Ladybug Ladybug (1963) Nuclear Drama Jane Connell, William Daniels, James Frawley This thought-provoking and only slightly heavy handed anti-war tract is based on a real incident that occurred during the atomic terror of the Cuban missile crisis. The tragedy begins when a civil defense siren is accidentally tripped while a school is in session. The panic-stricken children are immediately sent home. One young girl has an air-raid shelter in her backyard and invites many children inside. A less popular girl begs to be let in, but the first girl makes excuses and shuts her out leaving the terribly frightened child to hide out in..... The New York Times Review Published: December 24, 1963 FRANK and Eleanor Perry, the talented husband-wife team who made the popular "David and Lisa," have studiously tried again to dramatize the behavior of young people under conditions of severe stress and strain. Their new picture, "Ladybug, Ladybug," which came to Cinema II yesterday, is an estimation of the way a group of American schoolchildren in a peaceful rural community would react to a sudden threat of a bomb attack. Using the same sharp and literal documentary style of their previous film—a style so candid and natural that it imparts an illusion of photographed reality — they are showing us what they think might happen if the civil defense alarm in a rural elementary school began sounding the yellow alert and the principal could not make sure that it didn't really mean "a nuclear attack imminent within one hour." They are showing us the principal's uncertainty, the confusion of members of his staff, their attempts to get some explanation and then the principal's procedure in starting the children to their homes, in buses and under the shepherding of teachers who are just as bewildered as the children. And they are showing, in particular, what happens to the youngsters in one of these groups who go to the home of one of their number where there's a bomb shelter and what the children do there. Obviously, the intention of the Perrys is to give us, first, a sense of shock at the explosion of such a dreaded situation, then a feeling of the fear and helplessness of the teachers and children, and, finally, an indication of the likely behavior of all people—and the pity of it— if an attack were to come out of the blue. These are respectable intentions, but, unfortunately, the film is too slight in dramatic structure and too prosaic, really, to carry much punch. The story itself is small and sketchy—no more than a minor episode involving only a few people that takes place within an hour. The details are weakly developed and tention is barely drawn. It is as though Mr. Perry, as director, had deliberately had his people play in a mood and at a pace that would suggest a sort of mental and emotional paralysis. Furthermore, his climactic detail, in which a tragedy for one of the children is implied, because this child is refused admittance to the bomb shelter by two of the others, is so sudden and arbitrary in the pedestrian flow of the film that it seems much more a theatrical contrivance than a likely happening. As the youngster who is refused admittance, Marilyn Rogers has the most to do and gives the most convincing performance among the several children in the film. William Daniels is conventional and efficient as the principal, and Kathryn Hays, Jane Hoffman and Nancy Marchand show various aspects of adult dismay. Of course, it turns out that the signal is a false alarm, and the pathetic incident in the bomb shelter occurs after this is known. Here lies the singular bit of tension and dramatic irony in the film. It is hardly enough to compensate for an audience's valuable time. LADYBUG, LADYBUG, screenplay by Eleanor Perry, suggested by an article about an actual incident by Lois Dickert; directed and produced by Frank Perry; a Francis Production presentation released through United Artists. At Cinema II, Third Avenue and 59th Street. Running time: 81 minutes. Mrs. Maxton . . . . . Jane Connell Mr. Calkins . . . . . William Daniels Truck Driver . . . . . James Frawley JoAnn's Father . . . . . Richard Hamilton Mrs. Forbes . . . . . Kathryn Hays Mrs. Hayworth . . . . . Jane Hoffman Don and Trudy's Mother . . . . . Elena Karam Luke's Grandmother . . . . . Judith Lowry Mrs. Andrews . . . . . Nancy Marchand JoAnn's Mother . . . . . Estelle Parsons Steve . . . . . Christopher Howard Sarah . . . . . Marilyn Rogers Pattie . . . . . Jennifer Stone

• published: 16 May 2014
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