Sunday Viewing: The Bad Seed, 1956

Children can be nasty. Don’t you think?

--“Hortense Daigle”

Rhoda Penmark was the perfect child—poised, polite, tidy, intelligent. While the other little girls were romping in blue jeans, Rhoda would play quietly—dressed in her pinafore. Rhoda was an excellent student, too. She was all set to win the penmanship award. But, alas, that honor was to go to another student—Claude Daigle. What a tragedy it was when Claude Daigle drowned at the school picnic. How terribly sad! Rhoda’s mother, Christine, and their landlady/friend, Monica worry that Rhoda will be traumatized by her classmate’s accidental death. But, Rhoda seems unfazed. And thus begins a strange psychological tale of just how nasty children can be.

The Bad Seed is based on the popular Broadway show of the same name by Maxwell Andrerson which was, in turn, based on the novel by William March. In 1956, Mervyn LeRoy was slated to direct the big screen version. LeRoy recruited the original stage cast which included Patty McCormack as “Rhoda,” Nancy Kelly as “Christine,” Evelyn Varden as “Monica,” Henry Jones as “Leroy” the simple handyman, and Eileen Heckart as “Hortense Daigle,” the mother of the drowned child.

The Hays Code objected to the ending of the film and insisted that it be rewritten. So, the film varies from the stage play quite a bit at the end. The Bad Seed is notable for its unusual end credits—introducing a humorous, theatrical “curtain call” at the end of the film. LeRoy thought that the film was so shocking that a bit of comic relief was needed at the end so that audiences would not leave with a heavy feeling. The “curtain call” serves to remind us that the preceding was all pretend and also provides one of the most unusual bits of footage in film history.

The very stage-y acting and static nature of the film owe to its theatrical roots. What once was shocking now seems a little campy, but that’s the appeal of the film. It’s the perfect diversion on a very beer-y, football-y Sunday.