Wissenswertes

The original Broadway production of "The Bad Seed" by Maxwell Anderson opened on December 8, 1954 and ran for 334 performances. Nancy Kelly won the 1955 Tony Award for Actress in a Drama and recreated her part in the movie. Patty McCormack, Eileen Heckart, Evelyn Varden, Henry Jones and Joan Croydon also recreated their stage roles in the movie version.

Final film of Nancy Kelly. Despite earning an Oscar nomination for this film, she never made another theatrical movie, only focusing on TV projects.

Patty McCormack confessed that it was fun for her to play a killer child.

Alfred Hitchcock turned down the chance to direct.

There are creepy-looking cameos on the walls, like Rohrschach blots which go with the psychodrama story. One in particular is of a woman holding a baby or a doll at arms length, in a very menacing way.