The Bad Seed: What to Do with 8 Year Old Killer, Rhoda Penmark

Little Patty McCormack was only 10 years old when she chewed up the scenery as the little monster who played her mother like a fiddle, until her mother got the idea that Rhoda inherited her bad genes from Mom. The title of the cult classic, The Bad Seed, refers to adolescent Rhoda Penmark, who has a knack for impressing adults with her overly courteous manners, but she also has this little penchant for killing people who have things she wants or otherwise get in her way. Then she'll waltz off to the piano to play Au Clair de la Lune.

Before the movie came out, Patty played Rhoda Penmark on Broadway opposite Nancy Kelly, who also reprised her role as loving mother, Christine Penmark, in the movie. Many other members of the movie cast also appeared in the Broadway production. This could be at least one of the reasons why the acting seems a bit melodramatic. Many people do consider the movie rather campy by today's standards, while others just ignore that and get into the storyline.

Christine Penmark is the ideal housewife who slowly begins to realize that her adorable pig-tailed darling Rhoda always seems to be the last one around people who meet with a terrible accident. Worse than that, the deceased are also turning out to be people who had something Rhoda wanted really bad and, in some cases, were foolish enough to tell Rhoda that she could have it when they died.

A little boy drowns at a school function and Rhoda is the last person to be with the victim. While no outright accusations are made against her, the fact that Rhoda was harassing the child about his penmanship medal is deemed sufficient cause by the school's headmistress to visit Christine and let her know that Rhoda will not be welcomed back in the new school year. When Christine finds the medal in Rhoda's room, it's no cause for alarm for the little maniac who comes up with a story to explain how she came by it quicker than you can say Jack Robinson.