While once the main interest in this piece would have come from fans of Judy Garland, lapping up her penultimate movie appearance, the prevalence of mental illness these days especially among the young, in part due to Covid and the scourge of social media, should switch audience attention – especially among contemporary viewers – back to the subject matter.
Garland’s stock had risen somewhat after her performance in Judgement at Nuremberg (1961), her first movie in seven years, but, given the travails of her private life, would most likely have been sympathetic to anything that cast a light on mental illness. The bulk of movies covering this ground tended towards the lurid, as exemplified by Shock Corridor (1963) and Shock Treatment, (1964) rather than the more tragic Lilith (1962). Whatever the approach, they focused on adult conditions. Here it’s the treatment of children.
Appreciation of the social conscience of star Burt Lancaster has largely gone unnoticed but this was the era when his movies touched upon crooked evangelism (Elmer Gantry, 1960), teenage gangs (The Young Savages, 1961), the Holocaust (Judgement at Nuremberg, 1961) and the effects of long-term imprisonment (The Birdman of Alcatraz, 1962). He was even an animal rights protester in The List of Adrian Messenger (1963).
Parental attitude to offspring with mental conditions is encapsulated in the opening sequence. Outside a hospital a young boy is tempted out of an automobile. Once out, the driver (the father) races off so fast the car door is still swinging open. Mentally or emotionally disturbed children were dumped, ostracized or abandoned by society, sometimes shut up in institutions along with adults, with treatment belonging to the Dark Ages.
Drawing on the ground-breaking approach of Vineland Training School in New Jersey and the Pacific Hospital in Pomona, California (pupils from the latter played the students in the film), the movie attempts to cast a light on the forgotten and to show that, with proper care and education, they need not be such victims of their circumstances.
The movie focuses on Dr Clark (Burt Lancaster), head of the Crawthorne State Training School, whose pioneering work combines tender encouragement with firm application, and the new music teacher Jean (Judy Garland) who challenges his approach. Instigating this crisis is 12-year-old Reuben, the child we see offloaded at the start, for whom Jean develops an unhealthy bond. She thinks Dr Clark is too strict and that his methods don’t work with someone as vulnerable as Reuben. Clark’s aim is to make the children so self-sufficient they are not condemned to a life in an adult institution.
Jean’s intervention creates a crisis in the child’s life but also brings home the unwelcome truth of the difficulties parents have of dealing with their children.
And while the tale is essentially confected to make the necessary points and Dr Clark and Jean epitomize opposite attitudes to handling the treatment of children, the story is really a documentary in disguise, bringing to light advances in care, and with the children not played by actors, brings a greater reality to the work.
Burt Lancaster, as ever, is good value and Judy Garland steps up to the plate. Gena Rowlands (Machine Gun McCain, 1969) and John Marley (Istanbul Express, 1968) also feature.
While this fits neatly into Lancaster’s portfolio, it stands out for the wrong reasons in the pantheon of critically-acclaimed actor-turned-director John Cassavetes (Faces, 1968). In fact, what he produced went against what producer Stanley Kramer (better known as a director – Judgment at Nuremberg, for example) wanted and the version we see is the one Kramer recut. Written by Abby Mann (Judgment at Nuremberg) from his original teleplay.
You might expect this to be awash with sentimentality but that’s far from the case.
The Magnificent 60s 
For you:
“The 19 Feb 1961 NYT reported that Stanley Kramer acquired motion picture rights to the story by Abby Mann, originally produced by the Columbia Broadcasting Company (CBS) in Mar 1957 as a television drama. The 16 Oct 1961 LAT noted that Mann was commissioned two years earlier to write a film adaptation of the teleplay for actress Ingrid Bergman, but the project was later abandoned.
As stated in the 13 Mar and 6 Nov 1961 DV, actor-singer Pat Boone lodged a protest with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) Titles Bureau, claiming infringement on A Child Is Crying, which his Cooga Mooga Productions registered on 20 Feb 1961. Kramer registered A Child Is Waiting on 13 Mar 1961. New York-based Esla Productions was also mentioned in connection with the latter title.
On 5 Jan 1962, DV reported that actor Burt Lancaster spent a week researching his role as a special education instructor at Pacific State Hospital in Pomona, CA. He and Mann were scheduled to visit a similar facility in AZ the following week. Principal photography began 22 Jan 1962 at Revue (Universal) Studios in Los Angeles, CA, as stated in 2 Feb 1962 DV production charts.
