Born Innocent

1974 "A Young Girl Behind Bars... The Pain. The Abuse. The Revenge."
6.2| 1h38m| NA| en| More Info
Released: 10 September 1974 Released
Producted By: Tomorrow Entertainment
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

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.

Genre

Drama, TV Movie

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Director

Donald Wrye

Production Companies

Tomorrow Entertainment

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Born Innocent Audience Reviews

ChanBot i must have seen a different film!!
Kidskycom It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.
Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
Sisophous This films is far better than I expected. For a low budget film I found the acting to be above average. The story-line is depressing about a young teen girl with no one really caring about her and a history of running away from home. My local library in Westchester County, New York has it available to rent so I did not have to purchase it or bother with Netflix. Check your on-line library system to see if they carry it on DVD. About the rape scene it is not very graphic but is on the shocking side. It's about a bunch of girls holding down a teen and using a toilet plunger to penetrate her- that's it. If you have grade school kids you may not want them to see this title. There is a fair share of other violence mixed in too. I viewed this solely to see Linda Blair. She is only age 15 when this was shot and released in 1974.
lastliberal This was New Mexico, but I have seen many such facilities during my time as a foster caseworker over nine years in Texas. The only thing that was outside my knowledge was the isolation. I cannot imagine that any facility has a solitary confinement room.The terrible tragedy of young women depicted in this film was real. Abuse and neglect by parents who cannot and will not take the time to raise their children properly and are surprised when they rebel.Christine never had a chance. She was kicked out by an abusive father and a mother who could not defend her. She was probably getting beaten herself. She was thrown in with too many others who had problems of their own that were not being addressed.After abuse at home and in the system, she hardened just like prisoners do and was forever lost.15-year-old Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner Linda Blair was magnificent in this realistic film.
babeth_jr 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.
moonspinner55 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.