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It’s been nearly sixty years since actress Patty Duke transformed herself to play the iconic Helen Keller in director Arthur Penn’s The Miracle Worker. Duke had a brilliant dance partner in Anne Bancroft who portrayed the tutor of the blind and deaf Keller. The two were so remarkable and believable in fact that they both were recognized at that year’s Oscars with Best Actress (for Bancroft) and Best Supporting Actress (Duke) awards. These two, along with Penn and a crackling script from William Gibson, have gone on to become immortalized in filmgoers minds for their work in that seminal film and woe be unto any poor soul that attempts to follow in their hallowed footprints.
Of course, we all know that there’s always room at the table for different interpretations of the same or similar material, as is evidenced by dueling film such as Tombstone and Wyatt Earp or Armageddon and Deep Impact. Variety being the spice of life (as well as the source for this very article you’re now reading, Dear and Constant Reader), it comes as no surprise to learn today that another take on Keller’s story is heading to the silver screen in the upcoming film Helen & Teacher.
Set to tell the story of student Helen Keller and teacher Anne Sullivan, Helen & Teacher is already on the right track with the casting of wunderkind actor Millicent Simmonds (A Quiet Place) who will tackle the role of Keller and has a personal connection to that trailblazer in that not only is she deaf, but she is also a distant cousin to her. Rachel Brosnahan of Marvelous Mrs. Maisel fame will play Sullivan.
In a press release, Helen & Teacher screenwriter and director Wash Westmoreland said that “Most people only know of Helen Keller’s story from when she was a child. Helen & Teacher will look at her as a young adult when she developed a radical, world-changing political voice. Today, when some TikTok threads dispute Helen Keller’s achievements and ever her existence, it is time for a film that shows her relevance, her brilliance, and her unbreakable spirit.”
Principal photography on Helen & Teacher is set to start in the summer of 2022, under the Killer Films and Sugar23 production shingles.
