennis would know
that his mother and father .."
"His brothers and
sisters who are not deaf."
"Have not forgotten him."
Dear Dennis.
I hope you are well.
Mother will send you a parcel.
Baby Irene sat in the pram.
"Sometimes, Miss Taylor
will make a mistake."
"But Dennis will not be caught."
Brother Ray has 12 rabbits.
That is father rabbit.
That's mother rabbit.
Love from mummy and daddy.
"By the time these
children are 6 or 7 .."
"These children are still a long
way behind children who can hear."
"They still don't know many words."
"It's only through words that their minds
can grow and reach out into the world."
"But they have started to work together
and work is a more serious business now."
"Miss Massey's children are beginning
to know where they are in the world."
Is it Wednesday?
Is it the 7th?
Eighth.
Eighth.
No.
No.
Shall I rub it off?
No.
"Little Black Sambo has
taken the children's fancy."
"They only met him yesterday when Miss
Massey told his story the first time."
"They can follow a story now."
"Retold in the words they know."
"But even the simplest story has
words that are new to these children."
A beautiful green umbrella.
Um-brell-a.
"But best of all, like any children."
"They like to take part in a
story and act it for themselves."
Black Jumbo gave Little Black Sambo ..
A beautiful green umbrella.
Black Mumbo gave Little Black Sambo
a lovely little pair of purple shoes.
Then Black Sambo put on
his beautiful little red coat.
Then he went for a walk in the jungle.
There were tigers in the jungle.
The tigers were very fierce.
Little Black Sambo was
not afraid of the tigers.
Little Black Sambo was very grand.
"That is why nobody wants
to lose Little Black Sambo."
Don't you want me to rub it off?
No!
Alright. I'll leave it on then.
"Every story and every game
like this is a lesson as well."
"Giving the children more
words, more understanding."
"Lip-reading must become
instinctive to them."
"As natural as hearing."
Maurice.
Tell Maurice.
Maurice. Please fetch the mirrors.
"All the time Miss Massey is drawing
the children out of themselves.
"Into the life of the class."
"Getting them used to the idea
of doing things on their own."
"It is Linda's turn to
give the mirrors round."
"She is quite aware of
what Miss Massey wants."
"And quite aware of why
Katharine is making a fuss."
"She doesn't want just any mirror."
"She wants her own mirror."
"The mirrors are for speech."
"By this time, learning
to speak is less like play .."
"And more like work."
We, we, we. La, la, la, la.
"And so you start to recognise
what sounds look like."
"When you are making them yourself."
"But a mirror can't
show you how to speak."
"There must be someone to help."
"Choosing the words that have come
up in class. Perhaps in the story."
"Miss Massey sets to
work. Day after day."
"To give her children speech."
"Showing them the shapes
their mouths must make."
"Making them feel the sound of a voice."
"When someone speaks to you
it is natural to watch their eyes."
"Deaf children have to
learn to watch mouths."
Little Black Sambo.
Little.
Black.
Black.
- Black.
Black.
Sam .. bo.
Beautiful green umbrella.
A beautiful ..
"Over and over the sounds
must be repeated."
"A word comes very slowly."
"If you only get it right by remembering
exactly how it feels when you say it."
Beautiful.
Beautiful.
Beautiful.
A beautiful ..
Green umbrella.
"So sounds grow to words."
"The words grow to phrases."
"And Katharine is
going to say a sentence."
Who is that?
Little Black Sambo.
And what is that?
"Only one out of three children who are
deaf can hope to achieve real speech."
"They must be given strength
and devotion from the outside."
"And they must have devotion
and strength themselves."
"Like Katharine."
Little Black ..
Sambo.
And.
A beautiful ..
Green.
Umbrella.
That's right.
"Only one deaf child in three."
"Will achieve real speech."
Little Black Sambo.
"Thursday's child."
"Has far to go."
"4 years old seems early to be
leaving home to go to school."
"But for these children."
"School is the safest and happiest way
of learning to live with other people."
"So they learn together."
"And live together."
"And as they live, they learn."
"Linda will find a place in life.
She is the managing kind."
"John and Rosemary are already getting
used to their first term at school."
"And starting to look outside
themselves and enjoying what they see."
"Faces become brighter when
there is understanding in them."
"Eyes and hands are lively.
Expressing what words cannot say."
"After a time, you find that you can use
some of the words you have learned."
"These children are being saved
from the worst enemy of the deaf."
"From being alone."
"Cut off in silence."
"There are many good things in life
that these children can never have."
"They will never hear music
or the sound of a voice."
"They will find that the world
outside is often in a hurry."
"And that luckier people
who have hearing."
"Are often impatient with
those who have none."
"But these children will
not be unprepared."
"There is a spirit ?n them."
"Which will make up for some of the
good things they have got to miss."
"Their world will never
be the same as our world."
"But it can be a good world."
"All the same."
T-G o?