MOVIE REVIEW OF 'A CHILD IS WAITING' (1963)

A Heartbreaking and Responsible Look At Mental Illness

Apr 18, 2025

SUMMARY

In A Child Is Waiting, Burt Lancaster & Judy Garland take an untouched theme - (children with cognitive disabilities) and make it touching and unforgettable!

Psychologist, Dr. Matthew Clark (Lancaster), is the head of the Crawthorne State Training Institute, one of the first boarding schools for developmentally-challenged children.

Dr. Clark is sympathetic, but demanding of his teachers and students. His approach of tough love is controversial. He takes a chance at hiring former aspiring concert pianist, Jean Hansen (Garland), as the school's music teacher.

Although Miss Hansen, who has no background in nursing, teaching, or dealing with the developmentally challenged.

She herself is trying to find her own place in life. She immediately bonds with autistic student Reuben Widdicombe. She sees a boy who needs special attention; his parents haven't visited him in the two years he has been there. They are divorced. Mostly because of the pressures their relationship faced in dealing with him.

Dr. Clark sees Reuben as the most difficult child to deal with. Why? Because Reuben understands just enough to realize that he is different and is often rejected.

Miss Hansen and Dr. Clark disagree on the best way to get through to him.

Although Dr. Clark admits that his methods have not worked with Reuben, he also does not believe that Miss Hansen's approach of undivided attention is the answer.

Miss Hansen discovers why the Widdicombes' did not visit their son. She also sees for herself what the life of the disabled adult involves. It’s where Reuben may end up…

In the end, both Miss Hansen comes to an understanding of how she can best help her students and Dr. Clark realizes he has failed as badly as he may think.

MAIN CHARACTERS

Burt Lancaster - Dr. Matthew Clark

Judy Garland - Jean Hansen

Gena Rowlands - Sophie Widdicombe

Steven Hill - Ted Widdicombe

Bruce Ritchey - Reuben Widdicombe

REVIEW

I stumbled across this film on Bitchute of all places and decided to have a look.

I like both Judy Garland and Burt Lancaster and thought if I didn’t get into it within the first few minutes, I’d just switch it off.

That didn’t happen.

I knew absolutely nothing about it before I hit play. I’m not sure I’ve even heard of this film before. Which is surprising with such huge stars attached.

So, I went into this movie completely blind, so to speak.

The director (and actor), John Cassavetes, does a masterful job of capturing children with severe mental impairment, in a way that is dignified, yet uncompromising.

Cassavetes was known to finance his own independent films and had an unorthodox style of approaching both his acting and directing.

Both Lancaster and Garland were classically trained actors who had a more structured approach. Apparently, there were clashes. However, what was captured on screen is so interesting and heartbreaking it doesn’t matter how they got there.

The film centers around the boy and Dr. Clark. This film could not have held the attention of an audience like it does without the exquisite sensitivity of the main actors.

Bruce Ritchey who plays Reuben, could not have been better. It seems Ritchey did little acting after this role. I don’t know what happened exactly, but I can imagine working on a project like this, when he would have been only about 9 or 10 years old, would have been extremely taxing.

He brings such focus and believability to Reuben that you wonder if they plucked him directly from an institution like that of the movie.

And then there’s Lancaster.

Few could have played this difficult role with such compassion and authority. Both of which seem to be built into the fiber of Burt Lancaster’s being.

As the psychologist who runs the institution, he admits to truly liking his job, knowing the children he is in charge of will have extremely limited lives.

Lancaster’s character demonstrates his love and respect for these difficult and different children.

Judy Garland was also a gem. We can see how attached she gets to Reuben. I believe she must have truly fallen in love with the boy in real life too. She is that convincing.

It’s remarkable how two of the most charismatic actors of the time, pull off the performances they do and there is never, ever a hint of romance between them.

I for one, am supremely glad they didn’t include that. It would have taken away from and cheapened the entire premise of the movie - Giving us a peak at what it’s really like to deal with mentally ill children on a day to day basis.

John Cassavetes was often criticized for his unconventional style of acting and lack of a traditional narrative structure when directing. Critics often found his films "muddle-headed" and "self-indulgent," arguing that they were more about acting exercises than coherent storytelling.

However, he also faced criticism for being too intense and pushing the boundaries of dramatic expression. Which for me, works brilliantly in A Child Is Waiting.

**Cassavetes was married to actress Gena Rowlands for more than 30 years. They appeared together in many projects together including A Child Is Waiting.

Rowlands plays Reuben’s mother.**

If few actors could have done justice to the script, few directors could have brought as much rawness and dignity to this topic.

The Thanksgiving Scene

Right near the end, they have the children do a play to celebrate Thanksgiving. Some dress up as the settlers and the others are Indians and various town folk.

This scene is the topper. It will bring tears to your eyes as it makes you laugh at the same time.

The depth and subtly Lancaster and Garland bring is stellar.

WOULD I RECOMMEND IT?

Yes. 100%.

Set in 1959, the movie itself was release in 1963.

Frankly, this kind of movie would never be made today or in the last 30 years. No one would finance it, no one would make it and no one would watch it.

However… if you like older movies for their creativity without all the CGIs and tech we have today, you’ll appreciate the visual storytelling as well.

Find A Child Is Waiting on Bitchute Here or watch below…

https://www.bitchute.com/video/4emnBOhyIYUD