MARTHA & ETHEL
A film review by Ben Hoffman
Copyright 1995 Ben Hoffman
Most of us have grown up without the help of a "nanny." In fact, few of us have ever spoken with one. Who, then, would expect a documentary about a couple of nannies would not only be of interest to the average moviegoer but would actually turn into a 4-byter?
Jyll Johnstone, the producer-Director, wanted to make a film about Martha, the nanny who played such an important part in her life and family for forty years. Coincidentally, co-producer Barbara Ettinger was visited by Johnstone, a childhood friend. Jyll was fascinated by the number of pictures on the walls of Ethel, Barbara's old nanny. After a short time for thinking about it, Jyll and Barbara decided to make the documentary.
With World War II behind them, many talented and educated women looked for something to replace their responsibilities to their children with women who would care for them. The film tells of the love and the closeness of the two nannies with their charges and how they influenced the Johnstone's five children and the six Ettingers.
The film goes as far back as the 1930s when Catholic Martha was nanny to a wealthy Jewish family in Baden-Baden, Germany. Life became difficult for her when Hitler came to power; her having worked for a Jewish family was a black mark and so she moved to the U.S where in 1941 she was hired.
Ethel, the daughter of a black South Carolina share cropper family eventually moved north and took on the job of raising the little Ettinger children. The difference in the two nannies is obvious but that they both loved the children is equally apparent.
The filmmakers, their children, and especially the nannies, are interviewed all through the film and reveal their love and attachments. Although this review is written in mid February 1995, mark MARTHA & ETHEL down as nominees for a Documentary Oscar come February 1996.
4 Bytes 1995
4 Bytes = Absolutely must see. 3 Bytes = Too good to be missed. 2 Bytes = So so. 1 Byte = Save your money.
Ben Hoffman
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