Child's Play (1972) - Cinématographe Limited Edition

Paul Reis (Beau Bridges) is a former student of St. Charles, a Catholic boarding school for boys, where he now teaches gym. Strange things are afoot, with the boys mercilessly beating each other, even going so far as to gouge someone’s eye out, and to ritualistically crucify another boy in effigy. Paul can’t explain what’s happening, but maybe it has something to do with a longstanding feud between teachers Joseph Dobbs (Robert Preston) and Jerome Malley (James Mason).

Malley is a classical hard-ass, in charge of Latin at the school. He doesn’t suffer fools, and he expects the best from his students. He’s not there to make friends; he’s there to do his job, and if the students don’t particularly like him, so be it. Dobbs, on the other hand, is well-liked by the students and the staff. He’s naturally charming and has an energy that people gravitate toward. He’s smart. He’s handsome. And he’s kind… at least he appears to be kind. There appears to be a mean streak to him that he keeps hidden.

Child’s Play, directed by Sidney Lumet, adapted from the stage play of the same name by Robert Marasco, blurs a lot of genres together. It’s not quite a horror story, though it does have horrific moments and some genuine chills. It’s not quite a coming-of-age drama, but we do get a sense of Paul's growth and his loss of innocence in seeing how things have changed at this school from when he was a child. While the film never quite coalesces into a satisfying whole, there’s a lot to admire about it, particularly in the lead performances that anchor it. James Mason, in particular, knocks it out of the park, and out of a career defined by incredible performances; this is one of his best. He portrays Malley as a driven man, losing his sanity, fearful that what’s happening to him is in his head. Is he losing his mind, or is Dobbs gaslighting him into madness?

Most negative reviews of Child’s Play believe that it would have been more successful as a straight-out tale of horror, rather than one that toys with it—is what we’re seeing the result of two men at war with each other, or is there a malevolent, supernatural force at work? I believe Lumet does a remarkable job of balancing tones and, as always, gets the best performances from his cast. I don’t think the film is entirely successful, but I think much of that has to do with framing the story from the perspective of Reis. Beau Bridges is great in it, but I don’t think the story needed an audience surrogate. I think reframing the perspective to one of the teachers would have allowed the more interesting aspects of the story to take center stage.

Still, Child’s Play is a unique entry for one of the all-time great filmmakers. While it’s not entirely successful in what it sets out to do, Lumet has crafted an interesting little thriller, claustrophobic in its telling, as it ponders the nature of good and evil, of protégé and mentor, of God and man.

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray
Cinématographe’s release of Child’s Play on Blu-ray leans into the Catholic-spiced horror of the story with a hard-case slipcover featuring an image from the film, a framed photo of Christ with His eyes burned out. The disc is housed in a case styled to look like a book that contains a number of essays, including writing from Mitchell Beaupre and Madelyn Sutton.

For this release, Child’s Play was scanned in 2K from its original camera negative and is presented in 1080p high definition. Gerald Hirschfeld’s low-light cinematography, taking place mostly indoors, in cramped rooms, is grainy, with a layer of film grain dancing before the image. Shadows pulsate with noise. This suits the film’s look, with a very brown and red color palette, reflected by its set design. Child’s Play isn’t a sleek production; it’s a gritty little drama about the terrible things that young boys do to each other, and the presentation on this disc does well by it. It’s splotchy, it’s dirty, but details in close-up are razor sharp and colors are vibrant and rich.

The accompanying lone audio track is a 2.0 mono mix, encoded in DTS-HD MA. Child’s Play, which is adapted from a stage play, feels like one on film, too, with much of the story being propelled through dialogue, with actors who know how to project. Dialogue clarity is never an issue, always coming through crisp and clean. Since much of the film takes place inside, there’s not in the way of ambient effects on the front-only presentation, but Michael Small’s discordant, uneasy score is leveled in nicely, creating a sense of dread during those tense moments.

Cinématographe has assembled some great supplements for Child’s Play, including an audio commentary, a video essay, and featurettes about Sidney Lumet’s oeuvre and how Child’s Play would lead to later successes in his career.

• Audio Commentary - Film historian Adrian Martin
• Play to Strengths: Sidney Lumet, Stagecraft and Cinemacraft (HD 8:59) - Video essay by film historian Daniel Kremer
• Designing Lumet (HD 14:46) - Interview with production designer Philip Rosenberg
• One Stop on the Road to Serpico (HD 8:32) - Documentary short by Daniel Griffith
• One Step Further: Becoming Lumet (HD 57:01) - Documentary chronicling the first half of Sidney Lumet's career
• Sidney Lumet on Charlie Rose (SD 42:49) - Interview between director Sidney Lumet and journalist Charlie Rose, recorded in 2006

Sidney Lumet was one of the great American filmmakers, with a career that spanned decades, each decade containing something truly unique and special. Child’s Play is an intriguing chapter in his body of work; it doesn’t quite come together as a satisfying whole, but it’s nevertheless an engaging, thoughtful thriller with some masterful acting from its leads. Cinématographe’s release features a great video presentation, scanned from its original negative, superb audio quality, and some great special features that look at the film’s lasting legacy in a prolific auteur’s filmography. Child’s Play is Recommended. 

Order from Vinegar Syndrome