Ladybug Ladybug (film)

Ladybug Ladybug
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Frank Perry
Written by	Eleanor Perry Lois Dickert (story)
Produced by	Frank Perry
Starring	Jane Connell William Daniels Nancy Marchand Estelle Parsons Alice Playten
Cinematography	Leonard Hirschfield
Edited by	Armond Lebowitz
Music by	Bob Cobert
Production company	Frank Perry Films Inc. (as Francis Productions Inc.)
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date	December 23, 1963 (1963-12-23)
Running time	82 min.
Country	United States
Language	English

Ladybug Ladybug is a 1963 American motion picture directed by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Frank Perry. The film is a commentary on the psychological effects of the Cold War, the title deriving from the classic nursery rhyme. It marked the film debuts of William Daniels, Estelle Parsons and Jane Connell.

The film was inspired by a McCall's magazine story about an actual incident at an elementary school.

Plot

During the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, teachers at a secluded countryside elementary school are asked to accompany the pupils to their homes after a nuclear bomb warning alarm sounds. Unsure whether or not the alarm was false, the teacher and children walk through the countryside with a slowly building sense of doom about the upcoming nuclear holocaust.

When the children finally gain access to a bomb shelter, they do not allow a female fellow student join them, claiming there is not enough room. The girl frantically searches for shelter and finds an abandoned old refrigerator to hide inside; she is not seen again and her fate is never explained. After a boy from the shelter fails to find her, we hear a loud whining noise overhead. The boy cowers in the shadow of planes passing in the sky above and yells "Stop!" repeatedly as the camera moves closer to his face, goes out of focus and then fades to black.

Cast

• Miles Chapin as Joel
• Jane Connell as Mrs. Maxton
• William Daniels as Mr. Calkins
• James Frawley as Truck driver
• Richard Hamilton as JoAnn's Father
• Kathryn Hays as Mrs. Forbes
• Judith Lowry as Grandmother
• Nancy Marchand as Mrs. Andrews
• Estelle Parsons as JoAnn's Mother
• Alice Playten as Harriet

See also

• List of American films of 1963

External links

• Ladybug Ladybug at The Internet Movie Database
• Ladybug Ladybug at All Movie Database
• Ladybug Ladybug at Rotten Tomatoes