JimmyChs

This is a fairly well made docu-drama of the story behind the Marla Hanson knife attack that caught the attention of all New Yorkers including myself. Marla, played by Cheryl Pollak is a girl from the midwest who comes to NY to try to make it in modeling. We watch as she struggles between pounding the pavement following up agency ads and her job as a waitress in the old Grand Central bar/rest.Just as her career appears to be taking off she is brutally attacked by two of New York's ever-present gutter rats at the behest of a psycho Marla had befriended and tried to break loose from.This was a minor media even at the time and proved to be a disadvantage for Marla as you will see in the Trial sequence of the movie. The movie is gripping and well acted and I found myself, as I did when the event happened, sick to my stomach.All decent New Yorkers wish Marla well wherever she is...........I rate this movie a 5 of 5

I saw this film when it was first presented on network TV sponsored by Hallmark Hall of Fame.What we see is a beautifully made film about, Love, friendship and deceit. The movie is set in the early sixties and is about the lives of basically two families are have become close over the years.Ellen Burstyn gives an outstanding performance as a British homemaker who spends her days happily performing the tasks of her simple life while enjoying a close friendship with the neighbor across the street played by Teri Garr. We watch as both families happily intermingle and enjoy their lives until one day a British agent appears at the door of Burstyn explaining that they are looking for a spy who seemed to be operating in their neighborhood and soon after the agents set up a surveilance from the house. From this point on in the movie we experience the drama of a family trying to hide thier fears. We see Burstyn on the brink of a breakdown knowing in her heart that she was deceived by the only true friend she had. We see even before she does that the Garr charecter and her husband are not what they appear to be making the the final realization of Burstyn that mush more heartbreaking...I taped this film back in 1987 and have watched it often and it still has a profound effect on me......