writers_reign It's difficult not to praise this film too highly and one has to admire the professionalism of Burt Lancaster and Judy Garland both of whom found Cassavetes' directing style anathema yet persevered and turned out an unforgettable film. Whilst on the one hand it is sad verging on tragic that Garland was absent from the screen after I Could Go On Singing, released the same year (1963) as this, on the other hand we can rejoice that in her last decade as a film actress she appeared in three exceptional movies - A Star Is Born, Judgment At Nurenberg and ACIW - and one near-miss, I Could Go On Singing, all of them drawing heavily on her acting chops despite numbers 1 and 4 being ostensibly musicals. Whilst it's true that Hollywood has made a decent fist of 'non-commercial' subjects over the years - Pinky, Gentlemen's Agreement, Home Of The Brave, etc - even as late as 1963 children with euphemistic 'special needs' was still virgin territory and everyone involved in this production is due a vote of thanks.

ffreemon What is the message of this film? It is hard to watch all these kids who have been dealt a bad hand. One expects Burt Lancaster to pull out his automatic and start blasting bad guys. Eventually it becomes obvious this is not possible. But those of us raised by Hollywood expect miracle cures of at least some of these kids. The great ending involves a skit put on by the children for their parents. The kids are so brilliant, Judy Garland tries so hard to bring out their best. What is the message? You must play the hand you are dealt. A re-deal is not possible; life has no Mulligans. The kids do their very best and the parents enjoy their accomplishment with limited abilities. One of the actors has a striking resemblance to the girl who plays his daughter in the film; I bet she is his real daughter.

George Wright This black/white film from the early 1960's, directed by John Cassevetes, had a powerful impact on me almost 50 years later. A semi-documentary, it is honest and respectful and never condescending in its treatment of children with intellectual challenges. Most of all, it shows how adults (teachers and parents) can change in their perceptions and attitudes, thus making it easier for the children to be happy and to learn. The movie stars Bert Lancaster as Dr. Matthew Clark and Judy Garland as Jean Hansen. Clark is the devoted director of a school for the special needs children; his methods are controversial, because he was ahead of his time. Unfortunately, he didn't suffer fools gladly and had little patience for the officials who visit his school. Hansen is a new member of the staff who comes to feel that she has failed. And she has... until Dr. Clark takes her on a tour of a group of adults whose sheltered lives have made them totally helpless. This lesson is a turning point for the thirty-something Miss Hansen, whose life has been a series of false starts. The father of one of the boys, Reuben Widdicombe, also comes to the realization that he can take a positive and hopeful approach instead of feeling sorry for himself.The movie is very instructive as we see people coming to grips with their lives and abandoning the stereotypes. Finally, the children in the movie are a joy to watch. There is a scene near the end where the children stage a pageant for the parents, behaving as children do in these performances and bringing great joy to the audience. There is a valuable lesson in this: there are no normal or abnormal children, only children.

sol1218 **SOME SPOILERS**Hard hitting as well as moving story about a subject matter that at the time, 1963, was almost never mentioned even by those affected by it afflicting a family member, much less made into a major motion picture: mental retardation. As the movie "A Child Is Waiting" begins we see 12 year-old Reuben, Bruce Ritchey, left alone by his father Mr.Ted Widdicombe, Steven Hill, at the steps of a school for the mentally retarded Looking terribly confused and feeling lost. Reuben is borderline retarded which is the worst kind of mental retardation that a young boy like him can suffer from. Since even though Reuben has the mind of a five year old he can still understand that he's different from other normal boys and girls that he went to school with. Even worse Reuben can understand that he's been abandoned by those who love him his parents Ted and Sophie Widdicombe, Gena Rowland.The school is run by psychiatrist Dr. Ben Clark, Burt Lancaster, who can be both as sensitive as a Mother Theresa as well as tough as a US Marine drill sergeant to the boys and girls in the school. It's later when Jean Hansen, Judy Garland, shows up for a job as a music teacher that little Reuben takes a very strong liking toward her. Miss. Hansen immediately connects with Reuben as a surrogate mother who by paying too much attention towards him has her ignoring the other children that's in her class.The movie goes deep into exploring as well as enlightening the audience on what mental retardation not only is but also how so many people back in the early 1960's knew so little about it. The film shows how Miss. Hansen has good but at the same time naively misplaced feeling for those suffering from that disability. Dr. Clark sees right away that Miss. Hansen's feeling for Reuben will only drive him more into the shell that he's already in and warns her not to, which she does anyway, have his mother come over to see him. Which ends with Reuben having an emotional breakdown and then running away from the school grounds.Reuben being found by the local police and brought back to the school has a very distraught Miss. Hansen, who holds herself responsible for what he did, offered to resign her post at he school as music teacher. Instead she's graciously given a second chance by Dr. Clark to stay on in him knowing, in her treatment of Reuben, that her heart is in the right place. Miss. Hansen stopped babying Reuben and started treating him like all the other students in her class and with that he stopped feeling like he was helpless and unable to function on the outside, as well as in the school,on his own. That lead the young boy to finally open up and be able to communicate with both his teachers and the other students in the school.A difficult movie to watch but that in no way takes away the powerful impact that "A Child Is Waiting" has on those watching it. Were and Miss. Hansen are shown by Dr. Clark what happens to children who are overly protected from the world and people around them by those who love them by not letting them go out in the world and live meaningful lives to what ever level their limited mental capacity will bring them.There's a very disturbing but effective scene in an adult sanitarium for the mentally retarded where we see the unfortunates there who were coddled by their parents, like Miss. Hansen was coddling Reuben, who were left on their own when their parents died or were to old and infirm to take care of them anymore. Unlike young children like Reuben they became so severely retarded that there was no chance for them to ever recover. Director John Cassavetes is seen as one of the sanitarium inmates walking around aimlessly waving his hands and talking to himself in an Alfred Hitchcock-like cameo in the film.Burt Lancaster is at his usual best as the hard but well meaning Dr. Clark. Newcomer 12 year-old Bruce Ritchey is both touching and tragic as the retarded young boy who finds a home and family at the school that makes him for the first time in his short life really feel wanted. But it's the former child star and singing sensation Judy Garland as the very sensitive and understanding but somewhat naive music teacher Miss. Hansen who want's to find a meaning and reason to her life, by helping others, thats the real star in "A Child is Waiting". Judy Garland's Miss. Hansen really stands out in the movie as she learns that love if used with emotion not wisdom can be like a double-edge sword. For love to work effectively,like with Reuben,you have to let your mind override your feelings for it to succeed on whom ever your directing it on.