The read
Critics rate it 28 points higher than audiences do. It runs a compact 1h 26m.
Synopsis
In a racially mixed American town, a five-year-old black girl falls unnoticed into a hidden, forgotten well on her way to school. Having nothing better to go on, the police follow up a report that the child was seen with a white stranger, and rumors run wild. Before hapless, innocent Claude Packard is even found, popular hysteria has him tried and convicted. But is he guilty?
Ratings
IMDb7.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes100%
Critics rate it 28 points higher than audiences do.
17 audience votes
Key crew
- Clarence GreeneWriter
- Russell RouseWriter
- Dimitri TiomkinOriginal Music Composer
- Russell RouseDirector
- Leo C. PopkinDirector
Cast
- Gwendolyn LasterCarolyn Crawford
- Richard RoberBen Kellogg
- Maidie NormanMartha Crawford
- George "Spike" HamiltonGrandpa Peabody
- Ernest AndersonRalph Crawford
- Dick SimmonsMickey McClure
- Lane ChandlerDeputy Stan
- Pat MitchellPeter
- Margaret WellsMiss Peterson
- Wheaton ChambersMr. Woody
- Michael RossDeputy Frank
- Russell TrentDeputy Chet
Stills
Themes
kidnappingstrangerwellkids