Step-Child
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
James Flood
Brenda Joyce
Donald Woods
Terry Austin
Tommy Ivo
Gregory Marshall
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
When Dale Bullock, the mother of two young boys, refuses to give up her high-paying job as a department store vice-president to spend more time with her family, Ken, her husband, asks her for a divorce. A short time later, Millie Lynne, Ken's gold-digging secretary, discovers that Ken stands to inherit his wealthy uncle's estate and begins pursuing him. The judge in the divorce hearing faults Dale for not giving her sons Jim and Tommy the love they deserve, and grants Ken custody of the boys. Dale is permitted to visit her boys once every week, a ruling to which she initially objects, but later accepts. As time passes, Ken and Millie become romantically involved and plan an early wedding. Ken and Dale eventually make amends and go on a dinner date, during which Ken tells her that he will be marrying Millie. Dale, hoping that Ken was planning to propose to her again, is hurt by the news. After the wedding, Tommy and Jim express their disapproval of the marriage. One evening, when Ken returns home from a dinner date with his ex-wife, Millie asks him never to see Dale again. Later that night, Millie strikes Tommy across the face, then threatens both boys with further harm if they tell their father about the abuse. Dale, meanwhile, is courted by her associate, Brian Reed, who has taken an assignment out West and wants her to join him. Dale rejects the offer, however, and tells Brian that she is too devoted to her sons to leave them. When Millie hits both boys on another occasion, they complain to their father about her mistreatment. Dale eventually decides that it will be in the best interest of her sons to give up her visitation rights and end the confusing domestic situation. One day, Ken returns home from work just after Millie has given Tommy another beating and finds Jim attacking Millie in retribution. Jim tells his father about Millie's beatings, but Tommy, fearing Millie's wrath, refuses to confirm his brother's accusations. The boys are punished and sent to their rooms, but they escape from the house. While Ken files a missing persons report on the boys, Jim and Tommy make their way across town in a rainstorm. The police eventually find the boys, but Tommy is hospitalized with pneumonia. When Dale arrives at the police station, Jim pleads with her to believe his story about Millie's beatings, and she helps prove the allegations by visiting the semi-conscious Tommy in his hospital room and coaxing the truth about Millie from him. Convinced at last that Millie abused his boys, Ken gives her a brutal beating and tells her to pack her bags. Tommy makes a full recovery, and the boys look forward to a life free of Millie's abuse.
Director
James Flood
Cast
Brenda Joyce
Donald Woods
Terry Austin
Tommy Ivo
Gregory Marshall
James Millican
Griff Barnett
Selmer Jackson
Ruth Robinson
Ruth Brady
Daisy, The Dog
Crew
Jerry Briskin
Ridgeway Callow
Alfred De Gaetano
Karen Dewolf
Dorothy Drake
Eunice
Irving Friedman
J. N. A. Hawkins
W. Donn Hayes
Jules Levine
Armor Marlowe
Frank Mcwhorter
Leonard S. Picker
Jackson Rose
Mario Silva
Perry Smith
Stewart Stern
Ben Stoloff
George J. Teague
Bud Westmore
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Although onscreen credits list the film's title as Step-Child, most reviews and other contemporary sources spell the title as Stepchild. Hildegarde Ackerman and Toni Todd were announced as cast members in Hollywood Reporter, but their appearance in the final film has not been confirmed.
