On B List of Movie Reviews

(For optimum viewing, adjust the zoom level of your browser to 125%.)


The Bad Seed (1956)

Rate: 2
Viewed: 5/14

BadS
5/14: What should've been a simple 90-minute black-and-white horror film, The Bad Seed is a 130-minute non-stop talky picture with one of the worst, most laughable deus ex machina endings I've ever seen.

Then, there's an added unnecessary finish by having all of the players bowing to the audience for the final curtain call before proceeding to show Nancy Kelly spanking (what?) Patty McCormack for fun.

Regardless, the pace is slow and uneven; the characters will say their lines as quickly as possible and then slow down their cadence when they have shorter lines. This technique makes it obvious that the film is a theatrical play.

Astounded as I am at the fact that three actresses of the cast were Oscar-nominated, they, save for Nancy Kelly who's all right but nothing to get gaga over, are terrible. Eileen Heckart, who plays Hortense Diagle, overacts, chews too much screen time, is too theatrical for her own good, and won't go away. Ditto for Evelyn Varden and Henry Jones as Breedlove and Leroy, respectively. William Hopper, who plays the colonel, is a perfect candidate to appear in Plan 9 from Outer Space.

The worst acting performance goes to Patty McCormack. She's a shining example of what an awful child actor looks like with no acting experience. It's one of the most pathetic portrayal of how a bad seed should behave. In fact, the apt title of the film ought to be The Spoiled Seed.

And for the ending...my goodness. Let me make an educated guess how it happened this way. Because the characters had talked for so long, the director, Mervyn LeRoy, ran out of time and money, so he opted for a hasty ending for the sake of tying up the loose ends. Anyway, I blame the film's failure on him. No wonder why Alfred Hitchcock turned down the chance to direct this turkey.

All in all, due to the circular conversations, theatrical acting, and complete lack of horror, The Spoiled Seed is a BIG BORE.