It’s coming up on Halloween, the time for all things spooky, and I got a jump start on that the other day when I watched The Bad Seed,
the 1956 thriller directed by Mervyn LeRoy about an eight-year-old girl
who is not nearly as sweet as she seems. Earlier this year, I watched
the shuddersome We Need to Talk About Kevin,
the disorienting and disturbing tale of a sociopath who makes his
mother miserable from infancy and ultimately turns to the violence she
suspects he is capable of. This movie is much more watchable but still
quite unsettling.
Patricia McCormack plays pig-tailed blonde
Rhoda Penmark, who by all accounts seems perfectly sweet and
well-mannered when we first encounter her. She plays piano, she curtsies
perfectly, she showers her father, departing on business for several
weeks, with affection. It isn’t long, however, before we catch a glimpse
of her sense of entitlement and the way it can quickly spiral into
rage. In these moments, McCormack’s performance reminded me of Veruca
Salt from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Unlike Veruca, however, her manipulation of her parents is more subtle and insidious.
Playing Rhoda’s mother Christine is Nancy Kelly, who starts the movie
seeming slightly addled and eventually goes into full-tilt madness as
her world begins to crumble around her. The plot provides an explanation
for Rhoda’s behavior that is some comfort to the audience, since her
veiled malice didn’t just spring out of nowhere – though it could make
someone think twice about adoption. Christine loves her daughter, but
she also fears her as evidence of her potential for evil begins to
build.
The movie is pretty effective in letting that proof
come together slowly, though when a boy Rhoda resented turns up dead
early in the movie, it’s not much of a leap to imagine that she was
involved. His parents are an interesting study in how a family responds
to tragedy; Frank Cady is the dignified Henry, who bears his pain with
quiet stoicism, while Eileen Heckart’s Hortense takes to perpetual
drinking and lodging half-formed accusations at Christine. Her
performance would be comical were its trappings not so tragic.
It’s also interesting to study other characters and their interactions
with Christine and Rhoda. Evelyn Varden is Monica Breedlove, neighbor
and landlady who delights in spoiling Rhoda as much as she can. The
slight tension between her and Christine in regard to this
overindulgence provides the first hint that something about Rhoda may be
just a little off. Joan Croydon is a bit prickly as school
administrator Miss Fern, who clearly knows something about Rhoda that
she isn’t telling, and sneering janitor LeRoy, played by Henry James,
knows how to get a rise out of Rhoda better than anyone else.
The movie is black and white, which amplifies the fact that this is an
older movie and that certain things just don’t fly. Hence, most of the
unpleasantness is well off-screen, making it perfectly watchable for
even someone as squeamish as me. My boyfriend, who directed the play
once, found aspects of it to be a bit ham-fisted, and he also noted how
differently the movie ended from the play. The conclusion as it stands
is a bit cheesy, but one can certainly understand how movie-goers,
particularly those of the 1950s, might prefer it. But then I’ve already
said too much, as a stern post-credits warning insists that viewers not
divulge any details of the climax.
I doubt this is a movie I
would have chosen to watch on my own, but it’s suitable for this time of
year, and I found myself drawn into it quite well. I agree some of the
acting seems a little over-the-top, but then again, half a dozen major
cast members created those roles on Broadway first, so it seems that
sometimes, they simply didn’t tone things down enough for the screen.
Some directing choices also seem a little odd, like showing the highly
intelligent Rhoda assembling a wooden puzzle designed for
kindergarteners. On the whole, however, it’s an effectively troubling
movie that makes for an appropriate pre-Halloween feature.
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