Little Sweetheart

(1989) Little Sweetheart PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER

Adapted from the book, "The Naughty Girls" by Arthur Wise, written and directed by Anthony Simmons that has nine-year old turning ten, Thelma (Cassie Barasch) who lives near a beach with her mother and inspired photog older brother. There's a cafe nearby, but she rarely buys anything, and just goes there to watch as much violent tv as possible without paying. And one other thing I forgot to mention she has a smart mouth. When nine year old Thelma makes a new friend with another 9 year girl, Elizabeth (Ellie Raab) moving in right next to her. It is not long before another couple of John Hurt and Karen Young come by in search of an address which is coincidentally a beach house almost near Thelma's. And it is not long the mischievous of two 9 year old girls begin to happen, beginning with that idiot, Robert (John Hurt) buying Thelma a camera she asked for for her birthday, who would eventually take pictures of him even after she promise him she would "not" do. Taking pictures of him making out with his new mistress, Dorothea (Karen Young) while they were lying on the beach. The two brats would soon attempt to blackmail both Robert and his mistress, Dorothera for money unbeknownst to the brats that they were running from the law themselves for embezzlement. And it's like, it never occurred to Robert that who ever took pics of him making out with his mistress that perhaps it must be the girl that he bought the camera for on her birthday. And they do more mischievous by breaking into Robert and Dororthea's beach house uncovering a gun and so forth.

Just because it came from a book, it does not mean the movie is good as it lacks common sense and logic. Any young kid who is ungrateful as ten year old Thelma would have gotten the life choked out of her. I mean, Robert buys her a camera when no one else would, and she in turn thanks him by taking pictures of him when he told her not to. In this movie 'kids are rotten' like what comedian Bill Mahr often says- sarcastically speaking. Like, why would anyone would want kids after watching this film.

This film is shot primarily upon St. George's Island, a resort site along Northern Florida's Gulf Coast, that becomes the transposed location from France in the original novel, of which only a basic outline has been retained. John Hurt portrays Robert Burger, a middle-aged bank employee who has embezzled over one million dollars and, along with his co-conspirator and girl friend Dorothea (Karen Young) is on the lam from Texas, and from his wife, with an idea of relaxing a bit on the island before continuing their flight. Unprovidentially for the renegade pair, they cross paths with two nine-year-old girls, one of whom, Thelma (Cassie Barasch), bristles with curiosity about the newcomers. Thelma is addicted to television and to the violent action she finds available there, and when she and her young friend Elizabeth (Ellie Raab) burglarize the cottage of the fugitives, Thelma steals Robert's revolver, whereupon her imagination becomes hazardous to all about her. Director Anthony Summers creates the script, and wherever a change is made from the plot of the admittedly third-rate novel, credibility goes begging, particularly when homage is being made to Kubrick's LOLITA in referential scenes not difficult to identify. His direction is weak, a source for those frequently occurring scenes when players are left upon their own, with Hurt improvising as always; yet, Guy Boyd as a sheriff is smooth and consistent as silk, easily regulating scenes in which he appears. A minimalist score, composed and performed by guitarist Laurence Juban, matches an obviously minimal budget, with Juban's suspended chords, particularly in the case of the main theme: "Oyster Blues", conjugating nicely with the palmetto plaited scenery. Cinematographer John Hooper's closeups help define this flawed but interesting piece, and he emphasizes the omnipresent gloss from the sun, making this perhaps a first example of a genre: Incandescent Noir.

I saw this when it came out on TV, but didn't tape it then, and always wanted to see it again. I finally did only recently. I found that it held up very well, and now I would love to have it on DVD. It certainly has its flaws, for example, the made-for-TV budget is obvious, but the story is interesting, and the actors, first and foremost John Hurt, are engaging enough to make it stand out.

Who cares if the idea isn't completely new - which story is? LITTLE SWEETHEART is much more modern and suspenseful than BAD SEED (for example, the adult characters contribute more to the plot, and there is less analysis and moralism). Furthermore, I find the comparisons with LOLITA highly problematic: in contrast to Humbert Humbert, there is no reason to assume that Robert Burger (Hurt's character) has any paedophilic notions. If some people find the film fascinating in this way, I wonder how much is due to the film's portrayal of the girls, whether deliberate or not, and how much in the eye of the beholder. In any case, this is putting the film in the wrong category, at least in terms of subject matter.

Little Sweetheart also known as Poison Candy is the first feature film made for cinema release by the BBC. Its a little seen film and was released in the cinemas in America some years after it was made.

John Hurt and Karen Young are a couple who have embezzled money and hiding out in a coastal resort. They cross paths with two nine year-old girls who themselves have just met. We have already been introduced to Thelma (Cassie Barasch) who is blackmailing her older brother and is addicted to violence on television.

The other girl is Elizabeth (Ellie Raab) who has moved into the area. The girls burgle the couple's house and steal a gun. Later Elizabeth goes missing and the police become involved putting the errant couple in danger.

Despite the location filming this is a low budget morality tale and an insight on a girl who is sweet but beneath the surface is malevolent and might be willing to kill and frame others. John Hurt and Karen Young do well in this offbeat and little known film and the child actors carry of their roles with aplomb. Its a minor character study, lacking in strong direction with a minimalist score.

"Little Sweetheart" is an extremely suspenseful and very odd movie, basically--- it's not handled that perfectly, that's some problem. As the third time I saw it, I noticed many things which didn't make sense to me, about the development of the plot, mainly. Also some of the suspense was gone, but I still enjoyed it much and I'm surely seeing it again.

The *little sweetheart* is called Thelma, is nine years old, and goes to a boarding school where *the others* don't like her, as we learn from herself. In the summer, she lives at some vacation place with her careless and rather stupid, widowed mother and her brother - rather a cartoon in a would-be mother-teenager-conflict, sorry film makers! She makes friends with another girl her age, Elizabeth. The both of them meet a pair of gangsters, played by John Hurt and Karen Young. Hurt seems to like Thelma, while his *mistress* Young sees her as a rival. She's so mad at the girl that it's only ridiculous. However, she seems to be kind of right, when Thelma decides that the two girls blackmail the pair. The blackmailing is no big deal and no big movie making - but it's only the prelude...

In some moments this movie is really chilling and eerie, because of its absurd and disturbing events and possibilities. I won't judge if the events in this movie are realistic enough, so that they could really take place, but the movie illustrates how kids are always underestimated in our society. Regarded as *cute*, *innocent*, *dull*, *can't do no harm*, they're not taken seriously. Therein lies the intelligence and the irony of the movie: To what point the kid may be *evil* and spoiled, she remains the good guy in a way, as she is just a little girl. And John Hurt is the bad guy, though he's probably the nicest character in the film.

There's one rather fake dialogue with Thelma speaking to Elizabeth. But as her brother tells us, the kid has been loafing around in front of the TV all her life, so that may explain much. The un-known young actress, Cassie Barasch, is very cute and smart in the film, so that you want to like her, on the other hand she acts her character spoiled enough that you want to hate her. Good job! Which part of you is likely to win?

Not a too caring piece of art, nor deeply psychologically analytic, but a convincing, entertaining, suspenseful film with an extraordinary story and a little ironical humor. 8 out of 10!

"Watch me!"