I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

This Roger Corman production, faithful in detail to Hannah Green's book (generally regarded as one of the best lay descriptions of schizophrenia), has 16-year-old Deborah Blake (Quin- lan) struggling with her fantasy-world-turned-remorseless-possessor and gradually being rehabilitated with the help of her hospital doctor. Unlike the book, though, the film fairly hurtles along, missing any real analysis of mental disturbance while going all out for Emotion. The inevitably beautiful victim suffers heavily sexual demons; the tragi-comic antics of her fellow inmates are exploited to the full; and the end is imbued with the peachy tints of a full-blown rose. But it's enjoyable and the performances are excellent, in particular Bibi Andersson's doctor and Kathleen Quinlan's staggering portrayal of Deborah. Nutsploitation of a superior kind.