CHILD'S PLAY, directed by Sidney Lumet, is a somewhat obscure motion picture. It is based on a hit Broadway play that ran for 342 performances. Playwright Robert Marasco had worked at a Catholic school and he knew the ins and outs of such an environment.
The Broadway production featured Fritz Weaver and Pat Hingle. Neither were box office draws, so Paramount's feature film version has James Mason and Robert Preston in the lead roles. Two very different actors with unique approaches to the material. The characters they play experience an undercurrent of hostility towards one other and a mutual distrust of each other's motives-- despite perfunctory niceties exhibited in front of their students and coworkers.
Mason is great at playing Jerome Malley, a longtime Latin instructor who is unravelling. His downfall is spurred by the abuses of the teen boys in his classroom. He is also dealing with the grave illness of his mother. To say he's miserable is an understatement. His life is devoid of joy or any real pleasure.
Preston plays Joseph Dobbs a well-liked English instructor, a man who seems to be the complete opposite. Dobbs is a sadist who is orchestrating the attacks on Malley, using the boys to wage a psychological and spiritual war. His motives are unclear at first, but gradually we learn he is jealous and insecure. Dobbs covets Malley's top spot on staff and he likes to lord control over the boys.
Into this unholy atmosphere we have Beau Bridges as Paul Reis (played on Broadway by Ken Howard). Reis is a former pupil of both men, now graduated from college. Reis returns to the high school to take a position as a gym instructor. There are some shocking moments where he learns how violent and twisted some of the boys are.
Reis is caught in the middle between Malley and Dobbs. He'd studied under both of them in his youth and must now function alongside them in a professional capacity. Some scenes imply that his own soul is a battleground between Dobbs and Malley.
I enjoy the slower parts of the film and am glad that Lumet is not in a hurry to get to the bigger turning points. We are given plenty of time to think about how these characters co-exist, how they bring out the best and worst in each other. Of course we suspect early on that Dobbs is gaslighting Malley, setting him up as a deviant (which he might well be). Malley does confess his sins during a pivotal scene. Then abruptly he takes his own life.
Dobbs wins. But he excoriates the boys, since it is not a victory without recriminations. However, the boys turn on Dobbs. The final few minutes inside the church lead to Dobbs' own confession-- and it is spectacular. At the end, a symbolic candle goes out. We are left to ponder Dobbs' fate and fate of the boys. What will become of them? Can Reis save them?
The Broadway production featured Fritz Weaver and Pat Hingle. Neither were box office draws, so Paramount's feature film version has James Mason and Robert Preston in the lead roles. Two very different actors with unique approaches to the material. The characters they play experience an undercurrent of hostility towards one other and a mutual distrust of each other's motives-- despite perfunctory niceties exhibited in front of their students and coworkers.
Mason is great at playing Jerome Malley, a longtime Latin instructor who is unravelling. His downfall is spurred by the abuses of the teen boys in his classroom. He is also dealing with the grave illness of his mother. To say he's miserable is an understatement. His life is devoid of joy or any real pleasure.
Preston plays Joseph Dobbs a well-liked English instructor, a man who seems to be the complete opposite. Dobbs is a sadist who is orchestrating the attacks on Malley, using the boys to wage a psychological and spiritual war. His motives are unclear at first, but gradually we learn he is jealous and insecure. Dobbs covets Malley's top spot on staff and he likes to lord control over the boys.
Into this unholy atmosphere we have Beau Bridges as Paul Reis (played on Broadway by Ken Howard). Reis is a former pupil of both men, now graduated from college. Reis returns to the high school to take a position as a gym instructor. There are some shocking moments where he learns how violent and twisted some of the boys are.
Reis is caught in the middle between Malley and Dobbs. He'd studied under both of them in his youth and must now function alongside them in a professional capacity. Some scenes imply that his own soul is a battleground between Dobbs and Malley.
I enjoy the slower parts of the film and am glad that Lumet is not in a hurry to get to the bigger turning points. We are given plenty of time to think about how these characters co-exist, how they bring out the best and worst in each other. Of course we suspect early on that Dobbs is gaslighting Malley, setting him up as a deviant (which he might well be). Malley does confess his sins during a pivotal scene. Then abruptly he takes his own life.
Dobbs wins. But he excoriates the boys, since it is not a victory without recriminations. However, the boys turn on Dobbs. The final few minutes inside the church lead to Dobbs' own confession-- and it is spectacular. At the end, a symbolic candle goes out. We are left to ponder Dobbs' fate and fate of the boys. What will become of them? Can Reis save them?