Patty McCormack Plants Plenty of Ominous Trickery as The Bad Seed

 

            Offering one of the most original and entertaining thrillers from classic Hollywood, 1956’s The Bad Seed from Warner Bros. provides a compelling excursion into the innate nature of evil. Based on the hit 1954 Broadway success by Maxwell Anderson (from the same year’s praised novel by William March), the unusual story centers around eight-year-old Rhonda Penmark, a bright, perfectly poised child whose waters run deeper than her appearance conveys, to the dismay of her progressively concerned mother, Christine, whose suspicions concerning her daughter’s involvement a tragedy at a school outing mount as the tension-filled plot reaches an astounding climax. Helmed with panache by veteran writer/director/producer Mervyn LeRoy, who wisely focuses on allowing his gifted cast, most of them recreating their acclaimed Broadway performances, to put over the florid dramatics with the fervor and focus that informed their initial thespian antics, in the process creating a colorful, fascinating cinematic work that stays close to its theater origins, but avoids the staleness that often accompanies these stage-to-screen adaptations, instead bringing the scenario (via John Lee Mahin’s adept screenplay) to life with such melodramatic, sometimes campy relish during the 129-minute runtime that, enhanced by Alex North’s macabre-tinged score and Harold Rosson’s moody B&W cinematography, The Bad Seed has remained a fresh, eerily satisfying viewing experience for close to seventy years.

            For LeRoy, who started with stage and vaudeville work as a youth before beginning in silent pictures as an actor, then becoming a writer and director, Seed cemented his strong return to Warner Bros. after first making his name in the 1930’s at the studio directing such highly-regarded classics as Little Caesar, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang and Gold Diggers of 1933. Moving over to a lengthy tenure at MGM, starting with producer credits, including The Wizard of Oz, before continuing as director of merit with titles such as Waterloo Bridge, Random Harvest (his sole Best Director Oscar nomination), Quo Vadis, LeRoy would depart MGM after 1954’s Rose Marie to return to WB in style stepping in to codirect Mister Roberts with John Ford. The massive success of Roberts in 1955 lent LeRoy the cache concerning his next film option and, after catching Seed on Broadway he was determined to bring it to life on the screen with the same transfixing heighten sense of reality the talented cast thrilled audiences with onstage. LeRoy is clearly invested in making sure the unsettling elements of the scenario slowly but deftly build, in the process drawing the viewer into the eeriness of the piece, then holding them rapt once sinister plot points are finally revealed and the theatrics reach a hypnotic fever pitch, which LeRoy oversees with aplomb to allow for maximum dramatic impact. Following Seed, LeRoy would continue with varying degrees of success at WB, with No Time for Sergeants, The FBI Story and Gypsy accounting for his most commercially viable late-career work. LeRoy would retire by the end of the 1960’s, then gain the prestigious Irving G. Thalberg Award in 1976 from the Academy, after previously receiving, just after Seed, the Golden Globes’ Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1957, before his passing in 1987 at age 86.

        Nancy Kelly, born in 1921 in Lowell, Massachusetts, started as a child model and appeared in several silent films, then worked on radio before successfully starting her leading lady career in films at the tender age of 17 in 1938 with John Ford’s Submarine Patrol. Making a strong impression opposite Tyrone Power in one of the following year’s biggest hits, Jesse James, Kelly would continue apace in movies until 1946, before moving over to stage work, landing her biggest success with her emotionally overwhelming work in Seed, which brought her a Best Actress Tony Award. In recreating her powerful portrayal for film, Kelly holds nothing back, fully depicting the mounting dread Christine encounters as she begins to unfold the mystery of the center of the macabre storyline; this full-frontal acting approach has led to criticism for what some feel is over-the-top emoting of the most florid and campy nature. However, Kelly always appears fully ‘in the moment’ while illustrating Christine’s plight, which indeed could send a mother over the edge once she figures out the score, as opposed to acting in a synthetic, unspontaneous manner. Kelly carefully modulates the characterization, showing Christine as a warm, sensible housewife early on, before depicting the unraveling of the poor woman’s mindset during the story’s progression, with Kelly bringing undeniable force to her challenging assignment, whether one reads an entertaining hammy quality in her emoting or not. Seed would represent Kelly’s last and most enduring screen role, with the star thereafter taking time off to raise a daughter, while making sporadic television and stage appearances, before her passing in 1995 at age 73.  

With a film debut in 1951 and work as a regular on television’s hit Mama starting in 1953, the same year as her Broadway debut, Patty McCormack had already amassed significant credits prior to her most famous role as Rhoda. McCormack has mentioned she had a strange affinity with the character and instinctually knew how to delve into the darker aspects of Rhoda’s psychic from the first time, at nine years old, she played the role on Broadway, after yearning for the part with a passion mirroring Rhoda’s desire to win that penmanship medal. Transferring her landmark performance to film, McCormack shows a remarkable self-assurance in front of the camera perfectly suited to Rhoda’s confident nature, convincing a viewer this child is capable of doing anything to achieve her aims without a thought in regard to moral standards. McCormack creatively balances Rhoda’s self-possessed moments with more brazen suggestions of her odious makeup, such as in her confrontations with the slimy janitor Leroy, and during Rhoda’s biggest dramatic scene with Christine, wherein the focused McCormack displays thespian skills rare to find in an actor at any age. Following this indelible career highlight, McCormack has admirably been able to continue building her list of credits, with All Mine to Give and 1958’s Kathy O’ follow-up screen endeavors during her brief reign as a child star, then much work on television and film into adulthood, including 1995’s Mommy, with McCormack in the title role offering a take of a Rhoda-like adult, work in a couple of major critical hits, Frost/Nixon and 2012’s The Master, and cleverly returning to the Seed arena as Dr. March in a 2018 remake and 2022 sequel.

