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Un enfant attend

Original title: A Child Is Waiting
  • 1963
  • Tous publics
  • 1h 42m
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
3.7K
YOUR RATING
Judy Garland, Burt Lancaster, and Bruce Ritchey in Un enfant attend (1963)
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.
Play trailer2:46
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33 Photos
Drama

A teacher and a psychologist work with children at an institute for the mentally-imparied.A teacher and a psychologist work with children at an institute for the mentally-imparied.A teacher and a psychologist work with children at an institute for the mentally-imparied.

  • Director
    • John Cassavetes
  • Writer
    • Abby Mann
  • Stars
    • Burt Lancaster
    • Judy Garland
    • Gena Rowlands
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.2/10
    3.7K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • John Cassavetes
    • Writer
      • Abby Mann
    • Stars
      • Burt Lancaster
      • Judy Garland
      • Gena Rowlands
    • 59User reviews
    • 33Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 nomination total

    Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 2:46
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    Photos33

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    Top cast26

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    Burt Lancaster
    Burt Lancaster
    • Dr. Matthew Clark
    Judy Garland
    Judy Garland
    • Jean Hansen
    Gena Rowlands
    Gena Rowlands
    • Sophie Widdicombe
    Steven Hill
    Steven Hill
    • Ted Widdicombe
    Paul Stewart
    Paul Stewart
    • Goodman
    Gloria McGehee
    Gloria McGehee
    • Mattie
    Lawrence Tierney
    Lawrence Tierney
    • Douglas Benham
    Bruce Ritchey
    Bruce Ritchey
    • Reuben Widdicombe
    John Marley
    John Marley
    • Holland
    Bill Mumy
    Bill Mumy
    • Boy Counting Jean's Pearls
    • (as Billy Mumy)
    John Walker
    Elizabeth Wilson
    Elizabeth Wilson
    • Miss Fogarty
    Jim Backus
    Jim Backus
    • Hot Dog Vendor
    • (uncredited)
    John Cassavetes
    John Cassavetes
    • Retarded Adult Who Walks Toward Camera
    • (unconfirmed)
    • (uncredited)
    Marilyn Clark
    Marilyn Clark
      Brian Corcoran
      • Lewis
      • (uncredited)
      Fred Draper
      Fred Draper
      • Dr. Sack
      • (uncredited)
      Mario Gallo
      Mario Gallo
      • Dr. Ernie Lombardi
      • (uncredited)
      • Director
        • John Cassavetes
      • Writer
        • Abby Mann
      • All cast & crew
      • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

      User reviews59

      7.23.6K
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      Featured reviews

      7caspian1978

      Judy Garlands Best Performance

      One of John Cassavetes earlier directed classics, it is one of the very few times we get to see Judy Garland the actress and not Judy Garland the little girl. There is not sweet eye candy in this movie. Everything hits you in this movie! One hard hitting blow after another. Its personal direction, the original story, and some of the best acting from both Judy Garland and Burt Lancaster. A relic of a movie, you don't see too many classic like these. An enjoyment, a true taste of the human soul. It is forever an amazing film for the simple reason in the story's message of hope.
      7EUyeshima

      Emotionally Draining Drama Focuses on the Funding-Challenged Treatment of the Mentally Disabled

      What an odd, unexpected movie this is. Stanley Kramer reunited Burt Lancaster and Judy Garland from his 1961 "Judgment at Nuremberg" for this grim near-docudrama about mentally disabled children in a state-run institution. Again working from a script by Abby Mann, Kramer handed over the directorial reins to John Cassavetes in only his third film. Some of Cassavetes' cinema-verité style is on display here, though there are definitely enough soap opera turns to make you realize that this is ultimately a social message film.

