Martha & Ethel

"You don't have to birth a child to love it," says Ethel, an octogenarian former nanny, one of two profiled by their (now adult) charges, Jyll Johnstone and Barbara Ettinger. Ethel, a tall bony black woman, lavished unconditional love on her passel of Ettinger children. Martha, a short German immigrant who would sooner offer a wooden spoon across the knuckles than a hug, raised Johnstone and her siblings with a considerably sterner hand. Interestingly, the real mothers seem distant, the nannies--whether through positive (Ethel) or negative (Martha) attention--appear to be much closer to the children. A wonderful film. (R. Pitman)