Just watched this the other night - for the first time, I'm ashamed to say.

Does anybody else absolutely hate the totally b.s. ending?!


***Spoilers***

First we have a deus-ex-machina lightning bolt that takes out the kid after all the main plotlines have been settled; then the actors are introduced a la the Mercury Theater, which removes us from the false reality of the story; then, to add insult to injury, the last scene is of the mom's actress playfully spanking Patty McCormack!

I know the Hayes code couldn't let the little rat get away with murder, but they could have cut off the story earlier & let the mom have successfully killed her. A much better ending, of course, would have been the mother in her hospital bed learning that her attempt had failed - probably from the mouth of the vengeful little tyke herself.

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