Amazon.com reviews for
A Child Is Waiting (1963)

photos

board

trailer

details

Child Is Waiting (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: This 1963 film, directed by John Cassavetes, features Judy Garland's last dramatic performance. She plays a teacher at an institution for the retarded who ultimately can't contain her own urge to help, to the detriment of her young charges. Burt Lancaster gives a strong performance as the head of the institution, trying to balance fiscal responsibility and administrative duties with a caring nature. But it's a constant struggle between the urge to do the right thing and the politics of an uncaring state. One of Cassavetes's most mainstream efforts, it includes actual handicapped children as extras, which was considered daring at the time. --Marshall Fine