consider shocking in it day ( largely on the basis of pr ) and the bad seed remain little more than an interesting relic today . yes and i saw the film on it initial release ( i be 12 ) . even then and it do not work a a film . from all account and it do work on broadway a a play . nancy kelly and patty mccormack and henry jones and eileen heckart reprise their stage role here . interest that only heckart understood the different requirement for film acting and stage acting . her two brief scene be the only honest ( and heartbreaking ) moment in the film . even director mervyn leroy apparently hadn not the professionalism to alter the others stage ( and stagy ) performances that have be set in stone during the broadway run . nancy kelly odd and idiosyncratic sing song line delivery be pathetically attention get . watch me act the hell out of this and she seem to whine in every scene . bang the table repeatedly while rhoda play that infernal piano a smoke billow outside and the yardman scream be not act . it indicate . it comment . but then and kelly every on screen moment seem to be comment on her character plight and rather than inhabit that character . a an archival record of her stage performance and it valuable in reveal a certain style of act that and in the 50 and be already become rapidly outdated . kelly never enjoy much of a film career and or a stellar stage career and for that matter . mccormack be effective and for the most part and until her big scene where she reveal the truth of what happen at the picnic . then and her limited acting skill be all too visible . she have two level represent phony sweetness and phony hysteric . phony sweetness ( when you know the kid be really a murderer ) play and for awhile . phony hysteric in a child psychopath be the wrong choice ( though it may have work well on stage ) . instead of jump from sweet to rage without any transitional step ( always one sign of a poor actor ) and a real psychopath would have use the moment to launch into tearful vulnerable plea for understand . a far more effective and subtle choice both for an actor and a psychopath ( all psychopath be actor and after all ) . henry jones portrayal veers too close to a baggy pant vaudeville comedian to be remotely plausible . jones be an excellent actor . but not here . ham caricature wasn not need represent real sympathy be . only eileen heckart deliver the good . the clash between her performance ( which be the real thing ) and the rest of the cast be startlingly obvious even to a 12 year old audience member . the bad seed couldn not work today or even a few year after it be make . it be never a great play . it rely completely on the shock value of it theme . on broadway and perhaps it most disturbing element be it end yet that be jettison for the film version because of the moral dictate of the time . in the play and mommy dy and rhoda survives to kill another day . what will you give me for a basket of kiss and daddy asks . i will give you a basket of hug . curtain . not here . instead and we be treat to a tack on end where rhoda ( in a noisy thunderstorm in the middle of the night and no less ) and sneak out of the house and onto the pier to retrieve what . that penmanship medal mommy throw back in the lake . one forget . it doesn not matter . the orchestra and sound effect department whip up a frenzy of a storm while little patty mccormack be require to what . walk . that it . then and boom . deus ex machina . god take care of the plot by obliterate the little actress and uh and rhoda and with a bolt of lightning . then the camera pan up into the tree . but wait . there more . cheapen an already cheap shot of a film even far and we must now sit through curtain call of the actor a they appear and smile and in the doorway of the penmark apartment . ( get the symbolism yet . penmark and penmanship medal . it be that kind of play . ) this bizarre sequence end with nancy kelly mock spank patty mccormack on the sofa . presumably so the presumably terrify audience can presumably return to their normal life after the presumed shock of this presumed thriller . even at 12 and i know i would be rip off . and the film look bad with age . a deservedly ignored anachronism .