Born Innocent (1974) (TV)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

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

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)

Haunting and Heartbreaking....

I was 13 years old when I first saw this movie on TV in 1974 and just recently had the chance to watch it again for the first time. After 32 years I was surprised at how well this made for TV movie had held up. The film centers around Chris Parker, a 14 year old girl played by the excellent young actress Linda Blair, who after running away from home several times due to her dysfunctional home life ends up in a state "home" for girls. The facility she is in is in reality a reform school for young women with varying degrees of mental problems due to their lack of love and guidance at home. It is very apparent that Chris doesn't belong there, she is not a criminal, just a troubled young girl who desperately wants the love and attention she was denied at home. I remember being shocked 32 years ago when I watched the infamous rape scene in the shower, and the DVD I rented from Netflix has this scene still intact. Seeing it after all the years didn't lessen the impact of the brutality and reality of this rape. I have read where this pivotal scene has been edited out of some viewings of "Born Innocent", and as awful as this sounds, the scene is central to the movie, and in explaining how Chris ends up being no longer innocent, as she was before she went to the "home". This is one of the best made for TV movies ever made. This DVD can be rented from Netflix, and I highly recommend it, even though it will leave you feeling sad in the end.