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The Bad Seed

This melodrama about a child with an inbred talent for homicide is pretty unpleasant stuff on its own. Taken from Maxwell Anderson's stage play, adapted from William March's novel, the film remains more of the theatre than of the motion picture field. Nonetheless, it is well done within that qualification.

This melodrama about a child with an inbred talent for homicide is pretty unpleasant stuff on its own. Taken from Maxwell Anderson’s stage play, adapted from William March’s novel, the film remains more of the theatre than of the motion picture field. Nonetheless, it is well done within that qualification.

With the possible exception of the Production Code-conscious ending, the screenplay varies little from the Anderson legit piece. Some of the casting is from the stage success, too, with young Patty McCormack as the innocent-looking murderess, and Nancy Kelly as her distraught mother. Both are outstanding.

Scoring also is William Hopper, the father who never sees through the evil of his little girl.

It is the story of a woman who discovers that her daughter, a sweet, innocent-faced child, is a killer. Director Mervyn LeRoy mounts sequences with shocking horror as it is brought out the girl deliberately murdered a schoolmate because she wanted the penmanship medal he had won.

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1956: Nominations: Best Actress (Nancy Kelly), Supp. Actress (Eileen Heckart, Patty McCormack), B&W Cinematography

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The Bad Seed

  • Production: Warner. Director Mervyn LeRoy; Producer Mervyn LeRoy; Screenplay John Lee Mahin; Camera Hal Rosson; Editor Warren Low; Music Alex North
  • Crew: (B&W) Available on VHS, DVD. Extract of a review from 1956. Running time: 127 MIN.
  • With: Nancy Kelly Patty McCormack Henry Jones Eileen Heckart Evelyn Varden William Hopper

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