      The director cast real patients from the Pacific State Hospital in Pomona, California, as most of the handicapped children and in one harrowing scene, as the mentally defective adults. This lends a searing veracity to many of the scenes, and the effect is mesmerizing. Intriguingly, a few are actors, and you are likely to recognize a quick glimpse of Billy Mumy (Will Robinson in TV's "Lost in Space") as one of the children. In the central role of Reuben, a borderline case, a twelve-year old actor named Bruce Ritchey is convincing in evoking the emotional isolation and inward terrorism of his character. The plot revolves around Reuben and the battle of wills over his treatment between Dr. Matthew Clark, the fair-minded director of the mental hospital, and Jean Hansen, a newly hired teacher.

      Lancaster is such a forthright screen presence that he is automatically credible in the authority role of Clark. Garland, looking bloated and overly made up, has a role that suits her persona at the time. As Jean, she poignantly conveys an unfulfilled maternal instinct especially as she starts to focus most of her time on Reuben to the inadvertent detriment of the other children. Even without an Arlen song, Garland can capture the internal tremolo of a woman whose only avenue for love is the children. Obviously the character was tailored for Garland, as Jean is a former musician trained at Julliard who failed to become a concert pianist. In a defining moment, she does get to teach one simple rhyming song, "Snowflakes", to the children for a Thanksgiving pageant.

      I like the fact that there is nary a romantic spark between Lancaster and Garland in the story, as they are there to represent opposing perspectives. I only wish there was a bit more emotionalism in the way they argued about it, as it takes an hour for either one of them to raise their voices. Due mostly to Mann's unimpactful, enervating script, the whole film feels mannered in that way, which is what prevents the film from being wholly satisfying. The lack of an emotional pay-off, while realistic, does not provide the closure a viewer needs with such a desultory story.

      Familiar faces fill the supporting cast. Cassavetes' wife, a young Gena Rowlands, plays Reuben's brittle, guilt-ridden mother Sophie, while Steven Hill plays the emotionally disconnected father who takes Reuben to the hospital only to abandon him. Paul Stewart and John Marley play state officials who need to assess future funding of the school. It's a tough movie to sit through, but the honest depiction of the children and the state of such facilities at the time, along with the low-key sincerity of Lancaster and Garland, make this one worthwhile.
      10Hermit C-2

      One of the most extraordinary filmgoing experiences you'll ever have.

      This is a remarkable motion picture. Its subject, mental retardation, is one that most of us avoid as much as possible. But it's a fact of life for millions--those diagnosed with it, their families and friends, and the people who work with them. If they have the courage to face up to it every day, we should at least have the nerve to do something as easy as watch a film. It turns out to be a much more rewarding experience than many might expect.

      Judy Garland plays Jean Hansen, an over-thirty woman "drifting" through her life. To give it some purpose, she applies for work at an institution for mentally retarded children, though she has no expertise in the field. Dr. Clark (Burt Lancaster), who runs the place, has doubts about her altruism, but gives her a chance. Miss Hansen soon becomes attached to one young boy in particular--too attached for Dr. Clark's liking. He's a proponent of a modified "tough love" approach, one that calls for the students to do whatever they can for themselves to the best of their abilities.

      Unlike the popular style of today, the children aren't played by actors who try to imbue their characters with a Forrest Gump-like "wisdom." They are real children who play themselves and in doing so bring a power to this film that a cast of the world's greatest actors couldn't hope to equal. At the movie's conclusion the students are seen performing a Thanksgiving play before an assembly and the effect on the viewer is staggering. We like to think that in our present-day society we deal much more openly with subjects that were taboo in the past, but no one else to my knowledge has had the courage to take such an unflinching look at mental retardation as this 1963 film does. For that we can thank producer Stanley Kramer for bringing it to the screen and to director John Cassavetes for making it tangible. I can't imagine that there is anyone who wouldn't benefit from watching this movie. I also can't recommend it strongly enough.
      8Marie-62

