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One of my all time favorites.

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

"Little Caesar" director Mervyn LeRoy's controversial film "The Bad Seed" concerns a bright, well-behaved, 8-year old girl who qualifies as a sociopath because she displays no qualms about killing anybody that interferes with her lifestyle. Nevertheless, she maintains an innocence that nobody could impugn on the surface of things. This Academy Award nominated melodrama came about after novelist William Marsh wrote "The Bad Seed" in 1954 and the Broadway play written by Maxwell Anderson followed. The idea that such a youngster could commit such murderous acts is still rather sensational, and it wasn't until 1985 when television finally caught up with it and produced it as a made-for-television movie. Of course, neither LeRoy nor his scenarist John Lee Mahin, best known for "Scarface" and "Quo Vadis," could depict the grisly killings in complete detail owing to the rules of the Production Code Administration. The cast is good, especially Nancy Kelly, Patty McCormack, Henry Jones, and Eileen Heckart. Of course, Patty McCormack stands out because she has to convince us that she could perpetuate these crimes. Nancy Kelly suffers throughout because she isn't sure that she wasn't an orphan, and things get complicated for her because she discovers that her cute light girl is in fact a murderer. The initial evidence comes out after Rhoda Penmark (Patty McCormack) grows incensed that another school mate--Claude Daigle--has won the spelling bee contest that she believed that she should have won. Later, the school that Patty attends takes the students on a field trip near a lake, and the little boy drowns under mysterious circumstances. Mind you, this tragedy takes a drastic toll on Claude's mother, Hortense (Eileen Heckart of "Heartbreak Ridge"), and she visits the Penmarks and tries to extract every bit of information that she can get out of Rhoda about Claude's last hours alive. Meantime, the man who serves as a groundskeeper, LeRoy Jessup (Henry Jones of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"), suspects that Rhoda is a little dastard, and the two have a contentious relationship until Rhoda's well-meaning mother Christine (Nancy Kelly) warns him to back off. Imagine her surprise after she finds the spelling bee medal in Rhoda's belongings and later suspects that her darling daughter killed the groundskeeper. Naturally, Christine cannot handle this revelation any more than she can deal with the news that she was a orphan taken in by a kindly couple. The chief problem with LeRoy's adaptation is its reliance on standard-issue theatrical staging of the action. The film confines most of the action to the Penmark's rental apartment, occasionally going outside so Rhoda and Jessup can have their quiet confrontations. Altogether, despite the drawback of static staging, "The Bad Seed" hasn't lost any of its potency, and Patty McCormack is first-rate as the homicidal little girl. Although he doesn't have a major role, William Hopper walks in and out of the action as Christine's husband and Rhoda's father who has left them to take a job in Washington, D.C., in the Pentagon. The ending is a real chiller, too!

THE BAD SEED is a horror drama created in the noir atmosphere. Below the exaggerated melodrama and somewhat inconclusive hysteria there is pretty good horror story conceived.The Penmarks are an average and happy American family. Mr. Penmark is a military man. He often leaves the family due to work. Mrs. Penmark and their little daughter remain at home and enjoy with neighbors and relatives. However, people begin to die under mysterious circumstances near the small and popular girl ....This horror can be seen as a big mischief. Therefore, if the crime is nice, it is difficult to accept the tragic death. Perception and perspective of a psychopathic child are quite intriguing and morbid. Some scenes look really scary, but the behavior of the protagonists in relation to the crime is pretty funny.Is horror in this story the result of major fraud in the past, or a simple coincidence? I think that's the real question that we did not get a valid response.Of course, the film has touched a topic related to antisocial personality disorder which could be characterized as a positive review. Despite a very deficient script, characterization is pretty good.Nancy Kelly as Christine Penmark is a big sacrifice of demons of the past and the horror that her own child causes. A mother who is infatuated, angry and murk resorts to a fatalistic act. Patty McCormack as Rhoda Penmark is an eight year old girl and the central figure in this film. I think her performance is very serious. One problematic child from the beginning to the end of the film. The attempt to present her character as innocent and playful is one of the flaws in this film.Eileen Heckart as Hortense Daigle is the mother of a boy who drowned. A woman who is devastated by the pain and sadness. Her performance is, to say at least, confusing, given the strange expression of jealousy and her comic drunkenness. Evelyn Varden as Monica Breedlove is a neighbor that with a lot of effort supports the apparent "farce". Henry Jones as Leroy Jessup is one scoundrel who plays with "fire".The story is not sincere. The end of the film is not ironic, on the contrary, the end is kind of happy.

The Bad Seed (1956) by Mervyn LeRoy is a great 1950's mystery thriller. the acting and camera work is great. The flow of the movie from scene to scene was hardly noticeable.One thing i really disliked about this film however, was the fact that it is a 1950's film set in black and white. While this is a bit different because in the fifties directors were shooting mostly in color, it really bothered me and really drained out all interest I had for the film. I do think that the black and white adds to the drama of the film, I just personally disliked it.Other than the black and white color theme, this film was overall pretty good and would recommend it to anyone who likes more modern black and whites.

A great film about the psychopathic Rhoda. Although some acting leaves something to be desired, the film still holds up well. It is surprising how suspenseful some scenes are 60 years later. I would think that it would not hold up well to a contemporary audience, and although some aspects don't, the film as a whole really does. Perhaps one of the more memorable scenes is when Monica and Christine both incoherently talk to themselves after seeing a man burned alive. The overlapping sound was just unnerving. The ending of this film shows evidence of the production code of the time. The clear good coming out better than evil felt bland. Although I still enjoyed the film, I would love to have seen the unhampered result.