Monday with Hayley Mills: Stop right where you are!

Knowing of my incredibly well-adjusted and healthy fascination with celebrity actress-supreme Hayley Mills, Steve Thompson of Booksteve's Library was awesome enough to send this promo clipping featuring Hayley Mills, her mom and dad and co-actor Ian McShane. Thanks, Steve!

This promo item from an unknown magazine from the mid-1960s references the Hayley Mills feature written by her mother Mary Hayley Bell, variously known as Sky West and Crooked, Gypsy Girl and oddly, Bats With Baby Faces. Given the cut and paste look of the upcoming movie and erroneous title this clipping was probably published early during post-production as part of an advance marketing push. At this point in production it appears the actual title for the film had yet to be decided upon. Bats With Baby Faces would be a great title for a horror film and I'm glad it wasn't chosen for this feature film.

"Sky West and Crooked" is a term for someone who is a little bit off of normal or headed to ruination. It is used in the film as a derogatory reference to Brydie White, a young woman played by Hayley who is fascinated by dead animals and burial who retains the stunted emotional maturity of a much younger teen. The term could also easily apply to all the various people in the English village who are not so understanding of Brydie's behavior and situation. In later releases the film was retitled Gypsy Girl,  which more aptly describes the romantic subplot between Brydie and a more mature and shady itinerant gypsy.