Born Innocent (1974) (TV)

Director:

Donald Wrye

Writers:

Creighton Brown Burnham (book)
Gerald Di Pego (writer)

Release Date:

10 September 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

A Young Girl Behind Bars... The Pain. The Abuse. The Revenge.

Plot:

A constant runaway is given over to the care of the state and finds herself in a remand centre for girls...

Plot Keywords:

Runaway | Writing | Family Discord | Self Inflicted Injury | Map

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Linda Blair	...	Chris Parker
Joanna Miles	...	Counselor Barbara Clark
Kim Hunter	...	Mrs. Parker
Richard Jaeckel	...	Mr. Parker
Allyn Ann McLerie	...	Emma Lasko
Mary Murphy	...	Miss Murphy
Janit Baldwin	...	Denny
Nora Heflin	...	Moco
Tina Andrews	...	Josie
Mitch Vogel	...	Tom Parker
Sandra Ego	...	Janet
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Janice Lorraine Garcia	...	Child at funeral

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 (cut) | USA:Not Rated | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Tomorrow Entertainment

Trivia:

After the edited re-airings in the 1980s, the movie disappeared from circulation completely. In 2004, VCI Entertainment released Born Innocent (1974) (TV) on DVD with the rape scene intact, the first time it has been seen by the general public in thirty years.

Goofs:

Continuity: 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.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Carrie Fisher/The Blues Brothers (#4.6)" (1978)

Have Never Looked At A Toilet Plunger The Same!

I remember this movie clearly when it debuted in September '74, and all of the controversy due to the rape with the toilet plunger. It ran on reruns, with the rape scene deleted, throughout the late '70s & '80s, but then this movie seemed to disappear in the '90s. Recently I was able to find a copy and view this made-for-tv classic. Being a fan of Linda Blair, this movie has withstood the test of time. It follows the story of a 14 year old girl that's unwanted by her messed up parents. The parents were the ones that should have been sent to reform school! If this movie was to be released today, it would still have controversy. Not only for the "toilet plunger" scene, but the fact that 14 year old characters are smoking cigarettes throughout the movie. When this movie was made, this was not mentioned due to the social stigma to smoking was not established yet. In some ways this movie is pretty tame compared to todays standards, it's still a slice of '70s fare TV, when there was less channels, but more to watch on TV. If you are a fan of '70s made-for-tv movies, then this one should be at the top of your list.