The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane Has a Startling Secret

I am not a fan of horror movies, but I’m inclined to enjoy thrillers as long as they aren’t too violent. That’s especially the case if the cast includes an actor I especially like. The Sixth Sense turned me into a Haley Joel Osment fan, while Jodie Foster’s presence helped sell me on watching The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, the 1976 movie in which she stars as a 13-year-old who arouses suspicion when she moves into a fancy house on the outskirts of a close-knit community.

Foster is Rynn, a resourceful teen who shows an impressive ability to fend for herself. It doesn’t take long for the audience to realize that rather than living with her father, as she claims to anyone who asks, Rynn is living alone. She stays in as much as possible, pretending to be home-schooled, and in a sense this is true, except that she is her own teacher. It’s a system that works well with most people, but two particularly nosy neighbors threaten her lifestyle.

Alexis Smith is the quintessential busybody as Mrs. Hallet. Of course, she has a right to be involved; after all, she is the landlady. Nonetheless, she takes her role to an unpleasant extreme, making it very difficult for Rynn to maintain her ruse. Even more obnoxious is her son Frank, who Martin Sheen makes thoroughly creepy from the moment he first appears at her door on Halloween. He has a reputation as the town pervert, which helps Rynn to keep her distance from him in public, but keeping him out of her house is a more difficult matter.

Happily, Rynn does have a couple of townsfolk looking out for her. She finds a fast friend and firm protector in Miglioriti, a mild-mannered cop played by Mort Shuman. While he has his suspicions about her living situation, he is a fairly trusting soul, and his main concern is that she is safe and well cared for, so he’s not that difficult to appease. The only person Rynn truly confides in is his nephew Mario (Scott Jacoby), an aspiring magician just a little older than her who offers her a first taste of romance.

While there is something vaguely unsettling about Foster in this role, she remains sympathetic, a kid with a lot stacked against her who is just trying to make the best of her lot in life. She and Jacoby work well together, making an appealing team, while Shuman simply makes me smile whenever he’s on screen because he exudes salt-of-the-earth good-heartedness. The major creep factor comes in with Sheen, who I’m used to seeing in much more likable roles. He serves as the primary antagonist here, and he really makes you just want to throttle him.

The musical score is interesting, with suspenseful moments often punctuated with surprisingly upbeat music, while the cinematography sets a lonely tone fitting for the tale of a girl who lives in such isolation. There is a bit of violence, particularly a cringe-worthy moment involving a very vulnerable character, but most of the unpleasantness is left to the imagination, so it never got too intense for me to continue watching. It’s a rather strange movie, but that strangeness is part of its appeal. If you’re looking for something just a little spooky, The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane is a good pick.

A Troubled Teen Seeks Her Fortune in Candleshoe

It’s rather rare for me to happen upon a Disney movie I’ve never heard of before, but such was the case with Candleshoe, a 1977 movie directed by frequent Disney director Norman Tokar and based on a book by Michael Innes. Though the book was entitled Christmas at Candleshoe, the movie isn’t tied to that season; while I love movies with a Christmas theme, it’s probably just as well that this one lacks it because that makes it more likely to be watched year-round.

Candleshoe stars a young Jodie Foster as Casey, a tough-talking street teen who reminds me of Jesse, the surly thug-in-training in Free Willy. The movies share similar scenes at the beginning of kids running rampant in the streets, wreaking havoc, and those scenes seem to end in a similar way too until it becomes apparent that Casey has been apprehended not by the cops but by a petty crook with a complex scheme.

In a storyline that made me think very much of Don Bluth’s Anastasia, the bearded Bundage (Leo McKern) and his sour accomplice Grimsworthy (Vivian Pickles) plan to groom Casey, who looks remarkably like the long-lost granddaughter of wealthy widow Lady St. Edmund (Helen Hayes). If they can convince the old lady that her beloved relative has returned, Casey will be in an ideal position to find her late husband’s fabled treasure. Other elements akin to Anastasia are a loose brick in the wall, a song from a music box as a bond between a woman and her grandchild, and a waltz in a decrepit room that recalls memories of regal magnificence. It makes me wonder whether Bluth was inspired by this movie at all.

Unlike the titular orphan in that animated classic, Los Angeles-based Casey doesn’t much care about her roots, but she agrees to Bundage’s plot because it means an all-expenses-paid trip to an English estate, where she presumes she will live in the lap of luxury, and a cut of the spoils once she finds the treasure. She is also a skilled con artist herself, and it is her skill that grants her entry into Lady St. Edmund’s household. However, as she begins to compile clues, she makes two startling discoveries: this aristocrat is no longer wealthy, and she actually likes the old woman and her ramshackle family. Will she have the heart to go through with her plan under these new circumstances?

The supporting cast is great, with David Niven the clear standout as the devoted Priory, Lady St. Edmund’s butler who performs multiple roles in an effort to protect her from finding out that the rest of the staff had to be let go due to insufficient funds. Most of the movie’s funniest moments involve him frantically juggling guises, a charade known to the four waifs who call the castle of Candleshoe home.

Of these, we see the most of Cluny (Veronica Quilligan), a somewhat stuffy girl around Casey’s age who is deeply suspicious of her when she arrives. The only orphan who isn’t is Bobby (David Samuels), an adorable little rascal who takes to her immediately. Hayes, who I love so much in Herbie Rides Again, isn’t quite as feisty in this movie but still is a sweet-natured woman willing to fight for the home her husband gave her, the same battle she wages in Herbie Rides Again, though she joins the battle much later here.

This movie has plenty of humor to it between Niven’s role-switching, the children’s squabbling and Bundage’s clumsy efforts to make sure Casey holds up her end of the bargain. Nonetheless, I’d classify this as more of a drama than a comedy. There’s a wistful tone to much of the film, and its central element is Casey’s development from a cynical pickpocket to someone willing to open her heart to love amidst the gorgeous ruins of a once-grand country mansion. As few tales move me more than those that involve the redemption of a troubled character, that’s hardly a complaint. I don’t know why it took me so long to find out about Candleshoe, but I’m very glad I did.