Classic Film: "The Bad Seed" (1956)

Parents, above all else, fear a precocious child. Especially one with sociopathic tendencies. In an age of 'Saw' and 'Hostel' movies, Rob Zombie's latest gore fest and horror/gore remakes, it's hard to believe that a film as neat and clean as "The Bad Seed" could be so horrifying. But it is. More so than all of those films combined.

You see, Patty McCormick plays a deviously brilliant and charming little girl named Rhoda, who kills a schoolmate because he won a penmanship medal that she felt she deserved. She then proceeds to flutter her eyes and smile her way past the suspicions of most of the adults in the film, save a few. But the few that do suspect the young Ms. Rhoda are discredited in one way or another. The murdered boy's mother is an alcoholic (Eileen Heckart deserved an Oscar for this fabulous performance); the fumbling and childlike LeRoy is only 'the help' and is a little slow; the school teacher has an axe to grind; and the mother is (who eventually comes around to believe her daughter committed the crime) is an emotional wreck. With this cast of witnesses for the prosecution, Rhoda would walk. And did for the most part.

Again, the most terrifying thing about the film is the reality that these children can exist. They do exist. And what if it were your child? There is an inherent perception of innocence when it comes to children that serves as a buffer zone or mode of defense in these circumstances. Who really wants to accuse a child of cold-blooded murder? 

The film has two drawbacks: First, Nancy Kelly (who plays Rhoda's mother, Christine) gives an over-the-top, exhaustive performance. It doesn't help that she's saddled with an implausible and weak subplot which aims to explain why Rhoda is the way she is. And I'm not sure I ever believe she is Rhoda's mother. Kelly gives Christine an ice-queen like demeanor, which takes the element of surprise away from the audience when we find that she begins to suspect her daughter. From the beginning of the film Kelly looks suspicious of everyone! Second, the ending was disappointing and abrupt. I won't say much else about it.

But the strengthens of the film far outweigh the weaknesses. There are several Oscar-caliber performances: Henry Jones as heckling, dim-witted janitor (link below between he and Rhoda); Evelyn Varden as the unsuspecting, domineering landlord Monica Breedlove, and (as mentioned above) Eileen Heckart as the grief-stricken, inebriated mother of the murdered boy.

Below is a link for the film:

Rhoda vs. LeRoy