The Bad Seed (1956)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Mervyn LeRoy

Writers:

William March (novel)
Maxwell Anderson (play)

Release Date:

12 September 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

A WOMAN'S SHAME...Out in the Open!

Plot:

An ideal housewife begins to suspect her loving adolescent daughter may be a heartless killer.

Plot Keywords:

Colonel | Dream | Medal | Lake | Handyman

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Nancy Kelly	...	Christine Penmark
Patty McCormack	...	Rhoda Penmark
Henry Jones	...	Leroy Jessup
Eileen Heckart	...	Hortense Daigle
Evelyn Varden	...	Monica Breedlove
William Hopper	...	Col. Kenneth Penmark
Paul Fix	...	Richard Bravo
Jesse White	...	Emory Wages
Gage Clarke	...	Reginald 'Reggie' Tasker
Joan Croydon	...	Claudia Fern (as Joan Croyden)
Frank Cady	...	Henry Daigle

Runtime:

129 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Canada:14A (Ontario) | Germany:18 (DVD) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Rhoda's murderous grandmother, Bessie Denker, was invented; all the other female career killers referred to in the novel and the film were genuine.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Rhoada and Leroy are talking outside, she is working on a puzzle. When Rhoada is facing Leroy the pieces to the puzzle are on the table, when Leroy is facing Rhoda, the pieces are not there. When it goes back to Rhoada, the pieces are again outside the puzzle.

Quotes:

Rhoda: What will you give me for a basket of kisses?
Col. Kenneth Penmark: A basket of kisses? Why, I'll give you a basket of hugs!

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Road to God Knows Where (1990)

Soundtrack:

Au Clair De La Lune

The devil wore dotted swiss.

Minor 1950's classic that holds up well fifty year later. The film does have its flaws. Occasionally it has the feel of a staged play--at times it seems Mrs. Penmark has to answer the door every five minutes so as to get the other major characters on screen. The Freudian psychobabble and the altered ending add an unnecessary half hour or so to the running time. And the acting can be very overwrought (although the scene in which Mrs. Penmark is screaming in the apartment as Leroy screams outside--both counterpointed by Rhoda's untalented but very loud rendition of "Au Clair de la Lune"--is a moment of high camp horror on par with anything in "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?") Still the movie works, largely because of Rhoda, the eerily self controlled little murderess who despite her sweet smiles always looks at though her hair is braided a bit too tight. It helps that an actress was cast who was cute enough, but not too pretty--Patty McCormack looks like a miniature gargoyle when she drops the sunny mask and starts roaring. Leroy, the leering simple minded caretaker is almost as unsettling--the scenes in which he sadistically taunts Rhoda almost amount to a very twisted flirtation, as he is clearly more delighted than appalled by her capacity for evil (at least until he learns just how far this capacity goes).

I haven't seen the 1980's remake, but I can't see how it could top the original, if only because evil little girls in jeans and T-shirts just aren't as scary as evil little girls with hair bows and starched frocks.