MovieChat Forums > The Bad Seed (1956) Discussion > Was the spanking part of the curtain cal...

Was the spanking part of the curtain call in the Broadway production?


I wonder.

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I just thought it was cute, but goofy!

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It was just for the movie.

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I guess it's only fair. Rhoda deserved to be spanked eight times a week, not Patty.

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On Youtube, i think a fan commented that Rhoda should have been spanked during the movie, as most mothers would have spanked their murderess children in the 50's.

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She was struck by lightning for her crimes and spanked for the audiences entertainment.

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I seem to recall my English teacher saying it was added to the film because you couldn't have a little girl murderess not go unpunished.

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It was to assure audiences that "it's only a play."

"Forget it, Jake. It's the internet."

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No it was moreso a comical relief because of the ending, during the time period was a bit out there.

"I'd rather lose for what I am than win for what I ain't"

Kacey Musgraves "Pageant Material"

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The Bad Seed was so shocking for 1956 that they decided to lighten up the audience at the end to remind them its just a movie.

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it was the law back then...you could not show someone benifitting from crime...in the play.... the girls's mom dies....the neighbor says..I got here just in time to save the little girl.


rhoda skips in and her father picks her up and says" what will you give me for a basket full of hugs....she turns to the audience with that wicked smile (leaning against her fathers shoulder) and says "a basket full of kisses"..

the curtain falls....end of play

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[deleted]

it was the law back then...you could not show someone benefitting from crime...
But since the girl gets struck by lightning in the movie, doesn't that pretty much take care of it? She's DEAD - that's hardly benefitting from her crimes.

The "curtain call" and spanking just come off as kind of silly and cheesy to me - like the producer, director and actors saying "don't take anything you just saw seriously", after they just spent two + hours trying to convince us to take it all seriously.

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It was funny. I think it was too show that Patty was punished.

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What I liked about the spanking scene was the way Patty couldn't help smiling when Nancy came after her. It suggested they had a long-standing, happy relationship from their months of working together.

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