A Child Is Waiting

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A Child Is Waiting

1963,

1h 42m,

Drama

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92%

13 Reviews

Tomatometer

74%

1,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

92%

Tomatometer

13 Reviews

74%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

Music teacher Jean Hansen (Judy Garland) works with children at a state mental hospital. Although often at odds with the autocratic director, Dr. Matthew Clark (Burt Lancaster), about teaching methods, she quickly bonds with her students, particularly 12-year-old Reuben (Bruce Ritchey), whose parents, Sophie (Gena Rowlands) and Ted (Steven Hill), left the boy at the institution following their divorce. As the students practice for a Thanksgiving pageant, Jean questions the parents' decision.

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Variety Staff

Variety

Nov 7, 2007

Burt Lancaster delivers a firm, sincere, persuasive and unaffected performance.

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Geoff Andrew

Time Out

Jun 24, 2006

Flawed but fascinating.

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Bosley Crowther

New York Times

May 10, 2005

4/5

One should learn a great deal from this picture -- all of which should be helpful and give hope.

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Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

Oct 20, 2020

3/5

A worthwhile, emotionally generous film, fans of Kramer perhaps appreciate this more than the usual Cassavetes crew, but it's uncustomarily blunt for a social issue drama from the early 1960s.

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Clyde Gilmour

Maclean's Magazine

Nov 26, 2019

Abby Mann's screenplay avoids both sensationalism and bathos while showing how these unfortunates can be helped and encouraged.

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Isabel Quigly

The Spectator

Jul 20, 2018

A Child is Waiting takes the tough line that love, however devoted, isn't enough, may indeed be harmful if it's not allied with respect for the handicapped child as a person, a person with duties and responsibilities to others and a person's social place.

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Poe S

Jun 11, 2017

No other movie properly shows what enabling does to our potential. This film also shows the worth and intelligence of a people greatly misunderstood by the rest of humanity. Everyone should watch this.

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Hermione S

May 13, 2016

Raw and emotional, but it could have been better. It was interesting to see Judy Garland in one of her final film roles, although it wasn't one of her finest. (First and only viewing - 4/23/2017)

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Ron P

Sep 4, 2009

Dare I say: A land-mark film as it pertains to intellectual disabilities. A shame Cassavetes disowned this one. At one point this film let the kids with actual disabilities shine much more than Stanley Kramer wanted it to. He recut it (differently than Cassavetes specified) but the power of Cassavetes "realism" shines through. A must for people interested in the history of civil rights laws and or disabilities; learning or otherwise. On Blu-Ray.

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John Cassavetes

Director

Burt Lancaster

Dr. Matthew Clark

Judy Garland

Jean Hansen

Gena Rowlands

Sophie Widdicombe

Steven Hill

Ted Widdicombe

Bruce Ritchey

Reuben Widdicombe

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Synopsis

Music teacher Jean Hansen (Judy Garland) works with children at a state mental hospital. Although often at odds with the autocratic director, Dr. Matthew Clark (Burt Lancaster), about teaching methods, she quickly bonds with her students, particularly 12-year-old Reuben (Bruce Ritchey), whose parents, Sophie (Gena Rowlands) and Ted (Steven Hill), left the boy at the institution following their divorce. As the students practice for a Thanksgiving pageant, Jean questions the parents' decision.

Director: John Cassavetes
Producer: Stanley Kramer
Screenwriter: Abby Mann
Production Co: Stanley Kramer Company
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (DVD): Nov 24, 2015
Runtime: 1h 42m

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