Böse Saat (1956)

Böse Saat: Directed by Mervyn LeRoy. With Gage Clarke, Jesse White, Joan Croydon, William Hopper. A housewife suspects that her seemingly perfect eight-year-old daughter is a heartless killer.

“Minor 1950u0026#39;s classic that holds up well fifty year later. The film does have its flaws. Occasionally it has the feel of a staged play–at times it seems Mrs. Penmark has to answer the door every five minutes so as to get the other major characters on screen. The Freudian psychobabble and the altered ending add an unnecessary half hour or so to the running time. And the acting can be very overwrought (although the scene in which Mrs. Penmark is screaming in the apartment as Leroy screams outside–both counterpointed by Rhodau0026#39;s untalented but very loud rendition of u0026quot;Au Clair de la Luneu0026quot;–is a moment of high camp horror on par with anything in u0026quot;Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?u0026quot;) Still the movie works, largely because of Rhoda, the eerily self controlled little murderess who despite her sweet smiles always looks at though her hair is braided a bit too tight. It helps that an actress was cast who was cute enough, but not too pretty–Patty McCormack looks like a miniature gargoyle when she drops the sunny mask and starts roaring. Leroy, the leering simple minded caretaker is almost as unsettling–the scenes in which he sadistically taunts Rhoda almost amount to a very twisted flirtation, as he is clearly more delighted than appalled by her capacity for evil (at least until he learns just how far this capacity goes).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI havenu0026#39;t seen the 1980u0026#39;s remake, but I canu0026#39;t see how it could top the original, if only because evil little girls in jeans and T-shirts just arenu0026#39;t as scary as evil little girls with hair bows and starched frocks.”