The Nanny? It’s neither Fran Drescher nor Julie Andrews, it’s Bette Davis in a film that’s simultaneously campy and good. That’s a hard balancing act to pull off but director Seth Holt and Jimmy Sangster nail it. It’s not surprising since Sangster was one of the top producers and writers at Hammer Films, best known for the Cushing and Lee horror films.

The Nanny is often described as a hag horror movie. I hate the term so I’m using it once then moving on. It’s more of a cozy horror film. Bette Davis plays the title character. Her real name is unknown. She even refers to herself as Nanny or your poor old Nanny. I’m abandoning my usual practice of referring to every character by their real name. She’s Nanny.

Nanny works for a wealthy London family, the Fanes. She was Mrs. Fane’s nanny as a child and still tends to her neurotic needs.

Mr. Fane is an aloof figure who’s an old school upper class parent. You say traditional; I say indifferent. Let’s call the whole thing off.

The Fanes are played by Wendy Craig and James Villiers. They remind me of Lord and Lady Lucan. That’s not a compliment: Lord Lucan was a nanny killer who vanished without a trace in 1974. His disappearance is one of the great unsolved mysteries in the annals of British crime. Lucan was so notorious that he had his very own Spitting Image puppet:

Enough true crime shit, back to The Nanny.

The movie starts with the return of the son of the house, Master Joey played by William Dix. He’s been in the bin because of his chronic misbehavior and hatred of middle aged women. He’s not happy to see Nanny. He begins acting up immediately upon his return home, much to his mother’s dismay and Nanny’s disdain.

Most of the movie pits Master Joey against Nanny.

This audience member was inclined to side with Nanny since Joey is a horrid little boy. The film’s tagline says it all: Would you trust the Nanny or the boy?

Is this hat trustworthy?

Rounding out the Fain family circle is Jill Bennett as Auntie Pen. She’s Wendy Craig’s posh sister who has a weak heart that eventually has her grabbing the bed post:

Repeat after me: Would you trust the Nanny or the boy?

That’s all the plot I’m willing to share. Guessing the outcome is one of the joys of watching this film. Besides, this feature is called pulp fiction, not pulp spoilers.

The Nanny is based on a novel by Marryam Modell DBA Evelyn Piper:

The acting is first rate, especially William Dix as Master Joey and Jill Bennett as his auntie. What else would you expect from a movie starring Bette Davis?

Grading Time: I give The Nanny 3 stars and an Adrastos grade of B. It’s streaming on the TCM web site. There are also stray versions on YouTube but I can’t vouch for any of them.

Let’s put on our nanny hats and look at the posters.

We begin with a triptych of the US, French, and Japanese posters:

It’s a British movie, so naturally there’s a quad:

Nanny looks green with envy in that picture.

I’m tired of being spoon fed by Nanny. Let’s all go to the lobby to find what we can find.

I tried the whole spoonful of medicine thing and all it did was make me want to check out the lobby cards.

Now that we’ve grabbed ahold of the bed post, let’s take a ride in the trailer:

The last word goes to the hilarious hosts of Creepy Cinema: Ben Mankiewicz and Mario Cantone.