Ginger in the Morning

It looks like a television movie but it was released for the cinema. A very 1970s and dated view of a May to December romance.

Right at the beginning. Newly divorced Joe (Monte Markham) is getting badgered by Fred (David Doyle) a man he just met to sow his oats and make the most of his freedom.

While driving he picks up a young pretty hitchhiker Ginger (Sissy Spacek) and a car puncture. She is free spirited hippie and secretly pregnant.

They first stop at a hotel and later Joe takes Ginger to his place. Hoping for a good time with Ginger.

Only boorish friend Charlie (Mark Miller) turns up, followed by his estranged wife.

It leads to misunderstandings with Ginger. She was rather naively hoping that Joe could be a father figure.

The movie is a mixed bag. An early starring role for Spacek who gets to sing as well.

Mark Miller who also wrote the movie is unsure what kind of movie this is.

It could had been a tender romance between two mismatched people. When Charlie crashes into the movie. It detours into something else and the movie suffers.

Cutesy drama, almost unendurably dated--and with clichéd characters and dialogue to boot--features a young Sissy Spacek as a health-conscious, free-spirited woman, a hippie folk singer hitchhiking with her guitar across the country; she gets a ride from Monte Markham, a just-divorced businessman who's been advised to find himself a new girl to forget the old one. There are some surprisingly fine shots by cinematographer William K. Jurgensen of Spacek thumbing it on the road, but her relationship with Markham is pure cookie-cutter. Second-feature caught Spacek just before her career was about to take off, though this is one title she'd probably like to erase from her resume. Her acting is likable enough, but her character Ginger is nothing more than a lighter version of the hitchhiker Laurie Heineman played in "Save the Tiger"--in other words, a refugee from a TV sitcom or movie-of-the-week. *1/2 from ****

This was filmed in 1972 when Sissy Spacek was 22, most probably before she filmed BADLANDS (released 10/73). It Includes a happy Mary-Tyler-Moore-like theme song by Sissy S. as well as a clever live song w/ guitar about marichino cherries sung while riding in a car after hitching a ride (and one other original song by Sissy S). Sissy shows some musical talent that would be on display later in COAL MINER'S D.

Sissy is uber-charming and charismatic and beautiful and lovely; but at this early stage she seems influenced (whether she knows it or not) by Jan Brady of The Brady Bunch, She seems like a teenager having a blast being among adults in a grown up movie (not to be cruel). That being said; this grown up movie is of the TV variety (feel, pacing, writing, writers, director, etc.); utilizing the freedom away from TV for some pretty ugly, dated male/ battle-of-sexes dialogue.

The color by CFI is not bad, and it is nice that the film is set/was shot in New Mexico providing an interesting landscape backdrop. It really is only worth taking a look at if you like Sissy Spacek, want to hear some original songs by her at 22, and/or feel like going back to the early 70's for a little visit.

I was definitely curious to check out Ginger in the Morning when I randomly stumbled upon it. The cast alone makes it worth a look. Unfortunately, the dated and uninspired dialogue, weak script, and unimaginative direction all conspire to deliver this very disappointing little film. It is kind of interesting as a snapshot of the first half of the 70's. Sissy Spacek does write and perform many of the songs throughout the film, which is another plus. The story is just one cliche after another and it's just never able to gather momentum. Sorry to everyone who worked on Ginger in the Morning but I just cannot recommend it, unless maybe for those Sissy Spacek fans out there, you might enjoy it.

I was hoping to watch a love story (as the tagline of the movie suggests), but....most of the screen time is spent in the silly interactions between the Markham character and his drunken friend. Although the latter is quite funny in the first scene where he appears, then his presence becomes tiresome and annoying, as well as the character of his wife. However, the movie is not too terrible thanks to Spacek's performance, and the ending scene was great and moving.