I don't think I've seen a movie with such amazing performances in a LONG time! The more work I see of Anne Bancroft, the more I'm impressed with her craft. I've never seen Patty Duke in anything before, so needless to say, I was blown away by her performance as well.

The most intense acting is done without any dialogue, especially where Anne Sullivan insists that Helen learn how to eat properly.

Such incredible performances (very Oscarly deserved!) and even more incredible story to boot!

Powerfully directed by Arthur Penn and supported by two Oscar-winning performances, The Miracle Worker dramatizes the early years of Helen Keller, the blind and deaf mute who became a famous author and prominent Socialist. Anne Bancroft's first lead role is as Anne Sullivan, Helen's lifelong teacher and friend and her performance is compelling. Patty Duke is also outstanding as Helen, portraying the disturbed child as she works to overcome bad manners and temper tantrums, the result of being overly indulged by her well meaning but ineffective parents. Moving into a small cottage away from her parents, Anne, who was partially blind herself, assists Helen with some tough love and begins to teach her to spell with her fingers.

Until this point, Helen had no understanding of the meaning of words. This changed when Anne led her to the water pump and spelled out the word water as she pumped the water over Helen's hand. She is said to have learned thirty words the same day and eventually learned to read. In 1904 Helen graduated from Radcliffe College, becoming the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. The film could have easily descended into melodrama, but Penn keeps his focus and the result is enormously moving without being maudlin. The Miracle Worker is a miracle.

When Patty Duke died recently, I read several of her obits and also many comments online about her work which mainly praised her performance in The Miracle Worker. That's when I realized while I'd seen her in many TV shows and some movies, I'd never seen her in perhaps her most compelling and important role, that of the deaf-blind child Helen Keller she played both on Broadway and in this film version, for which she won the Oscar at age 16 which made her the youngest of such at the time during the early '60s. She's matched every way with Anne Bancroft who also got an Oscar not to mention a Tony previously as her sympathetic but very tough instructor Annie Sullivan who herself had been sightless when growing up. Director Arthur Penn and screenwriter William Gibson, adapting from his play, imbue their work with some fine cinematic touches as in close-ups and some location shots while Duke and Bancroft carry out their confrontations. While my mom had previously seen this, she admitted it was so long she had forgotten some of it. Both she and I really enjoyed this so on that note, The Miracle Worker is highly recommended. P.S. One of the nice surprises was seeing Inga Swenson-who I previously knew as Gretchen Kraus on the late '70s/early '80s sitcom "Benson"-as the mother of Helen.