Psychologist Dr. Matthew Clark is the head of the Crawthorne State Training Institute, one of the first boarding schools for developmentally challenged children. Dr. Clark is sympathetic ...
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Title: A Child Is Waiting (1963)
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1 nomination.
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Cast
| Complete credited cast: | |||
| Burt Lancaster | ... | Dr. Matthew Clark | |
| Judy Garland | ... | Jean Hansen | |
| Gena Rowlands | ... | Sophie Widdicombe | |
| Steven Hill | ... | Ted Widdicombe | |
| Paul Stewart | ... | Goodman | |
 |
Gloria McGehee | ... | Mattie |
| Lawrence Tierney | ... | Douglas Benham | |
| Bruce Ritchey | ... | Reuben Widdicombe | |
| John Marley | ... | Holland | |
| Bill Mumy | ... | Boy Counting Jean's Pearls | |
| Elizabeth Wilson | ... | Miss Fogarty | |
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Plot Summary
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Storyline
Psychologist Dr. Matthew Clark is the head of the Crawthorne State Training Institute, one of the first boarding schools for developmentally challenged children. Dr. Clark is sympathetic but demanding of his teachers and students. His approach of tough love is controversial. He takes a chance at hiring former aspiring concert pianist Jean Hansen as the school's music teacher, Miss Hansen who has no background in nursing, teaching or dealing with the developmentally challenged. She herself is trying to find her own place in life. She immediately bonds with autistic student Reuben Widdicombe, who she sees as needing special attention in light of his parents having not visited him since they enrolled him in the school two years earlier. The Widdicombes divorced shortly thereafter because of the pressures their relationship faced in dealing with Reuben. Dr. Clark sees Reuben as the type of child the most difficult with which to deal: Reuben understands just enough to realize that he is ... Written by Huggo
Taglines:
If This Were Flesh Of Your Flesh - Would You Hold It Close ...Protect It ...Love It ...Or Would You Turn Your Back And Run... See more »Genres:
DramaParents Guide:
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Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
11 May 1963 (Italy) See more »Also Known As:
Un niño espera See more »Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
| (TCM print)Sound Mix:
MonoColor:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.66 : 1
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Did You Know?
Goofs
The narrator tells us Reuben was placed in the State Mental Hospital 6 September 1959, but the automobile in which he arrives bears very visible 1962 New York license plates. See more »Quotes
Dr. Matthew Clark: I think you can find what you're looking for here, Miss Hansen. Because it's not what you can do for these children; it's what they can do for you.See more »
Crazy Credits
Following the last name in the cast list (Elizabeth Wilson) are the words "and The Children". See more »Contribute to This Page
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A truly heartwarming look at the every day lives of children at a mental facility. Judy Garland gives a great performance as Jean Hansen, a lonely woman on the look out for just the right kind of job.
Burt Lancaster is very convincing as the hospital psychiatrist. He is strict but in many ways kind to the kids. However, the one standout child in this movie is Bruce Ritchey who portrays "Reuben Widdecombe". The boy dislikes Lancaster for his strictness.
I thought Billy Mumy "Lost In Space" and "Twilight Zone" would have had a bigger part in this, yet he is only in a supporting role. Bruce Ritchey looks like "the boy next door", like any other normal kid. Judy Garland takes a great interest in Ritchey and gets his parents to come out to the hospital to see him.
The dad, Steven Hill, wants to forget that his son ever existed and refuses to come see the boy until the mother, played by Gena Rowlands, tearfully persuades her ex-husband to visit he son. She comes to the hospital herself but refuses to see Reuben.
All in all, the movie is wonderful. You will definately need to have a box of kleenex nearby. Ritchey will win your heart! I give it an enthusiastic 2 THUMBS UP!