I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

Kathleen Quinlan portrays Deborah Blake, a teenager taken to a mental hospital after a suicide attempt. While she moves in and out of reality - she has a very rich fantasy life - her dedicated psychiatrist, Dr. Fried (Bibi Andersson), tries to reach her. "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden" earns some points for being so brutally straightforward about what it does. Director Anthony Page obviously tries to be as realistic as possible in portraying the day to day lives of women with severe mental issues. It's easy to see why some people would consider it disturbing. It's fairly powerful stuff. A lot of credit goes to the actresses. Although, unfortunately, we don't really get to know any of these characters that well, the ladies all leave an impression. Young Quinlan delivers a performance of incredible maturity. Rather than creating a traditional, sort of artificial performance as a "crazy" person, she feels completely authentic, as do her co-stars. Susan Tyrrell, Signe Hasso, Sylvia Sidney, and Nancy Parsons all do creditable work. Lots of other familiar faces turn up in roles big and small: Ben Piazza and Lorraine Gary as Deborahs' parents, Reni Santoni as a cruel orderly, and Norman Alden, Dennis Quaid, Robert Viharo, Diane Varsi, Lynne Marie Stewart, Clint Howard, Jeff Conaway, and Richard Herd as well. One criticism this viewer had was that things seemed to get wrapped a little too quickly and neatly as Deborah finds her salvation. Still, it is a relief to get a respite from the oppressive hospital environment in the films' closing minutes. So, while not all that satisfying, this is still a decent and well intentioned production with some sobering moments. It really stands out from other New World product of the time. Seven out of 10.

Right after "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" offered a scathing look at mental institutions, "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden" offered a similar sort of look. Portraying young Deborah Blake (Kathleen Quinlan) getting put in one and experiencing the unpleasant things there while Dr. Fried (Bibi Andersson) tries to help her, the movie makes you feel like there's a knife in your stomach. Certainly this institution is not any place where you're likely to become sane. But Deborah has to make her way through no matter what. There are some pretty disturbing scenes here, and they do a very good job with it. As a director, Roger Corman may be known for camp, but as executive producer here, he cooperated on a well done flick. Also starring Lorraine Gary (Roy Scheider's wife in "Jaws"), Sylvia Sidney (the "Mars Attacks!" grandmother) and a fairly young Dennis Quaid and Clint Howard.

Kathleen Quinlan plays Deborah, a very bright girl, who is institutionalized for three years in a psychiatric hospital. Though different from the book in some ways, this keeps the spirit of it quite well and with a much more satisfying ending than the book. Quinlan is a wonderful actress. Deborah, who is diagnosed as a schizophrenic (though she probably wouldn't be today), has a long, torturous journey through her illness. Quinlan makes us believe that she will succeed. In addition, there is a strong cast of mostly women of many ages. I saw this film first when I was a teenager and the problems Deborah faced also resonated with me (despite not being in a hospital). I have never forgotten this film, though it has been out of print on video for many years and can only view it when it occasionally makes it on television. Catch it if you can -- especially if you are a teenage girl or ever were.

Deborah Blake (Kathleen Quinlan) is admitted to a country institution by her high street parents, unable to cope with the ignominy brought upon them, by her erratic, anti-social behaviour. Taunted by her inner-demons (to which we're treated inventively from the mind's eye perspective), she's gradually cajoled from her psychosis by the unassuming, yet fiercely determined treating doctor (Bibi Andersson delivering a warm, sympathetic performance). Along the journey, there's a couple of plot diversions, some poignant, others hackneyed and exploitative, but then would New World Pictures ever have made this movie without a stereotypical bully nurse scenario? Unlikely. Roger Corman's production combines cinematic liberties with an at times reverent translation of the Hannah Green novel, creating a compelling B-movie drama and an unlikely companion in the mental illness sub-genre. A cynical viewer might postulate that Corman saw a payday following the success of "One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest", and to an extent, this remains exploitative cinema. Quinlan's performance on the other-hand defies that brand, her characterisation personifies trauma and while often intense, isn't overcooked. You have to commend New World Pictures for commissioning this release against type, especially when you consider it was straddled by "Hollywood Boulevard" and "Piranha" in the production line. Has a tendency to stigmatise in its representations of the subject matter, and not as sophisticated as, say, William Friedkin's ultra disturbing "Bug", "Rose Garden" thematically, probably nestles in between "Caged Heat" on the left, and "Cuckoo's Nest" on the right. A curious comparison to make, nevertheless, an enjoyable film in spite of its flaws.

