is a 1973 British-American drama film directed by Lionel Jeffries and starring Patricia Neal, Jean-Pierre Cassel and Britt Ekland.

[1][2] The film follows a young boy called Roger Baxter who struggles to overcome his speech problem (rhotacism) and his strained relationship with his parents.

The screenplay was by Reginald Rose, based on the 1968 book by Kin Platt, The Boy Who Could Make Himself Disappear.

[3][4] Roger Baxter, a young American boy with a speech impediment, goes to live in London with his mother after his parents' divorce.

He makes friends with his upstairs neighbour Chris Bentley whom he meets in the lift, and her French husband, Roger Tunnell.

"[12] Variety called it "a good tearjerker" that was "well directed" but felt "Reginald Rose’s adaptation is episodic and more like that of a made-for-tv feature than a theatrical pic...

"[15] Academic Paul Moody wrote: If one film EMI released in the period summed up the spirit (or lack of spirit) of the early 1970s, it was the bleak message of this production that was ostensibly for family viewing, which portrayed Baxter’s disaffection and eventual capitulation, giving in to his despair and taking his own life.

It was almost as if the national malaise ensured that genuinely positive stories of modern Britain would have no traction with audiences, who were increasingly looking backwards to idealised notions of the past.