Watch A Child Is Waiting For Free

Sick Product of a Sick System

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

"What does normal mean, anyway? He might be a bit on the slow side, but my boy Forrest is going to get the same opportunities as everyone else. He's not going to some special school to learn to how to re-tread tires." Now, who would have thought a movie was made that could enlighten us about the kind of destiny little Forrest escaped from thanks to his mother's iron-clad determination."A Child is Waiting" is set in a mental institution for troubled and emotionally disturbed children, and directed by John Cassavetes. It was his third movie following "Shadows" and "Too Late Blues", but didn't have the same impact and was inevitably overshadowed by his more revolutionary "Faces", "Husbands", you know, typical Cassavetes. The film might be a little too 'classic' and structured but the independent movies' pioneer has never been a structured storyteller anyway; his sense of structure was of emotions and instincts.And I guess I could see why, of all the directors, he was selected for such 'heavy' material. The documentary-like aspect of "A Child is Waiting" calls for an eye that already proved its acuteness to spot the vulnerability of the human soul without the use of cinematic tricks. The film renders with more or less efficiency the harrowing pain and discomfort the spectacle of mental handicap can inspire, with shades of optimism carried by these kids' smiles and attempts to learn. Made in 1963, it is as modern as if it dealt with today's kids. The opening credits show children's drawings and we can see they don't differ much from what kids born in the 2000's would draw.But all these efforts to hit a universally and timelessly sensitive chord can't distract from the fact that the film was a box-office failure.This is a movie whose making was unfortunately derailed by a growing antagonism between producer Stanley Kramer and Cassavetes. And by starring Burt Lancaster as the director of the institution, Dr. Clark, Judy Garland as Jean Hansen, the newly hired teacher and the screenplay being written by Abby Mann, the film is torn between the didacticism of "Judgment by Nuremberg" and the emotionality of "Faces". Cassavetes disowned it, Kramer wished they could have transcended that barrier of disagreement for the sake of that profound and haunting issue. As much as a Cassavetes' fan I consider myself, I appreciate the point made by Kramer. This is a film too important to be disregarded because of cinematic considerations.Cassavetes has a point though. There are some elements that are overly dramatized and seem to be just made in order to extract the "right" emotions from us, Clark's heroic stand-up against the patronizing compassion of doctors and politicians who consider these kids as abnormal, or Hansen' misty-eyed compassion toward little Reuben. The acting is obviously well-intentioned and I can see sincerity in the way Lancaster and Garland approach their roles. Yet the film is never as powerful as when it just lets the camera roll and shows the kids acting normally within their abnormality. I've seen child acting in old movies and this film contains one of the greatest ever. In a film like "The Night of the Hunter", children play a pivotal role but they fail to convince you, here, maybe the mental condition works because the kids are playful or disillusioned, thus naturally indifferent to the camera eye.To some extent, the film reminded me of the movie "Freaks" in the sense that the protagonists were playing their roles and never really tried to act, to the point that they were deemed as freaks from the perspective of society but never the eye of Todd Browning or the viewers. Cassavetes achieves the same thing, when the kids try to 'play the game', it's less from the awareness that there's a camera, but because most of these kids really want to please the adults and overcome their handicap. But they're still confronted to the severe judgment of adults, parents and society, that's their tragedy, they're dependent on people's perceptions, even positive ones. We all do but at least, we have the privilege of reciprocity. Cassavetes tried to free the kids from that burden but his personal vision was contradicted by Kramer's: that discipline was the only way to shield these kids. And the soul of this conflict is Reuben who refuses to get off the car in the opening sequence.I don't know if the kid was really troubled or not, but he is in a worse condition because unlike some kids, he "looks" normal, so as the doctor said, he might be more likely to face rejection. Reuben also grows a fondness on Mrs. Hansen which he sees like a second mother and she's caught in a situation where she's tempted to become a loving model but then decides to call his mother played by Gena Rowlands. Rowlands, Cassavetes' wife and muse elevates the film through her five-minute monologue about guilt poisoning a mother's heart when she decides to leave her child. The problem isn't about love, whatever it is, sooner or later, love is compromised and the kid is lost anyway. In a way, she proves Clark's point about the necessity of an institution, the lesser of two evils.Which takes me back to that shift between Kramer and Cassavetes, it is quite interesting, it's like the film reflected its own polarizing subject, I don't think I would agree that these kids could grow normal without the help of adults and a mental structure, but again, Cassavetes works through emotions, and with his sharp filmmaking, manages to elicit powerful performances from these children. The film is never as good as when it deals with emotional rather than trying to be too preachy for its own good. The point it tries to make is honorable, but the camera of Cassavetes handles the hardest part.

Emotionally disturbed Judy Garland (as Jean Hansen) gets a job looking after children at the Crawthorne State Mental Hospital and Training School. A former music teacher, Ms. Garland becomes attached to 12-year-old Bruce Ritchey (as Reuben Widdicombe) and clashes with psychiatrist boss Burt Lancaster (as Matthew Clark). This eventually leads to a crisis, but both Garland and young Ritchey grow from the experience. Working with the bond formed by "Reuben" and Garland, Mr. Lancaster also learns something. Garland directs the children in a Thanksgiving play, and another chapter in Ritchey's life unfolds...This was the first of two final feature films for Garland, though she continued to be taped and filmed in many fine appearances. Both "A Child Is Waiting" and "I Could Go on Singing" take into consideration Garland's emotional state and musical abilities; here, her rough edges become part of the characterization. Lancaster and Garland do not disappoint, but the real treat is watching the nearly hidden away story and performances of parents Steven Hill (as Ted Widdicombe) and Gena Rowlands (Sophie), a realistic couple who love their children but make mistakes. Of course, this description fits any set of parents...There are some concerns here with editing - one of the problems between filmmakers Stanley Kramer and John Cassavetes that has been documented publicly - mostly, this leads to confusion about exactly when "Reuben" arrived at which institution. And, some unnecessary pity and cuteness can occasionally be felt. Otherwise, this is a fine social conscious-raising drama, for the time. Presently, most of the institutionalized individuals depicted herein show little reason not to be back in their regular communities, with their parents and peers. Everyone loses when we exclude people who are different, for that reason alone.******* A Child Is Waiting (1/14/63) John Cassavetes ~ Judy Garland, Burt Lancaster, Bruce Ritchey, Steven Hill

