Brilliant Oscar-winning documentary about a school for deaf children. One of - the sometimes slightly grumpy - Lindsay Anderson's more altruistic and poetic moments. The film is almost completely silent (with music and narration, though),which gives you a good sense of how these children must perceive the world around them. For years it was almost impossible to find this wonderful little movie other than on 16mm film, but in 2007 the Criterion edition of Anderson's masterpiece 'if....' included 'Thursday's Children' as a bonus. The film is narrated by Richard Burton and was co-directed by Guy Brenton. Anderson shot this simultaneously with another short, the satirical amusement park portrait 'O Dreamland' (1953).

Thursday's Children is maybe best known as an early work from Lindsay Anderson who would go on to critical acclaim as the director of films such as If (1969). In fact, this is really no inconsequential work given the fact that it actually won an Oscar for best short documentary. Narrated by Richard Burton, it focuses on the children from the Royal School for the Deaf in Margate. It considers their situation in life and some of the difficulties that teaching them presents.

It's a pretty minimalistic documentary in fairness and is one which is really of fairly selective interest nowadays. For Anderson scholars, it offers another facet of his work and I guess it ties in with some themes he would delve into with If, in its focus on private schools. Except, unlike that movie, the message regarding the school system here is clearly a positive one. It is interesting to see an example of the teaching that was normal back at the time and it does show some of the aspects that appear particularly archaic now, such the a story character who is particularly popular with the children called Little Sambo! Obviously that is something that could never be used now but these were different, more innocent times. On the whole, this is a film of fairly minor interest to be honest but it is valuable enough as a time-capsule piece.

"Thursday's Children" is a British black-and-white documentary movie from 1954, so this one is already easily over 60 years old. It was written and directed by Guy Brenton and Palme d'Or winner Lindsay Anderson. And as this one went on to take home the Oscar (even if neither of the two is credited with an Oscar win),it is probably still their biggest triumph in the industry. This is a 22-minute film about deaf children at a school in England. There it is the teachers task to help the children have a connection with the world despite not being able to hear and of its sounds. The audiences gets a specific insight into the learning process and how the (really young) kids improve on their lip-reading skills. But there are also other references, for example how one boy is deaf since an illness at the age of 3 or others are dead since birth and have never heard a single sound on the planet.

There is something pure and innocent to these kids I must say. I think this documentary is also such a success because it takes us into a world where we honestly just will never be a part of in your lives. It is impossible for a hearing person to know what it feels like to live in silence. Narrator Richard Burton made a nice reference at the end about them never being able to hear music and that's something really sad that makes me question my initial thoughts about how sometimes it maybe isn't the worst thing not to have to hear all the noise in this world. There is also another really nice reference from Burton about how these teachers offer the children an opportunity in this world that keeps them from ending up in silent loneliness. And finally, I talked earlier about us not being a part of their world, there is another good quote about the lack of patience these kids will have to deal with in their future lives when it comes to hearing people. The final words of this documentary were really special and touching at the same time. I believe this is a very smart documentary. Burton mentions the kids by name, so it is easier for us to make a connection with them. They let the audience be a part of this as they remove sound and we just see the teacher move his lips, so we find out how the deaf children perceive her. Absolutely nothing wrong with this little movie and one of the best short films from the 1950s I'm sure. This one is evidence of how this era had to offer more besides brilliant cartoons. It's nice to see it got the recognition from the Academy. Don't miss out on this one because even if the production values may look dated by our standards in (documentary) filmmaking today, it is especially important because deafness is timeless and exists today as it has back then. Go see it.