Eileen Heckart, after firmly establishing her on stage via Picnic and Seed, was witnessing a sterling entry into movies in 1956 with her debut in Miracle in the Rain, then great work in Somebody Up There Likes Me and, in a lighter vein, Bus Stop complementing her astounding turn as the distraught Hortense Daigle. Heckart throws herself into the tragic role with full dedication, adding humor and disturbing emotional complexity as she delves into the part, resulting in both surprise moments of laughter and, sometimes immediately following these, explosive drunken outbursts as the bereft but canny Hortense demands to know more about the devasting circumstances tied to her only child’s downfall, making a viewer feel pity and uncomfortableness concerning Mrs. Daigle’s actions, thanks to Heckart’s unbridled, fearless emoting that puts the film on another level artistically, specifically in Mrs. Daigle’s electrifying final moment in the story, wherein she confronts Christine for the truth one last time to unforgettable dramatic effect. Following her breakthrough 1956, Heckart would continue to thrive in films, television and the theater winning an Oscar in 1973 for recreating her sage and funny work in Butterflies Are Free and, after several nominations, an Emmy Award for her guest appearance on Love & War. Heckart would end her movie career in style playing Diane Keaton’s tough mother in the hit The First Wives Club, then score a final major success on stage in Kenneth Longeran’s The Waverly Gallery before passing in 2001 at age 82.

Reprising his Broadway role as the mischievous, slovenly Leroy, Henry Jones, who began in films in 1943’s This is the Army, also gained status as a character actor, going on to become a recognizable, reliable player in many movie, television and stage productions. Sharing most of his scenes with McCormack, the two create a creepy dynamic as they go at each other in cat-and-mouse fashion until Rhoda has enough of the outmatched Leroy’s shenanigans, with Jones’ juicy histrionics in these moments responsible for much of the levity found in the film, before he finds teasing Rhoda to be no laughing matter after all. Evelyn Varden, a year after her memorable depiction of a friendly but overbearing busybody in Night of the Hunter, also offers bits of humor and enjoyably expansive playing as the psychoanalytical landlady Monica Breedlove, while Joan Croydon adds plenty of heft to her work as Miss Fern, Rhoda’s tactful but wary and hesitant teacher who with look and gesture seems to know all about the tyke’s least desirable and most mischievous traits. Of those not from the original cast, handsome William Hopper, bookending the film as the loving, sincere husband and father, brings earnestness to his brief appearance, Paul Fix exudes benevolence as Christine’s caring father, Frank Cady is touching as the forlorn Mr. Daigle and Jesse White lends his amiable persona as a guest of Christine’s.

          The Bad Seed would become a surprise box-office hit upon release in September of 1956, bolstered by strong word-of-mouth concerning the uniquely baleful premise of the film and solid critical response, specifically for the performances of Kelly, McCormick and Heckart. Heckart would go on to win the Golden Globe for her trenchant work, while also gaining an Oscar nomination along with costars Kelly and McCormack, who at eleven was one of the youngest performers ever nominated for an Academy Award. Television broadcasts and a viable presence on physical media via VHS, DVD and Blu-ray has allowed Seed to capture the imagination of new generations of classic movie lovers and those interested in unorthodox mysteries, while remakes of the source material and screen variations on the same themes largely failed to hit the mark The Bad Seed so adeptly manages to do with a panache that’s enabled this one-of-a-kind cinematic experience to remain fresh and resonant with audiences regardless of how many times one views the abundant array of dramatics onscreen as Rhoda intently does her thing. 

          And a fond farewell to Samantha Eggar, who passed away on October 15^th at age 86. The London-born Eggar started her career on stage and via a 1962 film debut, then made a major impact on a more global scale opposite Terrence Stamp in director William Wyler’s involving 1965 psychological drama/thriller The Collector. After winning impressive public and critical acclaim for the film, including Cannes Film Festival (with Stamp) and Golden Globe awards and her sole Oscar nomination, Eggar would enjoy a nice run as a preeminent leading lady onscreen, including Cary Grant’s final film, Walk, Don’t Run, then gracing the fantastical Doctor Dolittle and gaining one of her best roles in 1970’s The Molly Maguires. The 1970’s would witness a surprising shift in Eggar’s film output, with her becoming a key figure in several horror offerings of the era, including The Dead Are Alive, The Brood and Demonoid, while also appearing in the 1976 all-star mystery The Seven-Per-Cent Solution and regularly on television (including a 1973 remake of Double Indemnity) before an early silver screen exit with 1999’s The Astronaut’s Wife. R.I.P. to a lovely, talented presence onscreen, and one not adverse to taking risks therein, Samantha Eggar.