A Child Is Waiting
Director: John Cassavetes
Year Released: 1963
Rating: 3.0
At a facility for mentally retarded children, a new hire (Judy Garland) clashes with the school psychologist (Burt Lancaster) over the way to deal with the difficult kids, particularly one boy named Reuben who is a borderline case. Lancaster and Garland do a nice job with their respective bad cop/good cop roles (or strict but fair father-figure and bleeding heart mother-figure), and the picture - directed without an ounce of exploitation by Cassavetes - seems to be a caring ode to educators everywhere. The humanistic point that all people, regardless of their intellect or mental state, have worth is positive, although a lot of the blame seems to be placed on the parents (particularly bad mom Gena Rowlands)....
