The Bad Seed (1956)

A mother (Nancy Kelly) seemingly has the perfect little girl (Patty McCormack). She's well mannered, smart and loving. But slowly, the mother discovers to her horror that her daughter is a cold blooded psychotic murderess! Based on the play by Maxwell Anderson (by way of the novel by William March) and directed by Mervyn LeRoy (RANDOM HARVEST). The film was highly acclaimed and a big hit as was the Broadway play. Alas, it has not aged well. The film uses almost all of the original play's cast and with one exception, the performances are crude and play to the balcony. She may have won the Tony award for best actress and received an Oscar nomination for the movie but as the mother, Nancy Kelly is just awful with not a shred of sincerity or believability in her performance. The only actor who resembles an actual human being is Eileen Heckart as a grieving alcoholic mother, her pain and desperation very much in evidence. To appease the still active Production Code, the play's ending was changed so the evil are punished. With Henry Jones, Evelyn Varden, Paul Fix and William Hopper.