Alice, Sweet Alice (1976) on Netflix
Alice Spages, twelve, is jealous of the attention her younger sister Karen gets ahead of her First Communion. When Karen is found murdered in the church, suspicion falls on Alice.
- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb6.4/1015,337 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes77%
Trailer
Plot summary
In 1961, twelve-year-old Alice Spages lives in Paterson, New Jersey with her mother Catherine and her younger sister Karen, who is preparing for her First Communion at the parish church. Their mother's attention goes mostly to Karen, leaving Alice on the sidelines. Alice steals Karen's doll and frightens her, and at home she tries on Karen's communion veil, which starts a quarrel. On the day of the ceremony, a figure in a yellow rain slicker and a Halloween mask attacks Karen in the church. Alice then appears among the girls in Karen's veil, waiting for communion. Catherine's sister Annie moves in to help and accuses Alice, whose whereabouts during the attack are unaccounted for, while Catherine defends her daughter.
Cast
- Mildred Clintonas Mrs. Tredoni
- Jane Lowryas Aunt Annie DeLorenze
- Michael Hardstarkas Detective Spina
- Alphonso DeNobleas Mr. Alphonso
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Alice, Sweet Alice (1976)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Filming was temporarily halted when actress Linda Miller attempted suicide by slitting her wrist while shooting the film's final sequence in the church. After a week of convalescing she returned and completed her scenes, and a bandage can be seen on her wrist in several sequences.
- Before Alice, Sweet Alice, director Sole had made the softcore adult film Deep Sleep, whose release brought him obscenity charges in New Jersey and formal excommunication from the Catholic Church. That episode has been credited as an influence on the film's anti-Catholic bent.
- Brooke Shields was cast as Karen after director Sole spotted her modeling in a Vogue advertisement and contacted her mother about the role. For her audition, Shields had to mime being strangled to death.
- Sole originally sought veteran stage actress Geraldine Page for the role of Mrs. Tredoni, but she could not take it because of a Broadway production commitment. She recommended Mildred Clinton, who played the part.
- Alice, Sweet Alice was the first major motion picture to be filmed entirely in the state of New Jersey since 1933, shot primarily on location in Paterson in the summer of 1975.
- Some newspapers put the budget at $1 million, but director Sole claimed the film cost $350,000. To help finance it, he refinanced his home and cleared out his life savings.
- After Brooke Shields became a star in Pretty Baby (1978), the film was reissued in 1981 as Holy Terror with marketing that made it look as though she was a starring cast member. Shields and her advisers threatened legal action, and in May 1981 the distributor agreed to revise the campaign.
