The Miracle Worker (1962 Film) - Production Notes

Production Notes

Despite the fact Anne Bancroft had won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for her performance in the Broadway production, United Artists executives wanted a bigger name cast as Anne Sullivan in the film adaptation. They offered to budget the film at $5 million if Elizabeth Taylor was cast but only $500,000 if director Arthur Penn insisted on using Bancroft. Penn, who had directed the stage production, remained loyal to his star. The move paid off, and Bancroft won an Oscar for her role in the film.

Also despite the fact that Patty Duke had played Helen Keller in the play, she almost didn't get the part. The reason was that Duke, 15 years old at the time, was too old to portray a seven-year old girl, but after Bancroft was cast as Anne, Duke was chosen to play Helen in the movie.

For the dining room battle scene, in which Anne tries to teach Helen proper table manners, both Bancroft and Patty Duke wore padding beneath their costumes to prevent serious bruising during the intense physical skirmish. The nine-minute sequence required three cameras and took five days to film.

The film was shot at Big Sky Ranch in Simi Valley, California and Middletown, New Jersey.

It was remade twice for television, in 1979 with Patty Duke as Anne and Melissa Gilbert as Helen and in 2000 with Alison Elliott and Hallie Kate Eisenberg in the lead roles.

The film ranked #15 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers: America's Most Inspiring Movies.