A Child Is Waiting

A Child Is Waiting

Date watched- 18th July 2010 and 17th October

Genre; Drama
Year; 1963 (Black and white)
Running Time; 1hour 40 minutes
Director; John Cassavetes
Written By; Abby Mann
Actors; Burt Lancaster and Judy Garland

Acting 5/5
Keeping my attention 3/4
Visuals/Direction 4/5
Story/Plot 4/6
Total 16

Plot

Judy Garland plays a new teacher, Jean Hansen, in a school for disabled children. While she is there she bonds with an autistic boy named Reuben, whose parents felt there was no option but to send Reuben there and have not seen him since. Despite this every Wednesday (visiting day) Reuben sits waiting for his mother. As a result of what she sees Jean tries to convince the ‘head’ of the school, played by Burt Lancaster, to get in touch with Reuben’s parents so that they will come to see him. The head is not impressed. Will Jean get her way, will Reuben ever come out of his shell and will his parents ever see beyond his disability?

My Personal Views

I have never seen a John Cassavetes movie before in my life; however when I was perusing the titles in my local HMV when I started this blog this title caught my eye. Not only did it star Judy Garland, who I have long admired since watching a whole host of her movies on TCM some years ago, but also I am a huge fan of the movie ‘The Wendall Baker Story’ (written and co-directed by Luke Wilson), which I own on DVD and during the special features Cassavetes is mentioned on numerous occasions. So I thought ‘why not?’ and I do not regret this decision. Judy Garland (in her penultimate role) delivers what I can only describe as an Oscar worthy performance. Garland looks withdrawn and pale but still has a warmth and smile to light a room (this movie was released in 1963 and Garland died on 22nd June 1969). This is an unglamorous performance for Garland but an honest one. Even with a difficult subject matter all of the cast manage to produce a convincing and touching interpretation. The way in which this is shot is also beautiful and flattering to the subject matter.
I can only wonder if the children while singing with Judy Garland ever understood the enormity of this, it isn’t everyone in the world who can say they have sung with Judy Garland now can they?
This movie as a whole is moving but not too in your face about it, I have to admit it did bring a small tear to my eye.
I have an uncle who has brain damage and I can only wonder what would have happened to him in his life if he had been taken to a school like the one in this film, would it have helped him in any way or would closing him off from the world have stopped him from achieving the things he has. Maybe that’s why I felt the story more than most might, but I’m sure that anyone would get the sentiment of this story as a whole.


Outcome

So despite this movie being poignant and filled with genuinely moving performances I don’t know if I would sit down to watch this movie on a wet Sunday. This sort of movie is one you would watch if you felt melancholy and I do not know if this could really be a permanent fixture in my collection. I applaud Cassavetes for taking on such a tough subject and I only wish that this movie had gained more attention over the years, until I saw it in a shop shelf I had never heard of it before. So by all means give it a go. I had to watch this twice to get the full affect and I am glad I did so as I may have let it drag me down a little too much the first time. This movie has however defiantly made me want to see more of Cassavetes work and I will see if I can add it in anywhere else in this a-z project.

I felt sad after watching this and it made me think a lot about the world and how even though it has come a long way in forty years locking away disability is still an option many would prefer. I remember children at my own school that had learning difficulties and how much harassment they received from other pupils. Despite us being in the 21st century diversity and disability are still issues that need addressing, at the end of the day we are all people no matter what we look like, where we come from or how we look at the world.