Patty McCormak: The Bad Seed

The TV held a position of high esteem in our house, my mother likes old movies and both my parents like sports. So needless to say the TV was always on in my parents home. And as a family, we had a habit a giving nicknames to neighbors or the locals, often referring to the many movie or TV characters that we watched.

The Bad Seed was a movie our family most enjoyed. Originally released in 1956, by Warner Brothers. The movie told the story of Rhoda Penmark (Patty McCormack), a seemingly overly polite little girl, with blonde braids and a flashing smile that was so sweet, until she didn't get her way. Then, without batting an eyelash, she could kill another human and act like nothing ever happened.

Certainly not your Saturday afternoon with the kid’s movie, but our family can find humor in just about anything. See, we had a neighbor that we nicknamed the "bad seed". Now she didn't kill anyone (to my knowledge), but she fit the physical description to a T. Blonde braids and all. She was a spoiled, little brat that knew when to turn on the charm to keep herself out of trouble. Just like the character in the movie.

It seems that the original film is being shown this weekend at the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival in Palm Springs with the 63-year-old McCormack scheduled to appear. Like most of us, if you can't make that event, check out the DVD the The Bad Seed . Enjoy it at home and "watch out for those shoes."