The Bad Seed
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| Author | William March |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | Rinehart & Company, Inc. (USA) & Hamish Hamilton Limited (UK) |
| Released | April 8th, 1954 (USA) & October 1st, 1954 (UK) |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 247 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 978-0060795481 |
| Preceded by | October Island |
| Followed by | 99 Fables |
This page is about the novel. For the 1956 film of the same title, go to The Bad Seed (film).
"Bad Seed" is also the name of the Nick Cave biography by Ian Johnston.
The Bad Seed is a 1954 novel by William March, winner of the the 1955 National Book Award. It was the last major work written by March and although published in his lifetime, its enormous critical and commercial success was largely realized after March's death, one month after publication. The novel was adapted into a succesful and long-running Broadway play by Maxwell Anderson and an Academy Award nominated film directed by Mervyn Leroy.
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[edit] Plot summary
The central character of the story is Christine Penmark, a young mother who finds out that her eight-year-old daughter, Rhoda, is a murderer. Influenced by a neighbor's dalliance in psychiatric theories and a chance visit from her father, Christine begins to recall her own childhood, which brings back memories of times before the people she remembers as her parents adopted her. She eventually figures out that she was actually the sole surviving daughter of "The Incomparable Bessie Denker," a well-known (fictional) serial killer. Bessie Denker's career is based very roughly on the real-life careers of Jane Toppan and other such "black widow" serial killers. The description of her execution in the electric chair is based on that of Ruth Snyder.
Rhoda is portrayed as a sociopath, although the term was not in use at the time of the book. Like her grandmother, she has no conscience and will kill if necessary to get whatever she wants, whether that be a penmanship medal she felt she should have won, the silence of a janitor who knows more than she wants him to or an opal pendant. By the time Christine manages to put the truth together, Rhoda has already killed two people. An adept con artist, she can easily charm adults while eliciting fear and repulsion from other children who can sense something wrong with her.
Once her mother has come to the correct conclusions, she has to wrestle with a terrible dilemma. As young as Rhoda is, there are no guarantees that any arrangements made to confine her will prove permanent, and there would be a huge glare of publicity. At the same time, Christine knows full well that Rhoda will certainly kill again, and again; her grandmother is thought to have begun her career very young by "accidentally" putting arsenic on bread she knew her brother would eat, and went on to kill over 20 people before she was executed.
[edit] Film versions
The play was adapted by John Lee Mahin for the screenplay of a 1956 movie directed by Mervyn LeRoy. Paul Wendkos directed the 1985 television adaptation of The Bad Seed.
There is a reported second remake in the works for 2007. Eli Roth has been announced to direct. [1] According to Variety, Cabin Fever horror film director Eli Roth is set to remake The Bad Seed with Warner Bros. Pictures. Roth stated:
- The original was a great psychological thriller, and we are going to bastardize and exploit it, ramping up the body counts and killings. This is going to be scary, bloody fun, and we're going to create the next horror icon, a la Freddy, Jason and Chucky. She's this cunning, adorable kid who loves to kill but also loves 'N Sync.
[edit] Trivia
- Potential spoiler: In the play, Rhoda goes unpunished for her crimes. Since the Motion Picture Production Code would not allow a murderer to get off scott-free, the 1956 film version has a different ending in which Rhoda goes out to seek the Penmanship Medal by the wharf where she killed Claude Daigle after her mother told her she had dropped it into the water there. She is struck by lightening ever reminding us that "The wicked will always meet their doom" not "The wicked will survive the sleeping pills their recently suicidal mother gave them, so she can kill some more people!"
After a message telling people not to reveal the ending to people, there is a special "curtain call" ending where when Nancy Kelly (Christine) bows, she walks over to Rhoda, pulls her across her knee and spanks her (as was done in the original stage production).
