The Bad Seed (1956)
SPOILERS! What's spoiled little Rhoda Penmark (Patty McCormack, The Ropers) to do when her classmate wins an award that he doesn't deserve? Use her shoes as deadly weapons! And what's her mother (Nancy Kelly, sister of Maverick star Jack Kelly) to do when she realizes that her seemingly perfect 10 year old daughter is responsible for the death of a classmate -- and possibly others? Freak out, prattle on incessantly, smash her hands on the table and attempt suicide!
"Who killed my sister, the wicked witch of the east? Was it you?"
And what's the distraught mother (Eileen Heckart, Butterflies Are Free, The 5 Mrs. Buchanans) of the murdered classmate to do? Get drunk and make a fool of herself! (After all, "It's a pleasure to stay drunk when your little boy's been killed!") And what's a scummy handyman (perennial bit player Henry Jones) to do when he finally realizes the young girl he's been endlessly teasing is actually a killer? Take a nap next to an incinerator on a highly flammable bed made of straw (seems logical to me)! And what's a nosy landlady (Evelyn Varden) to do about this homicidal little brat? Vehemently defend the little bitch and lavish her with gifts! And what would I give young Rhoda for a basket of kisses? I'd give her a basket of hugs!
Pedophiles of the world, beware!
Based on William March's novel (which first posed the question, "Is criminal behavior an inherited trait?"), The Bad Seed debuted on the Broadway stage in 1954, where it quickly was established as a hit. Director Mervyn LeRoy was so taken with the stage version that he retained the bulk of the cast and changed very little of the dialogue and staging for the film. This certainly explains why the movie is the over the top campfest that it is -- the actors had fine-tuned their roles on the stage during more than 300 performances and, although it was being committed to film, they still played it as though there were a live audience watching.
Hi, I'm Rhoda. Wanna play?
Despite its unshakable theatrical roots, the film version was a hit and (as is always the case) it was remade for TV in the '80s with David Carradine and Lynn Redgrave -- and essentially it was remade again in 1993 with Macaulay Culkin as The Good Son (which was infinitely better than the '80s remake) -- plus it's been ripped-off, spoofed and referenced endlessly. And then there were two follow-ups....
For the record that's "TUCK you in." Sorta looks like a different word.
In 1995, The Bad Seed was followed by the first of two no-budget, would-be sequels. Although they couldn't use the name Rhoda Penmark, they brought in star Patty McCormack to essentially play the same character, all grown up as Mommy. This time, the deadly shoe's on the other foot, with a young girl realizing her prim and proper mother is a homicidal maniac. Co-starring b-movie queen Brinke Stevens and Jason Miller (Father Karras from The Exorcist), Mommy's not bad for a little indie shot on a shoestring in Iowa --but most of the locals obviously weren't actors, it only occasionally veers into all-out camp, and since the audience is on the joke, there's not as much suspense as there should be.
However, the sequel, Mommy 2: Mommy's Day, was much better. Mommy's Day finds McCormack being rehabilitated and released from prison, only to be the prime suspect in another string of murders... that she may or may not have committed. Mommy 2 is sort of The Bad Seed's take on Psycho II, and it's pretty effective. But back to the original '56 classic...
LeRoy was born in a barn...
Years ago when I posted an Alex North compilation, I expressed annoyance that there were only a few tracks on it from The Bad Seed. Recently a visitor named Wade stumbled on that post and offered up a 320 rip of the complete soundtrack for the film, taken from a long out of print German CD release. Upon listening to it and hearing a track that's not in the film, finally something else made sense...
Deleted scene!
Originally, immediately following the opening credits, the camera zoomed in on the home of the Penmarks, and found Christine thrashing around in bed, awakening from a nightmare. She and Kenneth get up for a glass of milk, and to check in on their sleeping daughter, Rhoda -- and the camera lingers for a moment on one of Rhoda's treasures that's referred to later in the film. The photo from this scene, pictured above, appeared on one of the film's lobby cards, and the soundtrack album includes a track called "The Dream," which scored this lengthy scene. I have no idea if the scene was ever screened, but it was removed from the final cut of the film, along with a few minor snippets of dialogue and a couple scenes that took place at the Fern Dayschool picnic...
"Nobody likes me, it's all my fault..."
In addition to providing the soundtrack album, Wade was kind enough to provide scans of several pages of the shooting script for the film, featuring the scenes that didn't make it into the final print of the movie...
As much as I detest the original poster art, I'm kind of taken with this beautiful slick ad for the film, which Wade also contributed...