A Child Is Waiting. What a wonderful title. It alone emits the feelings the film does. There are moments when we feel as if the film is going to take off into a flight of elatedness in its music, but the nature of the film in Cassavetes's eyes, Cassavetes not having been given a great deal of trust during the film's production, joins like a backdrop and we are reminded of the right, and occasional necessity, film has to reality. He certainly drew beautiful work out of Judy Garland. I see so many real people in her performance.This, however, is not the film that Cassavetes initially made. Cassavetes wanted to make a film about the hidden, twisted beauty of a mentally handicapped child, that adults have less tolerance, patience, and basic wisdom that retarded children can have. Producer Stanley Kramer had other, more cautious, less daring thoughts. In his re-editing, he fashioned from Cassavetes's cut a film about the loneliness and pitiful existence of mentally handicapped people, and that the only place for them is in an institution. It would've been quite fascinating had Cassavetes been granted more trust by Kramer and screenwriter Abby Mann. Nevertheless, with this history behind this movie kept in mind, maybe one can find even more clarity in what is communicated. Perhaps both Cassavetes and Kramer had truth to their perspectives. Perhaps this is a very unique cinematic effect that has come from this very unorthodox film. If they'd been able to reach an agreement, their views could've combined and made a truly profound film.

**SOME SPOILERS**Hard hitting as well as moving story about a subject matter that at the time, 1963, was almost never mentioned even by those affected by it afflicting a family member, much less made into a major motion picture: mental retardation. As the movie "A Child Is Waiting" begins we see 12 year-old Reuben, Bruce Ritchey, left alone by his father Mr.Ted Widdicombe, Steven Hill, at the steps of a school for the mentally retarded Looking terribly confused and feeling lost. Reuben is borderline retarded which is the worst kind of mental retardation that a young boy like him can suffer from. Since even though Reuben has the mind of a five year old he can still understand that he's different from other normal boys and girls that he went to school with. Even worse Reuben can understand that he's been abandoned by those who love him his parents Ted and Sophie Widdicombe, Gena Rowland.The school is run by psychiatrist Dr. Ben Clark, Burt Lancaster, who can be both as sensitive as a Mother Theresa as well as tough as a US Marine drill sergeant to the boys and girls in the school. It's later when Jean Hansen, Judy Garland, shows up for a job as a music teacher that little Reuben takes a very strong liking toward her. Miss. Hansen immediately connects with Reuben as a surrogate mother who by paying too much attention towards him has her ignoring the other children that's in her class.The movie goes deep into exploring as well as enlightening the audience on what mental retardation not only is but also how so many people back in the early 1960's knew so little about it. The film shows how Miss. Hansen has good but at the same time naively misplaced feeling for those suffering from that disability. Dr. Clark sees right away that Miss. Hansen's feeling for Reuben will only drive him more into the shell that he's already in and warns her not to, which she does anyway, have his mother come over to see him. Which ends with Reuben having an emotional breakdown and then running away from the school grounds.Reuben being found by the local police and brought back to the school has a very distraught Miss. Hansen, who holds herself responsible for what he did, offered to resign her post at he school as music teacher. Instead she's graciously given a second chance by Dr. Clark to stay on in him knowing, in her treatment of Reuben, that her heart is in the right place. Miss. Hansen stopped babying Reuben and started treating him like all the other students in her class and with that he stopped feeling like he was helpless and unable to function on the outside, as well as in the school,on his own. That lead the young boy to finally open up and be able to communicate with both his teachers and the other students in the school.A difficult movie to watch but that in no way takes away the powerful impact that "A Child Is Waiting" has on those watching it. Were and Miss. Hansen are shown by Dr. Clark what happens to children who are overly protected from the world and people around them by those who love them by not letting them go out in the world and live meaningful lives to what ever level their limited mental capacity will bring them.There's a very disturbing but effective scene in an adult sanitarium for the mentally retarded where we see the unfortunates there who were coddled by their parents, like Miss. Hansen was coddling Reuben, who were left on their own when their parents died or were to old and infirm to take care of them anymore. Unlike young children like Reuben they became so severely retarded that there was no chance for them to ever recover. Director John Cassavetes is seen as one of the sanitarium inmates walking around aimlessly waving his hands and talking to himself in an Alfred Hitchcock-like cameo in the film.Burt Lancaster is at his usual best as the hard but well meaning Dr. Clark. Newcomer 12 year-old Bruce Ritchey is both touching and tragic as the retarded young boy who finds a home and family at the school that makes him for the first time in his short life really feel wanted. But it's the former child star and singing sensation Judy Garland as the very sensitive and understanding but somewhat naive music teacher Miss. Hansen who want's to find a meaning and reason to her life, by helping others, thats the real star in "A Child is Waiting". Judy Garland's Miss. Hansen really stands out in the movie as she learns that love if used with emotion not wisdom can be like a double-edge sword. For love to work effectively,like with Reuben,you have to let your mind override your feelings for it to succeed on whom ever your directing it on.