DreamWorks has provided us with the first images along with the official synopsis for the upcoming 1960s drama The Help.  The film, which is based on the novel by Kathryn Stockett, was directed by Tate Taylor and stars Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Sissy Spacek, Allison Janney, Octavia Spencer, and Bryce Dallas Howard.

Hit the jump to check out nine high-resolution images from the film plus the official synopsis.  The Help is set to open on August 12, 2011.

Click on an image to see it in high resolution.

Here’s the official synopsis for The Help:

Set in Mississippi during the 1960s, “The Help” stars Emma Stone (star of the breakout hit, “Zombieland”) as Skeeter, a southern society girl who returns from college determined to become a writer, but turns her friends’ lives—and a small Mississippi town—upside down when she decides to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent southern families. Academy Award® nominee Viola Davis (“Eat Pray Love”) stars as Aibileen, Skeeter’s best friend’s housekeeper, who is the first to open up—to the dismay of her friends in the tight-knit black community. Despite Skeeter’s life-long friendships hanging in the balance, she and Aibileen continue their collaboration and soon more women come forward to tell their stories—and as it turns out, they have a lot to say. Along the way, unlikely friendships are forged and a new sisterhood emerges, but not before everyone in town has a thing or two to say themselves when they become unwittingly—and unwillingly—caught up in the changing times.

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