      Warm and touching

      I saw this movie because many said Judy Garland was excellent in it. I thought, though, it'd be boring or stupid because it was going to be more artistic, like Audrey Hepburn's "A Nun's Story" (major dissappointment) but I couldn't have been more wrong. Judy stars is this with Burt Lancaster of course but the real star of the movie is Bruce Ritchey, who plays a mentally challenged boy. Jean Hansen (Garland) wants more in her life and gets the job as a music teacher for the mentally challenged children at an institution. Dr. Clark (Lancaster) is a physchologist with very controversial methods of getting the children to behave. Hansen falls in love with one of the boys, not romantically but more on a nurturing basis. He returns her love and they become the best of friends and inseperable. This worries Dr. Clark. He doesn't want to see the boy get hurt...Or more Ms. Hansen get hurt. He knows that "Love isn't enough" and in a very compelling, tear jerking scene, he shares this little tip with Ms. Hansen. This movie is wonderful. I think that Ms. Garland became more beautiful with each passing year. She was fantastic. Mr. Lancaster, too, was excellent as was the woman who playe Reuban's mother. This got an 8/10. I suggest that any Judy Garland fan see it. It took a lot for her to do this picture.
      sedaka

      Supportive, descriptive.

      A truly heartwarming look at the every day lives of children at a mental facility. Judy Garland gives a great performance as Jean Hansen, a lonely woman on the look out for just the right kind of job.

      Burt Lancaster is very convincing as the hospital psychiatrist. He is strict but in many ways kind to the kids. However, the one standout child in this movie is Bruce Ritchey who portrays "Reuben Widdecombe". The boy dislikes Lancaster for his strictness.

      I thought Billy Mumy "Lost In Space" and "Twilight Zone" would have had a bigger part in this, yet he is only in a supporting role. Bruce Ritchey looks like "the boy next door", like any other normal kid. Judy Garland takes a great interest in Ritchey and gets his parents to come out to the hospital to see him.

      The dad, Steven Hill, wants to forget that his son ever existed and refuses to come see the boy until the mother, played by Gena Rowlands, tearfully persuades her ex-husband to visit he son. She comes to the hospital herself but refuses to see Reuben.

      All in all, the movie is wonderful. You will definately need to have a box of kleenex nearby. Ritchey will win your heart! I give it an enthusiastic 2 THUMBS UP!

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      Storyline

      Edit

      Did you know

      Edit
      • Trivia
        Director John Cassavetes and Producer Stanley Kramer had many creative/economic differences and during the editing phase, Cassavetes was fired.
      • Goofs
        Fourteen minutes in, the teacher asks "What time is it when the big hand is on the six and the little hand is on the twelve?" and a student answers "six o'clock" (which is incorrect), though when the camera pans to the blackboard, the big hand is on the twelve and the little hand is pointing to six (which is correct).
      • Quotes

        Dr. Matthew Clark: I think you can find what you're looking for here, Miss Hansen. Because it's not what you can do for these children; it's what they can do for you.

      • Crazy credits
        Following the last name in the cast list (Elizabeth Wilson) are the words "and The Children".
      • Alternate versions
        The 1990 VHS has black and white versions of the MGM/UA Communications Co. and 1987 United Artists logos.
      • Connections
        Featured in Edge of Outside (2006)
      • Soundtracks
        Snowflakes
        Written by Marjorie D. Kurtz

        Performed Judy Garland

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      Details

      Edit
      • Release date
        • October 24, 1979 (France)
      • Country of origin
        • United States
      • Language
        • English
      • Also known as
        • A Child Is Waiting
      • Filming locations
        • Lanterman Development Center - 3530 W Pomona Blvd, Pomona, California, USA(known as Pacific State Hospital at the time - closed 2015)
      • Production company
        • Stanley Kramer Productions
      • See more company credits at IMDbPro

      Box office

      Edit
      • Budget
        • $2,000,000 (estimated)
      • Gross worldwide
        • $1,675
      See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

      Tech specs

      Edit
      • Runtime
        1 hour 42 minutes
      • Color
        • Black and White
      • Sound mix
        • Mono
      • Aspect ratio
        • 1.66 : 1

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