Family of Strangers

Patty Duke is Beth Thompson, beautician and mother of Julie Lawson (Melissa Gilbert) who had given the child away at birth. Seattle raised researcher Julie finds Beth in Cloverton, Canada, after it is discovered she is adopted and needs to know her medical history to treat a brain blood clot. Together they search for the identity of the father.

Duke and Gilbert have an ease and stillness together, with them both wet in the rain when Duke tells of a traumatic incident, and Duke giving Gilbert a shampoo. Gilbert gets to sing Let Me Call You Sweetheart as a lullaby to her own daughter Megan and a `God' with the dizziness that precedes a car crash, but Duke has more acting opportunities - messing up her salon in anger, matching her flashback of the birth reaching out for the baby who is taken away, and writhing on the ground in the forest in an re-enactment.

The teleplay by William Gough and Anna Sandor, based on a true story and the book Jody by Jerry Hulse, features dialogue on the level of `Before that night I hardly ever told a lie. After that night I hardly ever told the truth'. However director Sheldon Larry provides a 5 minute flashback in stop motion super 8 film stock (even if later he goes overboard with the gothic touches), slow motion for Julie's brain clot car crash, William Shatner is good if under-used as Julie's adopted father Earl, and the music score of Peter Manning Robinson uses a mournful vocal theme which is very effective but brief.

This movie is horrible. However, there is potential of it actually being good. The basic plot is interesting, but it's really messy and could use some cleaning up. As well, the acting is horrible, but I'm not sure I'd blame it on the actors. I think it's the script that throws them off. There's also quite a few flashback scenes which are almost impossible to sit through, a kid could make them look better! I think the director was trying to make it dramatic and artistic, but it comes out as hard to follow and just plain brutal. It's too bad, with some help, this movie could really be pretty decent. But in the state it's in, it only gets 2 stars (out of five)...even then I'm probably being too generous.

Seen quite frequently on French TV, I enjoy watching this film. The plot is well done, the acting a pleasure to watch; especially for the girl's mother and the final dénouement not bad at all. The only thing I regret is the picture quality which is not up to scratch.