Born Innocent (TV 1974)

A constant runaway is given over to the care of the state and finds herself in a remand centre for girls. She is soon caught between the uncaring bureaucracy, the sometimes brutal treatment... See full summary »

Director:

Donald Wrye

Writers:

Creighton Brown Burnham (book), Gerald Di Pego

Stars:

Linda Blair, Joanna Miles, Allyn Ann McLerie

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Linda Blair	...	Chris Parker
Joanna Miles	...	Counselor Barbara Clark
Allyn Ann McLerie	...	Emma Lasko
Mary Murphy	...	Miss Murphy
Janit Baldwin	...	Denny
Nora Heflin	...	Moco
Tina Andrews	...	Josie
Sandra Ego	...	Janet
Mitch Vogel	...	Tom Parker
Richard Jaeckel	...	Mr. Parker
Kim Hunter	...	Mrs. Parker

Storyline

A constant runaway is given over to the care of the state and finds herself in a remand centre for girls. She is soon caught between the uncaring bureaucracy, the sometimes brutal treatment from her peers and her own abusive family, and only one care worker sees her potential to rise above her tragic circumstances.

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Plot Keywords:

runaway | family discord | lie | piano | teacher | 

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Taglines:

Only 14 Years Old and Already Learning About the Terrible Realities of Life.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 September 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

Nacida inocente

Filming Locations:

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tomorrow Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The rape scene was deleted after it was blamed for influencing a group of young girls to rape an eight-year-old girl with a bottle.

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Goofs

When Chris first comes out of the shower stall at the bequest of Denny (waving a toilet brush) and Moco, the two girls are standing close together to Chris's right and left, but a longer shot of Chris peering around them shows Denny further down from the stall.

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Quotes

Chris Parker: [to Moco] Congratulations. The baby's dead.

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Carrie Fisher/The Blues Brothers (1978)

User Reviews

Controversial TV Movie with Bold Statements

This very sad story of Chris Parker(Linda Blair) makes all the statements about state institutions and then some without ever giving the soap box speech. The meaning is drawn by the events of the film and ultimate conclusion. The only time anything about the facilities is mentioned is through logical dialog and never to be addressing the audience. Some of the acting in the film is definite TV Movie one takers. However, that works with this film because it makes it seem as though these are the real people, real setting and real situation. The movie ends on a down note, but that is awesome because the meaning of this film would have been lost concluding in any other way. You are compelled to watch this film to see what will happen to Chris and will she escape this place that is worse than the home she ran away from.

Very different from the book that is written in the first person of the teacher/author Creighton Brown Burnham, but name changed to Barbara Clark who the girls call "Mom" in the film. The character of "Chris Parker" does not exist in the book, but is instead a mixture of girls described by the teacher. Also, events taking place in the movie are not in the book. Instead the themes, setting and general feel of the book are present in the film as a new narrative.

Fred Karlin's music completely envelopes the feel and mood of this film, making the story even more affecting. Great score!

This film with being a TV movie and obviously well shot by NBC productions has a very naturalistic feel to it, almost like a documentary in many ways. That is really the best way to describe it. With so many current films being made with diretors trying to get that 70's rawness and realness incorporated into their films, this is an awesome reason why. It can certainly be strongly affecting and it is impossible to watch this film without really feeling something for Linda Blair's character - unless you are just a really jacked up person.

An interesting thing to note here is that NBC never said anything about the infamous "Plunger" scene in this movie before it aired. I find that awesome in letting the impact of this scene being allowed to happen without some kind of dumb "warning" to either deter viewers or entice them. Any parent watching this film had to have known that there were adult themes in this film way before this scene came about. I mean drugs, prostitution, lesbianism, self-mutilation and much more had been across the screen before this scene.