The Ugly Little Boy

This short film has haunted my memory all these years since I first saw it back in the late 1970s. I finally had the chance to see it again and was surprised to find not only how well I remembered this film, but how well it stood up to my expectations.

The concept is solid, and is based on one of Isaac Asimov's best-remembered short stories. The Ugly Little Boy plays out much like an episode of any of the Twilight Zone series or Outer Limits, and would have been preserved better had it belonged to one of those programs. As it is, this is a rare film with a good SF concept, quality acting, and a touching story that moves one's conscience. Asimov was an influential writer, but so little of his work has been committed to film, or done so well as this caring short story of a nurse's concern for a Neanderthal child wrested from his time into the future.

Also of note is this rarity among Canadian science fiction. In the 1970s, Canada had produced the much-maligned (but occasionally solid) science fiction series The Starlost (1973), and The Shape of Things to Come (1979). None of these are stellar productions. All of them, interestingly enough, starred Anglo-Canadian actor Barry Morse (The Fugitive, Space: 1999). Starlost fans will also notice the cameo by William Osler as Prof. Adamnevsky (protecting his ancient rock specimen!). Osler played the computer interface on Earthship Ark in The Starlost (1973).

Hopefully, this will be re-released some day and made available to a wider audience.

Kate Reid is a plain-looking woman who is a fine nurse. She has no surviving family, no husband or lover, which is why she has been called in to work on a project. It seems that scientist Barry Morse has devised a means of transporting objects from earlier eras to study them. Among the objects is Guy Big, a Neanderthal child. Miss Reid is to take care of the child, and teach it to speak if possible. Then it can be questioned about its society and the other things that interest the scientists. At least, that's the plan.

I first read the Isaac Asimov short story this was based on about, oh, sixty or sixty five years ago. It still sticks in my memory, and its point about scientists who lose their sense of humanity in searching the answers to the big questions. Few of Asimov's hundreds of stories have been adapted for the screen. This is a good one, both in terms of the story and the adaptation: simple and effective.

I saw this movie some time ago, but it stuck with me for this long. I was especially taken by the little boy, and possibly would have done the same as the lady in the show did. It's unique because of the type of character Barry plays again. A cold-hearted scientist. Anyone who knows him also knows HE likely would have done the same as the woman...

A fairly good, pretty faithful adaptation of one of Isaac Asimov's best stories. Unfortunately, it has that "academic gloss" factor that undermines so many PBS and/or classroom productions. Please read the story first.