A lurid psych-ward
melodrama produced by Roger Corman in one of his more ambitious moments, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden suffers
from schizophrenia, just like its leading character. On one level, the picture
is a fairly serious examination of the troubles facing an unbalanced young
woman as she seeks to end a cycle of delusions, hysterical episodes, and self-destructive
impulses. On another level, the picture is as sensationalistic as an old Sam
Fuller flick, because the filmmakers unwisely attempt to depict the imaginary
realm that the protagonist visits whenever her mind departs everyday reality.
Moreover, the filmmakers’ idea of hard-hitting drama skews toward undisciplined
actors performing freak-show antics at top volume, with endless repetition the
name of the game. Add in nudity and rape scenes, and I Never Promised You a Rose Garden ends up resembling Corman’s
typical drive-in fare, instead of evoking the movie upon which this picture was
obviously modeled, Milos Forman’s extraordinary One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975). Thanks to sincere work by
leading lady Kathleen Quinlan and supporting actress Bibi Andersson, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden isn’t
completely awful, though it comes close at regular intervals.
The simple story
revolves around Deborah Blake (Quinlan), a disturbed young woman who is
admitted to a psychiatric hospital following a suicide attempt. In quiet
scenes, she does talking-and-listening therapy with the stalwart Dr. Fried
(Andersson). In not-so-quiet scenes, Deborah suffers epic delusions of
belonging to some imaginary primitive tribe. Deborah also witnesses the extreme
behavior of fellow patients, and the nastiest narrative thread concerns
orderlies who rape patients with impunity. The script, credited to idiosyncratic
filmmaker Lewis John Carlino and Hollywood wit Gavin Lambert, is a mess in
terms of tone, though director Anthony Page and co-producer Daniel H. Blatt
must shoulder some of the blame. (Joanna Greenberg, who wrote the novel upon
which the film was based, reportedly hated the way her work was adapted.) While
Quinlan’s uneven work is tethered to the chaotic storytelling, costars Sylvia
Sidney and Susan Tyrrell thrive on the picture’s gonzo energy; Sidney’s work has
a touch of black comedy, and Tyrrell’s inhibited performance seems like a
transmission from another universe. I
Never Promised You a Rose Garden is far too tawdry to take seriously, so
it’s unsurprising that Greenberg tried to reclaim the material by cooperating
with the creation of a 2004 stage adaptation of her book. Almost anything would
be an improvement over this version.
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden: FUNKY
2 comments:
By 1977, the majors had reinvigorated themselves by muscling in on the exploitation market with the likes of JAWS and the drive-ins were in trouble. New World had to find new markets and ROSE GARDEN was scheduled as the debut release from the company's short-lived U.K. arm.
Corman had already successfully distributed Euro art-house fare in the U.S. from the likes of Bergman, Fellini and Truffaut so a venture into the American art movie must have seemed like a good idea, which it was as the film really connected with the adolescent female market. The success of CARRIE and Dimension's POM POM GIRLS (Dimension were a major competitor to New World) would have been equally as important as CUCKOO'S NEST, as they demonstrated the importance of female teens at the box office.
How did you forget the inimitable Martine Bartlett who played the terrible mother in Sybil (1976) and in this her last theatrical film makes a great comedy team with Susan Tyrell? The depiction of patients is similar to The Snake Pit, Suddenly, Last Summer, The Caretakers and Fuller's Shock Corridor.
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