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The Bad Seed (1956 film)

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Wikipedia article




'The Bad Seed' is a 1956 American psychological thriller film, directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Nancy Kelly, Patty McCormack, Henry Jones, and Eileen Heckart.

The film is based upon the 1954 play of the same name by Maxwell Anderson, which in turn is based upon William March's 1954 novel of the same name. The play was adapted by John Lee Mahin for the screenplay of the film.

Plot



Kenneth and Christine Penmark dote on their eight-year-old daughter Rhoda. Kenneth leaves on military duty. Monica, the Penmarks' neighbor and landlady, visits. Rhoda, pristine and proper in her pinafore dress and blonde pigtails, tells her about a penmanship competition that she lost to her schoolmate, Claude Daigle. Rhoda then leaves for her school picnic at the lake.

Christine is having lunch with friends when they hear a radio report that a child has drowned in the lake. The victim is the same Claude who had won the penmanship medal. Christine worries that her daughter might be traumatized, but Rhoda is unfazed by the incident and goes about her life. Rhoda's teacher, Miss Fern, visits Christine, revealing that Rhoda was the last person to see Claude alive and that she was seen grabbing at Claude's medal. She hints that Rhoda might have some connection to the boy's death and adds the girl will not be welcome at the school after the current term ends. Claude's parents barge in. Mrs. Daigle is distraught and drunk and accuses Rhoda's teacher of knowing something she is not telling.

When Christine finds the medal in Rhoda's room, she demands an explanation. Rhoda lies that Claude let her have it. Christine's father visits. Haunted by confusing memories about her own childhood, Christine talks with him and he reveals that he is not her biological parent; she was adopted. Upset by this revelation, Christine is then horrified to learn that she is actually the daughter of a notorious serial killer. She worries that her origin is the cause of Rhoda's sociopathy and that her behavior is genetic.

Christine catches Rhoda trying to dispose of her tap shoes in the household incinerator and realizes that Rhoda must have hit Claude with the shoes, which left odd crescent marks on his face that could not be identified. Alternately feigning tears and angrily blaming Claude, Rhoda admits that she killed the boy for his medal and confirms Christine's suspicion that, to acquire a keepsake, she had previously murdered an elderly neighbor when they lived in Wichita, Kansas. Christine orders Rhoda to burn the shoes in the incinerator.'Cruel Children in Popular Texts and Cultures'; p. 294

The next day, the caretaker, Leroy, teasingly tells Rhoda that he believes she killed Claude. After Rhoda angrily tells him she burned her shoes, Leroy opens the incinerator and finds the remains. A drunk Mrs. Daigle returns and tells Christine that she believes Rhoda knows what happened to her son. Mr. Daigle calls and comes to pick up his wife. Realizing that Leroy knows she really did kill Claude, Rhoda sets his excelsior bedding ablaze. After some men break open the basement hatch, Leroy runs into the yard aflame, ultimately burning to death. From the window, Christine and Monica see him die, which makes Christine hysterical. That night, a strangely calm Christine tells Rhoda that she dropped the medal into the lake, then gives her daughter a lethal dose of sleeping pills. She attempts to kill herself with a gunshot to the head. However, the gunshot alerts the neighbors and Rhoda and Christine are taken to the hospital. They both survive, although Christine is in a coma. Kenneth arrives and takes Rhoda home.

At bedtime, Rhoda excitedly tells Kenneth that she will inherit Monica's pet love bird. She also mentions that she and Monica plan to sunbathe on the roof soon. Christine regains consciousness and is expected to make a full recovery. She calls Kenneth and tells him that she must pay for her "dreadful sin" but Kenneth assures her that they will work on their problems together. Meanwhile Rhoda sneaks out during a rainstorm, determined to retrieve the medal from the bay. She uses a metal pole to probe the water. Suddenly a bolt of lightning strikes her, sending her into the water and to her death.