Based on the novel I Never Promised You a Rose Garden by Joanne Greenberg, this was directed by Anthony Page (Absolution, Chernobyl: The Final Warning) and written by Gavin Lambert and Lewis John Carlino (Where Have All the People Gone?, The Mechanic). It stars Kathleen Quinlan as Deborah Blake, a borderline schizophrenic who lives in a world of fantasy that is rudely intruded upon when she ends up in a brutal institution. Luckily, she's saved by Dr. Fried (Bibi Andersson), who helps her learn what's real and what isn't. After One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was a success, Roger Corman was able to get this made. All of the Jewish content was removed, including the anti-Semetic abuse that the protagonist endures. How did Greenberg feel about that? She said that the Jewish moments left the producers "terrified" and the way that mental illness was treated "stank on ice." Of the actors, only Andersson contacted her to learn the character and she claimed that the producers had told her that the author was "hopelessly insane." She'd know, as the novel was based on her life. One of the most expensive New World Pictures, this was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and won two Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress for Quinlan and Best Picture. This movie also has Dennis Quaid, Susan Tyrell, Lorraine Gary (Ellen Brodie!), Martin Bartlett, Ben Piazza and Sylvia Sidney in the cast. I want to know more about the deleted scenes, as Barbara Steele was in those. And when the movie shows scenes in Blake's imagination - The Kingdom of Yr - the warriors 'Anterrabae' and 'Lactameaon are Robert Viharo and Jeff Conaway.

If you're watching this on DVD or streaming it and you fall asleep or just get distracted, you may be tempted to go back to see what you missed, and trust me, you don't want to have to do that. This film can send you into severe depression as you hear the voices and view the schizophrenia in Deborah (Kathleen Quinlan), a young woman sent into a women's mental institution for treatment after she has a severe breakdown. There, she witnesses the mistreatment of patients, is a victim of violence by other patients and eventually becomes exactly like them. Psychiatrist Bibi Andersson tries to get to the source of Deborah's problems, and you wonder if she knows what's going on with the orderlies. One in particular is very violent, striking patients across the chase while trying to take their pulse. The patients will break into song and dance at one moment and attack another violently at another, that is when they're not trying to kiss other patients against their will. Through the growing friendships with certain patients, Deborah starts to come out of her shell, particularly thanks to an older woman, a former geometry teacher, played by the legendary Sylvia Sidney who of course commands every moment that she is on screen.. There's also Susan Tyrell who will break into song and dance (joined at one point by Nancy Parsons of "Porky's" fame) and a variety of other types of patience, having different reactions to the things going on around them. There are no two alike, and the situation becomes very scary at times. Deborah has definition voices, and those voices are very scary and threatening and powerful and manipulating. The visuals that go along with those voices are just as frightening as well. It comes a monster movie of another sort, and not the type that you're used to seeing in a Roger Corman movie. The stars of this film are Quinlan and the script, but the pace is sometimes frustrating and the subject matter is extremely disturbing. Quinlan is excellent, and it's a shame that she did not go on to bigger things after this. She's worked a lot since this but the promise that was shown as a rising star in the mid-70's didn't move her down the path along with the rising dramatic actresses. Andersson is very subtle in her performance, and her appearance makes me want to see her Swedish language films (many directed by Ingmar Bergman) where she seemed to be second choice to former co-star and real-life friend Liv Ullman. My overall thought about this film based upon its general synopsis is seemingly depressing, but at times, the patients do make you laugh, and it's not in a way that you should feel guilty about. The things that they say and do are just funny because they are honest and not hiding their general feelings. But it is a serious subject, and fortunately, there is no snake pit or rubber room or seeming straitjackets although some of the patients are belted to their beds which is just as bad. 1977 was a terrific year for leading actresses, and Quinlan is certainly on the short list for deserving actors who didn't get an Oscar nomination.

