Sky West and Crooked

I am lucky as a 14-year-old to know this movie even exists, I was looking through Netflix and stumbled upon it. I found this movie positively delightful. Young handsome Gypsy boy Roibin, played by Ian McShane, falls instantly in love with the pretty fair haired Brydie White, played by Hayley Mills, who in time also returns his affections. It's sad to say that this movie is a forgotten classic. And that it is a miracle that someone as young as me even knows it exists, much less actually seen it. The beginning song that I hear is sung by Hayley Mills sets the mood just right. But I will not let this movie continue to be forgotten so easily. I will try my best to remind the world of this adorable button nose 17-year-old village girl and dashing dark-skinned boy. So in return to those who read these reviews and would actually like to see it, to you I leave a gift,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xH4JN1u32o&feature=related

That's right, Sky West And Crooked completely on YouTube. Enjoy!

Hayley Mills was never more appealing than as the sweet-natured, arrested-development country girl who is more at home playing with village children than living with her rather unpleasant mother. As she is the sort of fragile, other-worldly spirit that one fears will come to mischief in this cruel world, the viewer is mightily relieved when she is taken up by the gypsies - at least this particular brand of comparatively gentle gypsies - as their simple way of life seems better suited to her future than "ordinary" growing up and marriage to a "normal" person would be. With the gorgeous and kindly gypsy boy (played by the stunningly attractive Ian McShane), Brydie feels loved and safe; and one senses that their life together will be relatively uncomplicated by modern annoyances. (It is something of a parallel to the George Hamilton/Yvette Mimieux romance in "Light in the Piazza," made a few years earlier.) I loved this film, and wished to enter into the pretty-but-now-mostly-vanished English countryside of the time. John Mills and Hayley worked together well on several occasions, and of course, Mother Mary's story was charming. Highly recommended for anyone with an ounce of romance in their souls.

I did not much care for this film the first time I saw it, but a second viewing created a more favorable impression. The acting is very good all around, particularly from the talented Hayley Mills, who holds my attention at every moment that she is on screen. Ian McShane, too, is quite convincing as the young Gypsy man, Roibin. Also deserving of special praise is Geoffrey Bayldon as the vicar. For a change, it is nice to see a church pastor portrayed in a positive light. The direction (John Mills) is always acceptable and at times much more than that. The fleeing of Brydie White is nicely handled with swiftly moving camera and quick cuts. Close-ups are very effective indeed, especially of Brydie, Roibin, and Rev. Moss. I love the way Hayley Mills invests her character with tiny facial mannerisms that almost certainly were not in the script. For example, watch her while Brydie is recuperating in the wagon's bed. Her look of confusion when she wakes up, views her surroundings, and later tastes the hedgehog soup is so real and convincing! She is just a brilliant and captivating actress who is able to make her roles come to life in a believable way. Hayley is, of course, utterly beautiful throughout every frame of the film, and it is no wonder why the Gypsy would be so smitten by Brydie's charms. The acting of village children is rather a hit and miss proposition, sometimes quite good and often impossibly amateurish. Plaudits, too, for Brydie's lovable canine companion, "Dog," whose real name is "Hamlet." Be sure to see the image gallery, which is one of the DVD's bonus extras. It contains lots of black-and-white shots from behind the scenes. Several show Hayley Mills's father (director John Mills) and mother (writer Mary Hayley Bell) during the days of production. Not a perfect film, by any means, but if you liked the far superior "Whistle Down the Wind," you will probably find something to enjoy here as well.

This charming and unusual film was written by Mary Hayley Bell (with inspiration from DH Lawrence's story 'The Virgin and the Gypsy'), directed by John Mills, and starred their daughter Hayley as disturbed teenager Brydie.

The basic premise - that the girl is 'sky west and crooked' because of something that happened in her childhood that she can't remember - soon switches into a 'growing-up' kind of tale as Brydie meets gypsy boy Roibin (Ian McShane). The people in the village are equally well-drawn (Brydie's mother, played by Annette Crosbie; the vicar, played by Geoffrey Bayldon; the grudge-bearing Mr Dacres, played by Laurence Naismith; and the gypsy grandma played by Rachel Thomas).

From encouraging the children around her to bury dead animals in the consecration of the churchyard, to her love match amongst the caravans and the Romany customs, Hayley Mills makes Brydie a delight, although she acts and looks much younger than the character's age of seventeen. As Roibin, Ian McShane is very much in 'glamour' mode, perhaps photographed too sympathetically to make the character believable.

Still, 'Sky West and Crooked' is a well-written and directed piece, a lovely fairytale in which the idealism of first love is well presented and where the surroundings, whether a church or an open road, marry to the action perfectly.

I love this film. It is very much a movie about a wild child. Haley acts very well and she truly becomes the character. This movie reminds me a lot of the 60s spirit of hippies, flower child and all that. It's about love and child-like spirit. Very sweet. The plot has issues, but I can overlook it because the movie is so sweet in a natural way. Like others have said, it is much better than her Disney movies.

To those who think the movie is rambling...it is, but I think it totally fits with the mood and theme of the movie. It is about a free spirit.

The English countryside is beautiful. Like someone else said, it makes me want to jump in the movie and run with her. It's a good advertisement for UK tourism.

Thanks TCM for showing this rare film.