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The Bad Seed Overview:

The Bad Seed (1956) was a Drama - Horror Film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and produced by Mervyn LeRoy.

SYNOPSIS

A suspenseful thriller about a mother who slowly comes to the ghastly conclusion that her eight-year-old daughter is responsible for a string of brutal murders. Kelly was awarded an Oscar nomination for her strong portrayal of a woman who also discovers that the recurring nightmare she's been having is rooted in her past. Based on Maxwell Anderson's play, this picture was the inspiration for 1994's The Good Son, as well as the 1985 TV movie of the same name.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Academy Awards 1956 --- Ceremony Number 29 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best ActressNancy KellyNominated
Best Supporting ActressEileen HeckartNominated
Best Supporting ActressPatty McCormackNominated
Best CinematographyHal RossonNominated
See More Oscar Winners

The Bad Seed BlogHub Articles:

THE BAD SEED (1956)

By Terry on Feb 21, 2019 From Stardust and Shadows

Some films don’t  sit in areas of   style or content that fit a particular genre. THE BAD  SEED (1956) is thought to be Horror film,   a Film Noir or  a thriller.  Where  it fits  in the canon is not important only that it is  a strong film yet not to everyone’s taste.  THE B... Read full article

The Bad Seed (1956)

By Summer Reeves on Feb 13, 2017 From Serendipitous Anachronisms

The Bad Seed (1956) 13 Monday Feb 2017 Posted by Summer Reeves in 1950s, Cinema, Crime, Drama ≈ 4 Comments TagsCinema, Crime, Drama, Movies with Cute Clothes, Philosophy, Psychology Darling Readers, do you have one of those films? ... Read full article

The Bad Seed (1956)

By Beatrice on Apr 26, 2016 From Flickers in Time

The Bad Seed Directed by Mervyn LeRoy John Lee Mahin from a play by Maxwell Anderson and a novel by William March 1956/USA Warner Bros. Repeat viewing/Netflix rental I don’t find this movie scary anymore but, boy, do I love it. Rhoda Penmark (Patty McCormack) is the kind of eight-year-old I... Read full article

The Bad Seed (1956) (2)

on Feb 6, 2014 From Journeys in Classic Film

I first saw The Bad Seed in my high school film class and it was love at first sight.  Sure, it’s got campy written all over it, heavy-handed acting and characters breaking into monologue, but the characters and plot keep everything from going completely off the rails.  The film is remarkabl... Read full article

Classic Films in Focus: THE BAD SEED (1956)

By Jennifer Garlen on Oct 16, 2012 From Virtual Virago

The Bad Seed (1956) ranks pretty high on the list of classic "evil children" movies, although it's not exactly a straightforward horror film. Director Mervyn LeRoy, working from a stage adaptation of William March's original novel, presents the story more as dark melodrama, like Mildred Pierce (1945... Read full article

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The Bad Seed Quotes:

Emory Wages: Well, I'll be a middle-aged mongoloid from Memphis.
Christine Penmark: Did she kill him? But she's my little girl. And I love her. Oh my baby, my baby!
Rhoda: You tell lies like that, you won't go to Heaven when you die!
Christine Penmark: You hit him with the shoes, didn't you? You hit him with the shoes, that's how he got those half moon marks on his forehead and on his hands. Answer me Rhoda. ANSWER ME!
Rhoda: You figured out something that never happened and so it's all lies!
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The Bad Seed Facts
Warner Bros. production notes for the film reported that three endings were shot. According to a Nov 1955 Los Angeles Times , the end of the film was kept secret and the last five pages of the script were not distributed until ready to shoot.
The original ending had Rhoda surviving, and her mother dying. The Motion Picture Production Code in effect at the time, however, required that "Crime shall never be presented in such a way as to throw sympathy with the crime as against law and order." The usual interpretation of this was that criminals weren't allowed to "get away with it." Because of this, the ending was changed: Rhoda's mother survived being shot in the head, and Rhoda herself was killed by a bolt of lighting by a lake.
Rosalind Russell was originally considered for the role of the mother (played by 'Nancy Kelly'), until the studio decided to go with the Broadway cast.
The original Broadway production of "The Bad Seed" by Maxwell Anderson opened on December 8, 1954 and ran for 334 performances.Nancy Kelly won the 1955 Tony Award for Actress in a Drama for "The Bad Seed" and recreated her role in the movie. Patty McCormack, Eileen Heckart, Evelyn Varden, Henry Jones and Joan Croydon also recreated their stage roles in the movie version.
The film marked the motion picture debut of Broadway actress Joan Croydon who played Claudia Fern. Although she had also appeared on television, this may have marked her only feature film appearance.
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