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      Child's Play

      PG Released Dec 12, 1972 1h 40m Drama List
      Reviews 52% Fewer than 50 Ratings Audience Score Paul Reis (Beau Bridges) arrives for his new job as gym teacher at the Roman Catholic all-boys boarding school he attended as a youth. It does not take long, however, for Reis to perceive that something strange is going on. An alarming feud is raging between Joe Dobbs (Robert Preston), the likable English teacher, and Jerome Malley (James Mason), the authoritarian Latin teacher. Reis, the outsider, resists getting involved, but it becomes inevitable once the student body erupts into violence. Read More Read Less Watch on Fandango at Home Premiered Jan 03 Buy Now

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      Critics Reviews

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      Pauline Kael New Yorker The movie version of Child’s Play needed a polished surface and suave craftsmanship. Instead, it has been turned into a horror melodrama -- to cash in, One assumes, on the young movie audience’s new interest in diabolism. Sep 29, 2023 Full Review David Nusair Reel Film Reviews ...a complete misfire that remains hopelessly unable to hide its stage origins from start to finish. Rated: 1/4 Dec 31, 2021 Full Review Tony Mastroianni Cleveland Press Child's Play comes on strong with its feeling of something ominous, of a pervading sense of evil and for most of its 100-minute length it manages to maintain that notion of undefined menace. Nov 16, 2018 Full Review Read all reviews

      Audience Reviews

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      Steve D Unsettling but never interesting. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 08/02/23 Full Review Audience Member CLever BUT DUMBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Audience Member A little too schlocky and melodramatic for my tastes. It also didn't help that it couldn't decide who was the protagonist here and who was the antagonist... Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member (** 1/2): [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon13.gif[/img] Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Audience Member Mason is fantastic but the rest of the movie is too melodramatic and way beyond the scope of reality. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/03/23 Full Review john l Based on a stage play of the same name, it's typical Lumet stage play adaptation to film that retains much of a stage play "feel" to it. The film centers around the blood feud between Jerome Malley (James Mason) and Joseph Dobbs (Robert Preston) with a newcomer PE teacher and sports coach to the school Paul Reis (Beau Bridges) getting caught in the middle of the feud between the two, each one attempting to get him to side with him. Malley (Mason) repeatedly accuses Dobbs (Preston) of subterfuge and maliciously going things to malign his character. Tension gradually builds through the entire film until it reaches a climactic head at the end, and it won't be what most expect. A first rate psychological thriller, it's like most stage plays, longer on dialog and shorter on action as there are limits to how much "action" one can have on a stage. That's OK as this is a cerebral thriller, not an action thriller. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Child's Play

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis Paul Reis (Beau Bridges) arrives for his new job as gym teacher at the Roman Catholic all-boys boarding school he attended as a youth. It does not take long, however, for Reis to perceive that something strange is going on. An alarming feud is raging between Joe Dobbs (Robert Preston), the likable English teacher, and Jerome Malley (James Mason), the authoritarian Latin teacher. Reis, the outsider, resists getting involved, but it becomes inevitable once the student body erupts into violence.
      Director
      Sidney Lumet
      Screenwriter
      Leon Prochnik
      Distributor
      Paramount Pictures
      Production Co
      Paramount Pictures
      Rating
      PG
      Genre
      Drama
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Dec 12, 1972, Wide
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Jul 1, 2013
      Runtime
      1h 40m
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