In the 5 Feb 1962 LAT, Kramer told columnist Philip K. Scheuer that he, director John Cassavetes, and Abby Mann decided, “with misgivings,” to add mentally impaired children to the cast for the sake of authenticity. Pacific State Hospital superintendent Dr. George Tarjan selected three children, who were bussed with their teachers to the studio. All three “deported themselves so well” that seventeen more Pacific State residents were requested. The most talented were assigned “individual scenes” with Lancaster and co-star Judy Garland. However, Scheuer ended the article by questioning the ethics of employing “human unfortunates” for commercial entertainment. On 14 Feb 1962, Scheuer reported that LAT readers overwhelmingly approved the children’s participation. He also included a letter from the parents of one of the children in question, assuring him that their son’s life was enhanced by the experience.
An article in the 18 Feb 1962 NYT described how a scene was ruined when a boy with Down Syndrome admonished Lancaster for speaking harshly to one of his classmates. Lancaster assured the boy, nicknamed “Crash,” that he was merely pretending. While Lancaster conceded that he was required to adjust his performance to the children’s sometimes unpredictable behavior, he also believed they were much better qualified for their roles than professional child actors. Judy Garland revealed that she enjoyed working with mentally impaired children following her stay at Boston Hospital, where frequent interactions with such children reportedly hastened her recovery from a nervous breakdown. The article noted that Crash became the company mascot. A news item in the 11 Feb 1962 LAT stated that Garland was brought to tears when sixteen Pacific State residents asked for her autograph at the conclusion of a scene. According to the 12 Feb 1962 DV, New York Senator Jacob K. Javits visited the set, in keeping with his involvement with President John F. Kennedy’s program to aid the mentally impaired. Location filming began 10 Apr 1962 at Pacific State Hospital in Pomona, CA, as noted in that day’s DV.
On 2 Nov 1962, DV reported that the picture’s debut would be postponed until Jan 1963, to enhance Lancaster’s chances of an Academy Award nomination for his performance in The Birdman of Alcatraz (1962, see entry). One month later, the 4 Dec 1962 LAT noted that composer Ernest Gold had completed scoring the film.
A Child Is Waiting previewed 6 Dec 1962 at the first annual Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation awards dinner, at the Statler Hilton hotel in Washington, DC, as stated in the 7 Dec 1962 DV. The event was hosted by Adlai Stevenson, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and featured a vocal performance by Judy Garland. Burt Lancaster also attended.
The 18 Jan 1963 DV announced the picture’s debut the following week in Los Angeles. The New York City opening was delayed until 28 Feb 1963, due to a newspaper strike. Reviews were mixed. While the 9 Jan 1963 DV described the film as “a poignant, provocative, revealing dramatization” of its subject matter, the 24 Jan 1963 LAT found it merely “depressing” and devoid of entertainment value. John Cassavetes later complained to the 1 Mar 1964 LAT that the picture was “mangled in the re-editing,” blaming Stanley Kramer’s penchant for “safe controversy.” The 8 Mar 1963 DV and LAT reported that Kramer received a State Mental Health Award on 6 Mar 1963 from CA Governor Edmond G. “Pat” Brown, who commended the producer for his “outstanding contribution to his fellow citizens of California.” The picture also received an “A-II” rating from the Legion of Decency, as noted in the 18 Jan 1963 DV. Robert Blumhofe of distributor United Artists Corporation (UA) revealed in the 3 May 1964 LAT that the studio lost $2 million on the film.
The 31 Jan 1963 DV announced A Child Is Waiting as the official U.S. entry in the Mar Del Plata Film Festival in Argentina. The 20 Feb 1963 DV noted that efforts were being made to recruit John Cassavetes for the U.S. delegation to the festival, due to the popularity of his 1961 release, Shadows (see entry). Heading the delegation was actor-director Gene Kelly. Nearly five weeks later, the 25 Mar 1963 DV reported that the film was dismissed by festival judges as “well-meaning but unexciting.” In the 26 Mar 1963 DV, movie journalist Vincent Canby criticized the delegation for not including anyone connected with the picture among its ranks, and failing to promote the screening.
An article in the 23 Jul 1964 NYT included A Child Is Waiting among the first theatrical films to be broadcast on CA’s pay-television service, Subscription Television, Inc.
Casting announcements include Billy Mumy (24 Jan 1962 DV); David Fresco, Noam Pitlik, Kelly O’Hara, Tony Maxwell, and David Ocnoff (25 Jan 1962 DV); Moria Turner (15 Mar 1962 DV); and Betty Tesman (5 Apr 1962 DV). The 17 May 1963 LAT mentioned child actor Brian Corcoran as a cast member, and 12 Feb 1962 LAT noted that Burt Lancaster’s daughter, Sighle Lancaster, appeared as the sister of the character “Reuben Widdicombe.” An article in the 27 Oct 1964 DV credited Merrill White as a contributing film editor.
In the 30 Oct 1961 LAT, columnist Hedda Hopper mentioned a “two-character movie” titled A Child Is Waiting, which was to star Patty Duke and Bradford Dillman.”
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Wow. Great stuff.
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