If you've already read the book this film is a disappointment. If you haven't read it you are better off skipping the film and getting the book. The film removes too much of the book and basically makes little sense. The film implies that Deborah's urethral cancer caused her schizophrenia. Which does a disservice to both the book and to the understanding of schizophrenia. Her other world is quite boring in the film and much richer in the book. The cast is a good one which is why it warrants stars at all. And they do a good job at acting with what they had to work with.

The strange intelligence of the mentally ill rings beautifully true in this story, through much of it is hard to process at times. When characters are speaking in metaphors, the meaning often can become less than clear. All together though this was a powerful and painful viewing reading (the book) and viewing experience and not necessarily something I would have naturally gravitated to on my own. As a parent of a child with challenges, it was a difficult world to enter when trying to distance myself from reality, but one i was nonetheless grateful to enter.

But there is still a very interesting movie in here with a number of memorable sequences. The movie is about our protagonist, who to our understanding, is a teenaged girl, who apparently either hallucinates about some bizarre fantasy world (and not in a fun Terry Gilliam way but a seriously bizarre "why would she even consider this superior way?") or merely is in fantasy about it in escaping from reality, it's not explained. It begins as she goes to a mental hospital in the countryside it looks and almost immediately our main character inexplicably stabs herself and gets thrown in a disturbed section as opposed to the initial summer camp section. It is here, where our story follows the rest of the film, a series of up and down spirals and looks at her interactions with the other patients. The thing about all of this is we never actually get to understand the characters at all. We are never told what they're about, why they feel this way, what their backgrounds are, and why they do what they what they do. They just are, and throughout the whole piece the audience feels like with any of the characters, it never surpasses the point of acquaintment because even, if the characters be developed, they were never characterized in the first place, so it's irrelevant. At the same time, though the movie certainly to its benefit explores the setting and situation in a very visceral way, by the movie's end, everything feels oversaturated, because it feels as though we have spent such time in this setting watching similar things with people that don't really mean much for so long that it just starts to wear thin. When the film end, we aren't really sure why the events have turned out as they did, because we aren't really sure why they were the other way in the first place. It just feels like a breath of fresh air to get a new sense of scenery. The thing is, though, despite that, the movie is still successful probably because the happenings themselves are rather interesting, the unflinching portrayal has the power to captivate, and there is claustrophobic intensity to the asylum as well as a general heterosexual male (being the viewer) to recessive female women appeal, which really adds a type of close-knit feel with the characters. So, it's not the most satisfying nor the most well-devised film of its genre out there, but if you be a fan of asylum films, this is definitely worth checking out. I also must note that out of all the mental hospital films out there, this is probably the most intense. This movie is 100% serious and very frightening and unsettling. There's no comedy nor light-heart in this movie. The tone is closer to a horror film (despite that it is a pure dramatic realism) than it is to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. From that perspective this film is actually very unique.

Check out Dennis Quaid as the baseball pitcher, and Ron Howard's little brother as the catcher. Also credits at the end of the movie for "The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo" with Dan Elfman. This is the earliest public mention of that entity that I know of...This is Danny Elfman of course from Oingo Boingo(Dead Man's Party/I like little girls), who now does movie soundtracks such as Batman, TV shows "The Simpsons", and "Tales from the Crypt". He is also Jenna Elfman's(Dharma and Greg) uncle. Have fun with all the degrees of separation here.