My goodness, I have got to watch my sarcasm! THI would never take me seriously (on most things), but I forget that others might read my irreverent, ridiculous comments. First, I feel compelled to say that I have a great deal of respect for "The Children's Hour"-- its most overt message being about the dangers of hearsay, gossip and what a disastrous and hurtful impact trashing the reputations of others can ignite. (a VERY relevant message today-- almost 75 years after it was written.)

Was the movie INTENDED to portray lesbians as confused lusty creatures?

I don't think so! If so, the casting of demur Hepburn and girl-next-door McClain was a catastrophe! I don't know too much about the screenplay other than it was based on the play, "The Children's Hour" by American playwright Lillian Hellman. Hellman was a liberal and long-time friend of Dorothy Parker... so my guess is she didn't have a iota of a problem with lesbians-- lusty or not! :)