Child's Play (1972)

Who payed the critics

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Idealistic new gym teacher at an all-boys Catholic boarding school, his alma mater after graduating there nine years ago, is warned by one of the priests on arrival that the students have changed over time, their attitudes towards each other have become malicious and their violent actions touched by evil. Overcooked melodrama from Robert Marasco's Tony-winning play is, at its core, a battle of wills between two veteran instructors: one, a sagging-faced, paranoid old taskmaster (James Mason) whom the students deplore and the other (Robert Preston) a gregarious, glinty-eyed teacher who has rallied the students to his side. When these men face-off, the material hints at something headier than what director Sidney Lumet and screenwriter Leon Prochnik really hope to present: the dehumanization of young men into soldiers of misfortune. Broadway showman David Merrick made an inauspicious debut here as movie producer, and his first mistake was to hire Lumet as director. Lumet, who specializes in his keeping his actors riled-up on-screen, wants to give us the shakes with bloody beatings, an eye-gouging and a desecration in the church (underlined by Michael Small's "scare music"), scenes which are nasty and unpleasant to sit through--and also time-consuming. The real drama, between Mason and Preston (with Beau Bridges caught in the middle), is nearly buried under the morass. Though ultimately too theatrical to feel honest, the performances by the principals are at least polished by the actors' professionalism, bringing substance to a picture caught in the balance between melodrama and its own horror-movie subtext. *1/2 from ****

Apparently at this exclusive Catholic prep school even the civilian teachers have to be officially celibate. In Child's Play the focus of the film is on an intense rivalry between a pair of civilian teachers who have no outside attachments, save for James Mason and his dying mother. So they indulge in this rivalry for the approval of the students. And Robert Preston who dusts off a bit of his Harold Hill persona from The Music Man is winning hands down.Child's Play, a David Merrick Production on stage ran 342 performances during the 1970 season and starred Pat Hingle and Fritz Weaver in the roles that Preston and Mason essay here. Preston is a charmer as Professor Harold Hill was, but his charm is laced with malevolence. For reasons I'm not sure whether for money or prestige Preston turns the students against Mason, he wants Mason out to move up in some kind of seniority system.Mason makes it real easy. A stiff demanding pedagogue he's Mr. Chips before Robert Donat's marriage to Greer Garson humanized him. He's way past the age of retirement, but other than a terminally ill mother this guy has no life. Going to teach gives him an excuse to get up in the morning. Both these guys are a pair of real closet cases. Both are obsessed with the young male preppy kids they teach, Mason just does not know how to relate to them. Preston does and he uses his influence with them to produce some terrible consequences. Caught in the middle of all this is new gym teacher Beau Bridges who once went to this school. He knows both men from his years there, but learns a whole lot more once he becomes a faculty member and learns disturbing stuff about both.Child's Play is smartly directed and photographed by Sidney Lumet. Pay attention to some of the deep focus cinematography involving all three of the players I've named in joint scenes. All three register facial expressions that help move the story along immensely.I think a lot was left out of the play coming over from Broadway, but still Child's Play is a fine film with great performances from the leads.

This is an excellent film. Unfortunately the word subtle, which applies to this film, is used as a negative by the only (at this date) other comment on "Child's Play." Subtle it is, and those who like character studies and evocative camera work, a sustained mood and a finely wrought battle between good and evil will be delighted. If you like the garbage that passes for horror in most of today's bloodfests and loud, non-stop, effects-driven films, well - don't bother. Robert Preston and James Mason, two A-list actors, knew good material and both give performances that rank highly with the best of their careers. This film was directed by the great Sidney Lumet, and reveals what is usually best about Lumet's work: great acting, sustained mood, the ability to confine the action to one setting and exploit it for all it is worth, attention to detail and precise pacing that builds exactly as it should. This unheralded gem deserves a DVD release soon!

Chances are you will never have an opportunity to see this film as it hasn't been on TV for ages. However, I wouldn't say it is as bad as some of the comments. I thought it was well acted, but the ending left the viewer confused about exactly what had happened with the boys. The fates of two of the three major characters are also left to the viewer's imagination. Robert Preston and James Mason made interesting foils. Mason managed to make his character a man to be despised and pitied. Preston was also quite capable in his role - all sweetness and light with increasingly malevolent undertones.If it had been as dull as described in some of the other comments, I probably wouldn't have been able to stay awake since I watched it in the wee hours of the AM.