Cast



* Nancy Kelly as Christine Penmark

* Patty McCormack as Rhoda Penmark

* Henry Jones as Leroy Jessup

* Eileen Heckart as Hortense Daigle

* Evelyn Varden as Monica Breedlove

* William Hopper as Col. Kenneth Penmark

* Paul Fix as Richard Bravo

* Jesse White as Emory Wages

* Gage Clarke as Reginald 'Reggie' Tasker

* Joan Croydon as Claudia Fern (as Joan Croyden)

* Frank Cady as Henry Daigle

* Don C. Harvey as Guard in Hospital Corridor (uncredited)

Production



After the success of the book, Geoffrey Shurlock from Production Code Administration (PCA) sent a letter to Jack Warner stating that the property violated the spirit and letter of the Code. Shurlocks office wrote to Paramount Pictures, Columbia Pictures and Universal Pictures to caution them against the property although none had inquired about it.

After a bidding war, Jack Warner bought the film rights for $300,000 (equivalent to $2.9 million in 2021). United States Pictures owned by Milton Sperling stated that they would only produce the film for Warner Brothers Pictures upon approval by PCA. Adler contacted Shurlock demanding to know why approval was given. Shurlock responded that director Mervyn LeRoy was able to come up a treatment "that seemed to do what the office thought was impossible".

Although the novel and play conclude with Christine dying and Rhoda surviving, the Motion Picture Production Code did not allow for "crime to pay".'Writing the Horror Movie' p. 28 The ending of the film thus reverses the deaths of the mother and daughter, with Christine's life being saved and Rhoda's ultimately being struck down by lightning. In another move to appease the censors, Warner Bros. added an "adults only" tag to the film's advertising.[http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/67988/The-Bad-Seed/articles.html "The Bad Seed"], Turner Classic Movies; retrieved February 11, 2014. Finally, the film diffuses shock of the ending with a coda in which an announcer introduces the members of the cast. It concludes with Kelly lightheartedly spanking McCormack for her character's misdeeds.

Reception



'The Bad Seed' was one of the bigger hits of 1956 for Warner Bros., earning the company $4.1 million in theatrical rentals in the U.S. against a $1 million budget. The film was one of the year's top 20 at the box office in the United States and among the 10 most popular box-office draws in Britain in 1956.BRITISH. FILMS MADE MOST MONEY: BOX-OFFICE SURVEY
'The Manchester Guardian' (1901-1956), 28 Dec 1956: pg. 3


The film received favorable reviews from critics, and Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 64%, based on , with a rating average of 7.00/10.

Awards and nominations



{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

|-

! Award

! Category

! Nominee(s)

! Result

!

|-

| rowspan="4"| Academy Awards

| Best Actress

| Nancy Kelly

|

| style="text-align:center;" rowspan="4"|

|-

| rowspan="2"| Best Supporting Actress

| Eileen Heckart

|

|-

| Patty McCormack

|

|-

| Best Cinematography Black-and-White

| Harold Rosson

|

|-

| rowspan="2"| Golden Globe Awards

| rowspan="2"| Best Supporting Actress Motion Picture

| Eileen Heckart

|

| style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"|

|-

| Patty McCormack

|

|}

Other honors

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

* 2001: AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills Nominated

Influence and legacy



In 1995, McCormack starred in the low-budget movie 'Mommy' in which she played a psychopathic mother. Critics hailed her performance and deemed the film as an "unofficial sequel".

Act one of the 1992 Off-Broadway musical 'Ruthless!' is inspired by 'The Bad Seed'.

The 1993 film 'The Good Son' is partly inspired by 'The Bad Seed'.



The lifetime film 'House of Deadly Secrets' has also been considered an unofficial sequel because of McCormacks performance.

Remakes



'The Bad Seed' was remade for television in 1985, adapted by George Eckstein and directed by Paul Wendkos. It starred Carrie Welles, Blair Brown, Lynn Redgrave, David Carradine, Richard Kiley, and Chad Allen. This version uses the original ending of the March novel and its stage production. This remake was panned by critics and poorly received by its television audience.

In June 2015, it was announced that Lifetime would remake 'The Bad Seed'. In December 2017, Deadline.com reported that Rob Lowe was to direct and star in the remake with Mckenna Grace, Sarah Dugdale, Marci T. House, Lorne Cardinal, Chris Shields, Cara Buono, and a special appearance by Patty McCormack as Dr. March. The film aired in September 2018.

See also



*List of American films of 1956

References




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