Born Innocent (1974) Reviews

• Haunting and Heartbreaking....

  babeth_jr2006-02-18

  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.

• "Christine Parker, hardened criminal..."

  moonspinner552006-02-05

  Disturbing, controversial NBC TV-movie, one of the most popular television-made dramas from the 1970s (regularly shown right into the '80s) has young Linda Blair fresh off "The Exorcist" and well-cast as a teen runaway facing hard time in a girls reform school. Gritty, documentary-like production filmed on a low-budget in New Mexico has (intentionally?) fuzzy sound and photography which may put some viewers off. The performances by the troubled girls, including Blair, are natural and compelling; Joanna Miles (a Carrie Snodgress look-alike) is sympathetic as a well-meaning teacher; Allyn Ann McLerie does a bravura dramatic turn in a clichéd part as a hardened housemother. The film's downbeat theme can be disheartening and difficult as an entertainment, but there are sensitive and moving sequences, and Fred Karlin contributes an evocative score. The sequence with Blair being raped by a group of girls using a toilet-brush handle caused so much controversy after its initial airing that the scene was dropped for the repeat (intact on DVD). Blair followed this up with a handful of other television stunners, and gained confidence as an actress with each one.

• Childhood movie Number 3.

  Captain_Couth2003-12-03

  Born Innocent (1974) is a made for T.V. movie that I caught on the old Black and white many years ago. A sad film about a young girl (Linda Blair) and all the trouble she went through while she was in reform school. Her parents seem oblivious to her problems when a social worker tries to find out about her family life. I am disappointed that this movie is not availible for viewing anywhere. A shame because it's a great made for television film. Strongly recommended.

• Have Never Looked At A Toilet Plunger The Same!

  dgordon-12002-03-11

  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.

• She was "Born Innocent" but didn't stay that way for long!!!

  tamstrat2005-06-16

  I saw this movie when it was originally shown on TV in 1974. It was controversial and shocking to say the least!!!! I was 13 years old and had never seen anything like that on TV before and the rape scene in the shower was all me and my friends talked about for days afterward. The storyline is fairly simple, Linda Blair, as "Chris Parker" gets in some minor scrapes with the law and is sent to a girl's reform school. There she goes from being "Born Innocent" to a swaggering thug over a period of time. The apathy of her parents was sad and the earnest counselor at the reform school tries to save her without much success. I have not seen the movie since the original airing but from what I am reading here the rape scene is deleted or radically edited. That is a shame because that scene, graphic as it was, really set the tone of the movie and let the viewer understand why Chris no longer remains "innocent". I wish I could get my hands on an unedited copy of this movie that made such an impression on me at the age of 13.