The entire Chris episode is preposterous, to say the least. First, it is incomprehensible for Tess to adopt a child without consulting her husband (even though the setup was pretty good for a laugh). Second, it is unconscionable for Sam to take the boy back to the orphanage as if he were a sweater that didn't fit. Third, there was no need for Sam to get rid of Chris, anyway, since he was moving out himself. The whole business is illogical and offensive.
shareI agree entirely. The behavior of both "parents" in this scenario was entirely callous and unconscionable.
shareI agree with both of you, although what isn't really discussed in the film is whether it is already a full adoption or a placement until the paperwork is improved. That's at least a possibility. But still, it's a horrid scenario -- a "mother" just playing at being a mother who has no conception of what being a mother really is...a "father" that simply abandons the boy back to the orphanage. Probably what I like least in this film (although the ending is pretty bad, as well) and perhaps what I like least in any Spencer Tracy film (and I'm a tremendous fan of his).
share[deleted]
The idea of what they did with Chris is terrible, but the poor lad was miserable at his new 'home".
Tess was the only one who spoke Greek, he was being taken care of by the housekeeper (not a nanny) and even if Sam was leaving Tess, he felt Chris would be better off without her. Remember, she was planning on leaving him alone for the evening while she accepted her award.
Chris was happy to be back with his friends and (I assume) told Tess to hit the road when she came to get him. And I believe the head of the agency said there was a Greek couple who wanted him.
It would have been a nice touch to include him in the "happy ending", but twas not to be.
Yes, sir, I'm going to do nothing like she's never been done before!
I agree that he was completely miserable. She had him set up with a bed in her office, he had no playmates, nobody who he could communicate with when she wasn't around, and she didn't even buy him any appropriate toys. Her assistant bought him a bunch of sporting equipment. Judging by his reaction when Sam took him back ( he ran upstairs eagerly to be with his friends), and his reaction when Tess tried to take him "home" (wish they'd had subtitles!) it was the nicer thing to do to take him back. What would his life had been like if Sam had left him with Tess? Sam wasn't thinking he and Tess would get back together. He would have been like a pet! She had no clue what she was taking on-- a war refugee who couldn't speak the language and had who knows what issues... And she was a workaholic who didn't have time for a husband, much less a child. It may have _seemed_ callous for him to take Chris back, but I think it was best for the boy.
shareYes. Basically, the poor boy was just thrown away.
shareDoes anyone here speak Greek? I always wanted to know what Chris said to Tess when she went to the orphanage to reclaim him. It must of been horrible judging by her reaction like a cold wind suddenly blew in. I watched the film with both French and Spanish subtitles,
but this Greek section was not translated.
You find it offensive, but what about what is best for the child? Clearly the child was happier with his friends. Clearly she was not fit to be a mother (her job was more important than any child) and clearly he wasn't ready to adopt a child.
Instead of standing there all condescending, perhaps you should be thankful that the child had a chance to find a better family.
Jiminy Christmas! I can't believe some of the things that come out of people's mouths.
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It's the whole situation that's offensive. It's offensive she adopted him without bothering to make proper preparations for raising a child, let alone a child who doesn't speak English by at least trying to teach him and providing people in his life who speak Greek. It's offensive that, whether it's best for him to go back or not, he was just casually returned. If an adoption isn't working out (and he wasn't even the one who adopted him so never mind that!) it should be handled differently than returning something to a store.
It's not necessarily that the adoption didn't work out but the way the whole thing was handled.
I also can't agree that her job mattering more to her than a child means she wasn't fit to be a mother. There are plenty of perfectly good parents who don't have their children be the most important things in their lives. Her problem was that she was not putting the effort into the child and barely seemed to care about it, not that she cared deeply for the kid but it just didn't come first in her life.
I agree that it was preposterous and more than a little offensive. The worst part was how homey and nice the orphanage was (and he even had a nice Greek couple ready to adopt him!), so that made it okay for Sam to bring him back. He wasn't "their" people, anyway. Ugh.
Real orphanages at the time were not usually nice places. At best, they were institutions, warehouses where "excess" children were stuck. At worst, they were nightmares that scarred for life.
It made both "parents" look very bad. Hepburn and Tracey are often magic together in the film, even this early on in their pair-up, and Hepburn is absolutely stunning, but oy, that script. There was no balance to it. It was all about making her look like an idiot.
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It's like Tess bought him from Macy's, and he could be returned if he was not satisfactory, which in the end he was.
shareI think Sam probably knew deep down that taking Chris back to the orphanage was at best callous but Sam's thinking by that point was that it was the best of bad options. The marriage between him and Tess was in a rut at best, and keeping Chris in such a dysfunctional home with a mother who didn't seem to know what she'd gotten herself or her husband into didn't look ideal either.
I know Sam mentioned he was open to the idea of starting a family but deep down realized that neither he nor Tess were suited to it.