THE LITTLE GIRL WHO LIVES DOWN THE LANE, a retrospective

“Ask her no questions, she’ll tell you no lies. Ask her too many and somebody . . .” THE LITTLE GIRL WHO LIVES DOWN THE LANE (1976).

I recently purchased TLGWLDTL on DVD from Amazon. The movie holds up surprisingly well, and is even better than I remembered. It is prehaps Jodie's best performance as a teen. The film opens on Halloween night in a New England seaside town. Rynn Jacobs (Jodie Foster) is celebrating her thirteenth birthday, alone, in her father’s house. The evil Frank Hallet (Martin Sheen) drops by; he is a notorious ephebophile, with an unwholesome interest in Rynn.

The next day, Cora Hallet (Alexis Smith), the landlady, arrives at the house. She snoops about, attempting to find the wherabouts of Rynn's father, and discreetly ask Rynn whether Frank has been bothering her. Rynn claims her father is in New York. The situation gets tense when Mrs. Hallet demands the jelly glasses from the cellar. Rynn steadfastly refuses to let her in the cellar.

A few days later, Mrs. Hallet returns to pick up her jelly glasses Rynn has retrieved from the cellar. The seals are missing, “The seals are in the cellar.” Mrs. Hallet, refuses to be put off again, she pulls back the braided rug and flings opens the trap door, suddenly terrified by something she sees, Mrs. Hallet screams and rushes out of the celler, she knocks out the cellar door support and the heavy door crashes down on her head. When Rynn opens the trap door, Mrs. Hallet is dead.

After the initial shock, Rynn tries to hide the evidence; she tries to move Mrs. Hallet's car. Rynn’s inability to start the car attracts the attention of Mario (Scott Jacoby), who is passing by on his bicycle on the way to perform a magic show. He suspects Rynn is not telling the truth, but he agrees to help her move the car.

Later in the evening Rynn and Mario have dinner. Officer Miglioriti (Mort Shuman) stops by to tell them that Frank Hallet has reported his mother missing; again, he asks to see her father, but Mario tells him that Rynn's father has gone to bed. This act of loyalty cements the bond between Rynn and Mario.

The romance between Rynn and Mario continues to blossom and Mario gets more and more involved in the goings-on at Rynn's house. One day, the two move the bodies out of the cellar and bury them by the side of the house. It starts to rain heavily, and Mario catches a terrible cold, Rynn offers to climb under the covers with him.

"Mario, have you ever?"

"Hundreds of times."

After dinner, Officer Miglioriti returns to the house, inquiring about her father—he has begun to suspect that her father does not exist. But Rynn calls upstairs, and an old man comes down the stairs, wheezing. Miglioriti does not notice that the old man is Mario.

Later that night, Rynn hears the trap door slam shut. She goes downstairs and is shocked to see Frank Hallet coming out of the cellar. He has put the pieces together and realized that Rynn's father is gone and that Rynn killed his mother. He offers to protect Rynn's secrets in exchange for sexual favors. Rynn is cool, she suggests they have a cup of tea . . . Hallet remarks that the tea tastes like almonds, and Rynn says perhaps it is only the almond buscuits. Frank coughs, he tells her she has pretty hair, he coughs again. Rynn sits very still.

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Those who know me, know that this blog is dedicated to Dakota Fanning.

“From failing hands we pass the torch to be yours to ever hold high.”