A Child Is Waiting

A Child Is Waiting is a 1963 American drama film written by Abby Mann and directed by John Cassavetes. Burt Lancaster portrays the director of a state institution for mentally handicapped and emotionally disturbed children, and Judy Garland is a new teacher who challenges his methods.

Dr. Clark finds him and brings him back the following morning, and Jean offers to resign. Clark asks her to stay and continue her rehearsals for the Thanksgiving pageant. On the day of the show, Reubens father Ted arrives, having decided to enroll him in a private school. When he hears Reuben recite a poem and positively react to the audiences applause, he decides to leave him in the care of Jean, who is asked to welcome a new boy to the institution by Dr. Clark.Producer Stanley Kramer modeled the films school on the Vineland Training School in New Jersey. He wanted to bring the plight of mentally and emotionally disturbed children to the moviegoing public and try to throw a spotlight on a darkages type of social thinking which has tried to relegate the subject of retardation to a place under the rocks. He wanted to cast Burt Lancaster because the actor had a troubled child of his own. Ingrid Bergman, Katharine Hepburn, and Elizabeth Taylor were considered for the role of Jean Hansen, which went to Judy Garland, who previously had worked with Lancaster and Kramer on the 1961 film Judgment at Nuremberg. She was experiencing severe personal problems at the time and the director felt a supportive work environment would help her get through them. ........

Source: Wikipedia