A Child Is Waiting (1963) [PG]

Featuring:
Burt Lancaster, Judy Garland, Gena Rowlands

Written by:
Abby Mann

Directed by:
John Cassavetes


Release Date:
February 13, 1963

Original Title:
A Child Is Waiting

Alternate Titles:
Gli Esclusi
Ángeles sin Paraíso
기다리는 아이

Genres:
Drama

Production Companies:
Stanley Kramer Productions

Production Countries:
United States of America

Ratings / Certifications:
US: PG 

Runtime: 102

Burt Lancaster & Judy Garland take an untouched theme - and make it touching and unforgettable!

Dr. Matthew Clark is the head of a state institution for intellectually disabled children. Jean Hansen, a former music teacher anxious to give her life some meaning, joins the staff of the hospital. Jean, who tries to shelter the children with her love, suspiciously regards Dr. Clark's stern training methods. She becomes emotionally involved with 12-year-old Reuben Widdicombe, who has been abandoned by his divorced parents.

Psychologist Dr. Matthew Clark 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 as the school's music teacher, 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, who she sees as needing special attention in light of his parents having not visited him since they enrolled him in the school two years earlier. The Widdicombes divorced shortly thereafter because of the pressures their relationship faced in dealing with Reuben. Dr. Clark sees Reuben as the type of child the most difficult with which to deal: Reuben understands just enough to realize that he is different and is often being rejected. Miss Hansen and Dr. Clark disagree on how best to get through to Reuben. 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. Through getting to know the Widdicombe's reasons for not visiting and she herself seeing the life of the adult disabled, Miss Hansen comes to an understanding of how she feels she can best help her students, Reuben included.

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Rankings and Honors

A Child Is Waiting (1963) on IMDb
Internet Movie Database 7.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes 92%
Awards Won: 1 nomination

Assistant Director:
Lindsley Parsons Jr.
Douglas Green

Assistant Grip:
Sam Van Zenten

Associate Producer:
Philip Langner

Camera Operator:
Charles F. Wheeler

Casting:
Lynn Stalmaster

Costume Design:
Joe King

Director:
John Cassavetes

Director of Photography:
Joseph LaShelle

Editor:
Gene Fowler Jr.
Robert C. Jones

Gaffer:
Don L. Carstensen

Grip:
Morris Rosen

Hairstylist:
Al Paul

Makeup Artist:
George Lane

Music Editor:
Art Dunham

Original Music Composer:
Ernest Gold

Producer:
Stanley Kramer

Production Design:
Rudolph Sternad

Production Manager:
Nate H. Edwards

Property Master:
Jack Kirston

Script Supervisor:
Marshall Schlom

Set Decoration:
Joseph Kish

Sound Editor:
Walter Elliott

Sound Engineer:
Jean L. Speak

Wardrobe Designer:
Howard Shoup

Writer:
Abby Mann

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