The Story of Esther Costello
The Story of Esther Costello ★★ ½ Golden Virgin 1957
Rich American Margaret Landi (Crawford) is visiting her Irish homeland when she meets Esther (Sears), a young girl rendered deaf, mute, and blind by a childhood trauma. The childless Margaret is persuaded to take Esther in as a surrogate daughter and the waif gradually begins to respond to her care, sparking a media frenzy over the inspirational saga. This brings Carlo (Brazzi), Margaret's estranged and money-grubbing husband, out of the woodwork, with some get-richquick schemes. Well-done melodrama adapted from the book by Nicholas Monsarrat. 102m/B VHS. GB Joan Crawford, Heather Sears, Rossano Brazzi, Lee Patterson, Ron Ran-dell, Fay Compton, John Loder, Denis O'Dea; D: David Miller; W: Charles A. Kaufman; C: Robert Krasker; M: Georges Auric.