Karen Balkin

"but...her performance annoyed me to death"

In my opinion Karen Balkin was perfect in the role of Mary.

This kid is the biggest phony they ever made. I am watching this now and this kid Mary just brought Mirium Hopkins some flowers. What an ugly kid and I don't think her performance is any good. No wonder they packed her off to boarding school. No one would want to be near her. Expell her please!!!

I think this little girl did a wonderful job! I went to grade school with a girl very much like her though she wasn't a bully; she could have been since she was a bit taller and bigger-built than most of the schoolchildren. She spoke EXACTLY like that and had much of the same body language~tossing the hair, flouncing around, speaking out that way, and more. I don't think that she meant to act as she did. I might have been a too-thoughtful child, but I wouldn't make fun of her as others did. She was intelligent, precocious, and driven to be the best in the class, but she was also temperamental and used to having her way, being the only child. This was in the mid-Fifties to early Sixties.

Also, look at the girl bully in "The Bridge to Terabithia". Many of the mannerisms, expressions and vocal usage are very like Mary/Karen's. We saw Mary being a bully several times. Move the character up to today's society and imagine what she would be like.

Now, think of Lucy Van Pelt in "Peanuts"! Isn't she the loud, temperamental bully that Mary is? Think when Lucy originated. I would say that Charles Schulz ran into a little girl (or more than one perhaps) natured like that at some point in his life.

So, I don't believe Karen is a bad actress. She beautifully plays a willful, bratty, lying, spoiled, manipulative child who will never be the sociopath Rhoda is. Mary can't give herself that pretty, poised facade.

I'm watching the confession scene right now, in which she manages to wriggle out from under the guilt. Why shouldn't she have these facial expressions? She's shown them throughout the story. Some people are "stonefaces", stoic and capable of hiding emotions; others' faces are far too mobile, revealing every thought and emotion. More often than not, children do allow moods to show on their faces unless they have become guarded. Once more I think of Rhoda in "The Bad Seed", who rarely drops her mask. I study people a lot, and I truly feel that Karen Balkin "nailed it"! It's important that she has a see-through act. Her schoolmates are used to it; her teachers are; and even her grandmother is. Remember: She gets a smack on the bottom from James Garner's character. There's a big problem schoolteachers have at times: You can have the brattiest misbehaving boy or girl; everyone sees it~but the parents, who want to give their child the benefit of a doubt. Mary's grandmother holds on to that doubt until at last she must admit the truth. (Yes, I taught school.)

I'm going to defend this little girl's performance. This was not your usual Hollywood-kid turn. She and Veronica Cartwright might have stolen the film from the rest of the cast had they been given more scenes.

I've been watching movies for 50-plus years and have been studying them most of that time. This isn't a judgment given without some thought. At times, it was eerily like seeing my classmate again, and I find it intriguing to imagine what sort of teenager and woman Mary will become. How many lives will she ruin since I can't see her changing all that much unless Grandmother makes some changes.

~~MystMoonstruck~~

Oh my goodness! I never realized this, but in the original play, it may have been clearer that the child most likely had lesbian tendencies or she would not have started this "rumor" - however since both films were made in times of censorship, this would have been played down somewhat. It really makes the story much more sinister and yet much more believable.
In those times, there probably was a lot of self-loathing among gay people unfortunately (and most likely still is some today). In a biography of Anthony Perkins I read about him being "treated" for homosexuality, announcing to his wife he was cured, but then proceeding to "back-slide" and hating himself for it. So sad.

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