Stars: Alan Bates, Hayley Mills, Bernard Lee

Director: Bryan Forbes

Summary: Three motherless children believe that the murderer they found sheltering in a barn is really Christ. Based on a novel by Mary Hayley Bell.

When a young girl finds an injured man hiding in her father's barn, she asks who he is. "Jesus Christ!" he exclaims, startled by the girl and falls into an exhausted stupor. His striking resemblance to a picture postcard of Jesus, confirms to her and her brother and sister, that it is really Him. An angelic Alan Bates enigmatically plays the Man, in fact an escaped prisoner, and Hayley Mills plays the delightful eldest child Kathy. Her little brother and sister are played by Diane Holgate and a particularly hard-done-by but loveable and cheeky scamp Alan Barnes, who declares over breakfast that he's eaten "198 eggs since last Easter." But the word spreads about "a certain person" amongst the children of the Lancashire village and secret parcels of food and gifts are brought to nourish and reassure Him. A spellbound congregation inevitably appears at the gate. The grown-ups ultimately find out and the terrible confusion the children feel when the Man is brought out by the police is touchingly palpable. This enchanting allegory, written by Mills' mother Mary Hayley Bell, is charming and amusing enough to avoid being sentimental, and has deservedly become a classic.

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Reviewed by: davybozal24-7
Posted on March 18, 2006 9:48 PM

This enchanting film , based on the novel by Mary Hayley Bell , is considered a family classic .
Hayley Mills ( Bell's daughter and a recipient of one of the film's 4
BAFTA nominations ) , Diane Holgate and Alan Barnes live on their widowed father's farm in the north of England .
Their lives are disrupted when they discover a wanted man ( Alan Bates ) hiding out in their father's barn . After a confrontation and misunderstanding they come to the conclusion he is Jesus Christ .
This Richard Attenborough and Bryan Forbes production is a truly wonderful film with a fine supporting cast.

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Aspect Ratio:	16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Commentary By Hayley Mills, Trailer, Location Report
Year:	1961
Release Date:	May 17, 2004
Runtime:	95 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	37115 05983
Keywords:	Special, Wind, General, Down, Edition, Whistle, Drama
Genre:	Drama