The Nanny Diaries

Mary Poppins would not recognize her profession today. The beloved heroine of our youth has given way to a new brand of nanny, and the flying red umbrella, carpetbag of magical tricks, and the tony Edwardian digs of her employers have been replaced with an overscheduled agenda, budget-minded designer knockoffs, and a sumptuous Manhattan apartment. Such is the satirical scenario of The Nanny Diaries, the best-selling novel-turned-film that’s due to arrive in theaters August 24, with a stylized set almost as anticipated as the movie itself. Scarlett Johansson plays Nanny Annie Braddock, a college student hired to oversee the spoiled 5-year-old son of a wealthy, dysfunctional Manhattan couple, sardonically called Mr. and Mrs. X (played by Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney).

In the photograph above, Nanny Annie needs more than a spoonful of sugar to swallow the lecture that Mrs. X gives her in an elegant crème-on-crème dressing room.

Text by Cathy Whitlock
Photographs courtesy of The Weinstein Company, 2007. Photographer: K.C. Bailey