In the 1961 film The Innocents, directed by Jack Clayton and based on Henry James's 1898 novella The Turn of the Screw, the actress Deborah Kerr truly transforms herself into Miss Giddens; the devoted governess with an eye for ghosts. When Miss Giddens arrives to the mansion she is in awe of the beauty of the estate. It is the start of something new for her since this is her very first job; what she does not know is that this could be her last.
The children, Flora and Miles (Pamela Franklin and Martin Stephens), are quite creepy in my opinion. They never really fully answer questions that they are asked, and it makes Miss Giddens suspect that the children are hiding something. That something she believes consists of the ghosts of Miss Jessel, the former governess and Quint, the grounds handy man (Clytie Jessop and Peter Wyngarde). Even when she directly asks the children if they have seen them, they deny it. Though she keeps pushing them to confess, when they already said they see nothing. If I were a child and saw a ghost I would run and tell my parents right away; I would not hide it especially if I knew I was not the only one seeing ghosts.
I believe that Miss Giddens is insane and has wanted someone so desperately to also see the ghosts so that she would not seem crazy. So in a way I think that Miss Giddens is responsible for Miles’ death because she scared him literally to death. She sent Flora off and if she was so worried about Miles as well she should have sent them both off together. Poor Miles paid the price for Miss Giddens’ insanity. She kept pushing and pushing for him to confess, telling him she knows that he sees them. He is so scared that he drops dead.