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Reuben's divorced parents are played by Steven Hill and Gena Rowlands (the real-life wife of director Cassavetes). Rowlands new screen spouse is film noir favorite Lawrence Tierney. Citizen Kane alumni Paul Stewart plays one of Lancaster's assistants. Stanley Kramer was the producer, and presumably offered Lancaster's role first to his favorite actor, Spencer Tracy. Kramer did put his favorite screenwriter, Abby Mann, on the project.
How others will see it. Both Lancaster and Garland are too long in the tooth to be attractive. Although only just over 40, Garland has puffed out slightly, and is a maternal figure here. Certainly, that is how Reuben sees her, as a mommie substitute. The story is discomforting, and will be of interest mostly to intellectuals, social workers, and those who care deeply about the plight of the retarded.
Those who seek entertainment will have to find it elsewhere. Here is a black and white movie without eye candy, action, or laughs. Mostly, it's a downer. Not that there's anything wrong with that, since it is more important for a mood to be genuine than crowd-pleasing.
How I felt about it. I've always found this movie compelling. I respect Stanley Kramer for making it, since he was the one putting his money on the line. The film asks an important question most of us prefer to ignore: what is the place of the retarded in society? Do we allow them to become homeless, victimized, and deceased, once their caretakers (parents or siblings) have passed? Accept it or not, that is where many of them end up, even though their caretakers may have loved them.
Others would prefer the retarded to be warehoused in institutions for their entire lives. Out of sight, out of mind. Lancaster's character has a different plan. He wants to train them to function in society, teach them to talk clearly, to read and write. He wants to teach them trades, where possible. Not every child can be saved from the institution. But many can achieve modest goals, such as Paul Stewart's example as a dishwasher.
Lancaster believes that love alone will not "save" the children. If they grow up with skills that allow them to function in society, their future is bleak. In this film at least, he's proven right. Even Garland becomes convinced, despite her natural compulsion to become Reuben's surrogate mother. In the long run, it won't help him, unless she happens to outlive him. This same argument has also won over Hill and Rowlands, although things are different today. Retarded children are less likely to be ostracized from the public school system.
This was one of Garland's final film roles. A hit live album rejuvenated her career in the early 1960s, and Kramer helped her out further with a key role in Judgment at Nuremberg. But her erratic behavior and pill-popping made her unwelcome after 1964, and she died five years later, still relatively young.
Back to Reuben. He's slow and backward, to be sure. But he has other problems. He's severely depressed, and has autistic, anti-social, and attention deficit tendencies. Lancaster's response is to treat the child the same as all the others, and expect that he'll shape up and fit in. The good news is that the remaining children seem to enjoy his methods. Maybe they can find a functional role in society.