Bad Seed, The (1956)

Composer(s):
Alex North

Released in:
1956

Reviews

Alex North's chilling classic score turns 50!
by filmfactsman (March 4, 2006)
I can't say enough about this terrific soundtrack, one of the best of the Fifties. It's a score of depth and intensity which perfectly matches the suspense and tension the film generates. With subtle and imaginative strokes Mr. North has succeeded in creating music which successfully underlines the powerful drama--music which at the same time has intrinsic worth and brilliantly stands alone as well as in conjunction with the classic film. A recent DVD release of the movie is worth getting for the score alone as a CD of the RCA soundtrack has yet to be issued, but the film still packs a powerful punch.

Maxwell Anderson's stage play stunned and shocked Broadway audiences with its frighteningly real portrait of an eight-year-old murderess. How many parents took closer looks at their own children and wondered what they might be capable of? So strong was the impact of the play that the making of the screen version was almost devoid of the normal studio publicity and a synopsis of the story omitted the film's conclusion. The filming of "The Bad Seed" retained all the strength and brilliance of the original play and contains an originality in technique and performance that give it true classic stature. Patty McCormack is excellent as the cute but malevolent Rhoda, whose frilly dresses, devious politeness, and adorable blond pigtails mask her inner monstrousness. Henry Jones is also splendid as the slow witted, but fatefully perceptive handyman. As Rhoda's guilt-ridden mother, Nancy Kelly is excessively weepy, but very effective. And as Mrs. Dagle, the alcoholic mother of the drowned little boy, Eileen Heckhart overacts outrageously and is heartbreaking. Kelly, Heckhart (as well as McCormack) got Oscar nominations for their work, though the awards went to others. Alex North's non-nominated music score certainly deserved to be. A sequel to "The Bad Seed" would have seemed a good bet by Hollywood, though in some respects it's already been made in the form of "Pretty Poison" (1968), with Tuesday Weld and Anthony Perkins, a stunning film whose theme (and title) bares a strong relationship to this classic chiller.

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