I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977) on Netflix
Deborah Blake, sixteen, is a borderline schizophrenic who spends most waking hours inside the Kingdom of Yr. A suicide attempt puts her in a mental institution, under Dr. Fried's care.
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- Netflix2.6/5
- IMDb6.4/101,755 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes40%
Trailer
Plot summary
The Kingdom of Yr, an imaginary world with gods of its own, is where Deborah Blake, sixteen, passes much of her time. She is a borderline schizophrenic, and holding Yr apart from the world around her is a struggle. Her childhood bout with cancer is the reason given for her retreat from reality. Following a suicide attempt she is admitted to a mental institution, where the surroundings make her condition harder to hold steady. Dr. Fried, the psychiatrist who treats her, gives her close, patient attention, and Deborah's work there is to separate what she imagines from what is real.
Cast
- Margo Ann Berdeshevskyas Drawing Patient
- Darlene Craviottoas Carla
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- After the success of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Roger Corman got funding for the film and announced it as a $3 million production directed by Peter Medak starring Charlotte Rampling; by October 1976 he wanted Jodie Foster, David Bowie and Katharine Hepburn for the lead roles.
- Anthony Page convinced Roger Corman the script needed a complete rewrite and Gavin Lambert was hired; Lambert recalled that the start of shooting could not be delayed and he had only three weeks to work out a new approach with Page, then write the screenplay.
- The film removed all references to Judaism, including the anti-Semitic cruelty Deborah suffers in the novel, leaving her childhood bout with urethral cancer as the sole reason for her retreat from reality; Greenberg said the producers were terrified.
- Greenberg was not consulted on any aspect of the film and was contacted only by Bibi Andersson, who told her the producers had said Greenberg could not be consulted because she was hopelessly insane.
- Kathleen Quinlan auditioned twice for the film and refused a third audition, saying she had done as well as she could; she was cast to play Deborah anyway.
- A screen adaptation of the book had been in development off and on since 1967, with Natalie Wood, Liza Minnelli and Mia Farrow all set to star at various times.
- The background music for the fantasy sequences set in the Kingdom of Yr is a recording of a Balinese Kecak, the ceremonial chant of the sacred monkeys from the Ramayana.
