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This is a great film. For some reason this movie really struck a cord with me when I first caught in on tv back when I was a teenager. The lighting, the French location, the novelty [to me] of the film style...I must have watched it a hundred times. Even though I haven't seen it in a few years, I still remember how Agnes is so overwhelmed by everything in her life and seems to like to hide her in childlike world. And Dean Stockwell is actually pretty cute; I was surprised to find out this the same Dean Stockwell that was later on Quantum Leap. My mother told me that he was quite the heartthrob in the Sixties, and one can see why in this film. I also read the book by Phyllis Hasting, and it is a whole lot darker in tone than the film. I think it also explores the father-daughter relationship in more detail than the film. This and some of her other books seem very anti-male.

I have just tracked down this film, through this site, many years after the one and only time I saw it. I saw it as a B film i.e. tagged on to the main feature but it left such a lasting impression I cannot remember what the main feature was.

It was the beginning of the film that made such an impact on me and that I remember most.The idea of a scarecrow coming to life (Joseph in hiding) and Agnes'd reaction which gripped me. The photography was dark and powerful.The developing relationship between Agnes and Joseph and her fathers reaction to it was moving. I do not know what I would make of it now but I hope it would generate the same emotions that I felt as a teenager.

Those who remember kid actress Patricia Gozzi's stirring performance in Sundays & Cybele (1962) will be equally amazed at the remarkable range she displays in this outing. As Agnes (or "Aun-yez", as the French pronounce it) she easily steals the film from headliners Dean Stockwell & Melvyn Douglas. Not a bad feat for a 15-year-old with limited previous film experience -- and none in English language films! Her completely believable performance as the sheltered & confused daughter of an embittered retired judge (Douglas) is nothing less than riveting.

The movies' premise in a nutshell revolves around Agnes' conviction that a scarecrow she has made has come alive after fugitive Stockwell dons its clothes while on the run, and the ensuing relationship that develops between the two. Stockwell, whose fine performances have graced so many films, doesn't have much to do this time around. Film veteran Douglas, on the other hand, gets in some memorable scenes. Georges Delerue provides the gorgeous music he was noted for -- perfect for the film.

Whether this particular movie grabs you or not, at its conclusion you'll no doubt find yourself wondering why Gozzi -- whose career seemed to come to a grinding halt shortly after this -- didn't continue acting into her adult years and become a major star. It's one of those perplexing mysteries of filmdom!

I first saw this movie on AMC years ago and have never forgotten it. The cinematography and acting swept me right up into the melodramatic story. Yes, the plot is melodramatic, but life sometimes is melodramatic. And if that's not enough for you, the performances of Gozzi,Stockwell, and Douglas just won't allow me to question its plausibility. They realize their characters so fully that there's no question whether there are three people could actually exist they way they do, where they do, and behave exactly as they do in this film.

The characters of Agnes and her father have such a touching pathos as they blindly find their way to healing through horrible tragedy, mutual loss, and self-discovery, for which Stockwell serves as catalyst. There is such an delicate realism to Gozzi's performance as an emotionally troubled and deluded adolescent that makes the film actually seem far ahead of its time. Trust me--this kid could have been right at home next to Brando in "On the Waterfront" and never been upstaged by him for one second.

Most reviewers seem to believe that it's these three sensitive performances that carry the weight of the plot, but how they stumble into learning about themselves and each other is never contrived. There isn't a single scene, as there is in most Hollywood films, with an overwrought catharsis that changes their world overnight. Rather, these are three people trying to act as their hearts and consciences dictate, sometimes blundering selfishly, other times meeting one another tenderly halfway. A visually beautiful and realistically romantic film.

This is a film that I've seen twice, the last time in 1972, that has stuck with me all these years. Patricia Gozzi was so alluring and the score so haunting and beautiful...I remember waiting for the credits to role to see the name of this unknown actress and the composer. It's the first I'd heard of Georges Delarue and the first of many times I'd heard a mesmerizing score and later seen Delarue's name. I'd love to see this movie again.