A Child Is Waiting

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A Child Is Waiting
Promotional movie poster for the film
Directed by	John Cassavetes
Produced by	Stanley Kramer
Written by	Abby Mann
Starring	Burt Lancaster Judy Garland
Music by	Ernest Gold
Cinematography	Joseph LaShelle
Editing by	Gene Fowler, Jr. Robert C. Jones
Release date(s)	January 1963
Running time	104 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Preceded by	Too Late Blues
Followed by	Faces
IMDb profile

A Child Is Waiting is a 1963 MGM/United Artists film (BW, 104 minutes), starring Judy Garland and Burt Lancaster. It was the second film directed by John Cassavetes for the Hollywood studio system, and his third film overall. It was also the last film that he would make specifically for a film studio until Minnie and Moskowitz in 1971 (Husbands, which preceded Minnie and Moskowitz, was not initially financed by Columbia Pictures, even though they would provide financing and eventually release it).

1 Production History
2 Plot summary
3 Credits
4 Cast
5 References

[edit] Production History

The film itself had a troubled production history. Though Cassavetes was still under contract to Paramount Pictures, he was able to work out a deal that allowed him to work with producer Stanley Kramer on this film. His methods of working with actors and allowing them the freedom to interpret the emotional content of a scene for themselves caused a considerable amount of friction between Cassavetes and most of the cast and crew. In fact, screenwriter Abby Mann, who had been told that Cassavetes would completely improvise dialogue (which wasn't true), attended the filming to make sure that absolutely nothing was changed from his script.

Cassavetes also noted that his personal feelings toward the subject matter caused problems between himself and Kramer, which eventually led to Kramer re-editing the film behind Cassavetes' back. As Cassavetes once said in an interview, "The difference in the two versions is that Stanley's picture said that retarded children belong in institutions and the picture I shot said retarded children are better in their own way than supposedly healthy adults. The philosophy of his film was that retarded children are separate and alone and therefore should be in institutions with others of their kind. My film said that retarded children could be anywhere, any time, and that the problem is that we're a bunch of dopes, that it's our problem more than the kids'. The point of the original picture that we made was that there was no fault, that there was nothing wrong with these children except that their mentality was lower."^[1]

[edit] Plot summary

Judy Garland plays Jean Hansen, a pianist who is hired by Dr. Clark (Burt Lancaster) as a music teacher for mentally challenged children. Jean is not happy with Dr. Clark's methods of working with the children, and she eventually becomes emotionally attached to Reuben Whiddicombe (Bruce Ritchey). Dr. Clark realizes this, and forbids Jean from working directly with Reuben, fearing that it will cause jealousy between the children.

Though Jean threatens to leave, Dr. Clark suggests that she should continue her preparations for a Thanksgiving show in which all the children will perform. On the day of the show Reuben's father (Steven Hill) comes to transfer his son to a private school. When he hears Reuben haltingly recite a poem and then respond to the audience's applause, he better understands his son's desperate need to achieve something for himself.

[edit] Credits

Produced by: Stanley Kramer
Directed by: John Cassavetes
Associate Producer: Philip Langner
Screenplay by: Abby Mann
Music by: Ernest Gold
Photography: Joseph LaShelle
Editor: Gene Fowler, Jr., Robert C. Jones
Art Direction: Rudolph Sternad
Set decoration: Joseph Kish
Song "Snowflake" by: Marjorie D. Kurtz
Poem "The Mist and I" by: Dixie Wilson
Filmed: January 1962 - April 1962 (Judy was 39 when filmed, and 40 when released)
Released: January 1963