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Disturbing, controversial NBC TV-movie, one of the most popular television-made dramas from the 1970s (regularly shown right into the '80s) has young Linda Blair fresh off "The Exorcist" and well-cast as a teen runaway facing hard time in a girls reform school. Gritty, documentary-like production filmed on a low-budget in New Mexico has (intentionally?) fuzzy sound and photography which may put some viewers off. The performances by the troubled girls, including Blair, are natural and compelling; Joanna Miles (a Carrie Snodgress look-alike) is sympathetic as a well-meaning teacher; Allyn Ann McLerie does a bravura dramatic turn in a clichéd part as a hardened housemother. The film's downbeat theme can be disheartening and difficult as an entertainment, but there are sensitive and moving sequences, and Fred Karlin contributes an evocative score. The sequence with Blair being raped by a group of girls using a toilet-brush handle caused so much controversy after its initial airing that the scene was dropped for the repeat (intact on DVD). Blair followed this up with a handful of other television stunners, and gained confidence as an actress with each one.

This was New Mexico, but I have seen many such facilities during my time as a foster caseworker over nine years in Texas. The only thing that was outside my knowledge was the isolation. I cannot imagine that any facility has a solitary confinement room.

The terrible tragedy of young women depicted in this film was real. Abuse and neglect by parents who cannot and will not take the time to raise their children properly and are surprised when they rebel.

Christine never had a chance. She was kicked out by an abusive father and a mother who could not defend her. She was probably getting beaten herself. She was thrown in with too many others who had problems of their own that were not being addressed.

After abuse at home and in the system, she hardened just like prisoners do and was forever lost.

15-year-old Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner Linda Blair was magnificent in this realistic film.

Born Innocent (1974) is a made for T.V. movie that I caught on the old Black and white many years ago. A sad film about a young girl (Linda Blair) and all the trouble she went through while she was in reform school. Her parents seem oblivious to her problems when a social worker tries to find out about her family life. I am disappointed that this movie is not availible for viewing anywhere. A shame because it's a great made for television film.

Strongly recommended.

"BORN INNOCENT" remains one of the more "controversial" TV movies of the 1970s.Setting the path for Linda Blair's future in trashy,women-behind-bars,skin-flicks.This is a shame because Born Innocent is a realistic and straight-forward expose'of life in "reformatories" and the people who try to make a difference there! The well-known story concerns a 14-year-old girl,branded an "incorrigible"runaway,sent to the state school for girls after being relinquished by her parents.At the "school" we meet girls with a variety of problems and behaviors-most of whom seem simply unloved aqnd unwanted!Of course we learn otherwise but the question still remains:Can having loving parents and a "normal" life in middle-class suburbia really solve everyone's problems?Are some people just not capable of functioning within the structure of a family and becomming productive in society? I think the most couragious step that the filmakers have taken is to show the school's "inmates" as both criminals and yet still "kids" who crave acceptance from each other and yes,the adults around them!This is especially evident in the scenes in which Chris Parker(the central character) befriends those same girls who "raped" her earlier in the story!Or when Moco(the tough lesbian) actually cries when Janet(Chris' friend) loses her baby during her stint in isolation(as punishment for fighting with Moco!) By the movies' end nothing has really been resolved!After injuring their housemother during a protest riot Chris joins her friends at the school and has undoubtedly become the new "leader".We the viewers are left to wonder:Will Chris ever get out and lead a productive life?Will any of these girls "make it" out "there"? It would be interesting to have made a "follow-up" sequel-something like "Born Innocent-25 years later!" Well...maybe not!!!

And, the question that is repeatedly raised in this decidedly bleak and grim Made-For-TV "Chick Flick" is - "How do you help those who are beyond being helped?"

1974's "Born Innocent" is, without question, the end to the innocence where a 16-year-old Linda Blair (straight out of her role as Regan in "The Exorcist") plays 14-year-old Chris Parker, a chronic "reform school" runaway who is more than familiar with the indifference of the justice system.

To be sure - "Born Innocent" is one of those less-than-uplifting stories that definitely lays the whole business of "harsh realities" on the viewer really, really thick.

I was 13 years old when I first saw this movie on TV in 1974 and just recently had the chance to watch it again for the first time. After 32 years I was surprised at how well this made for TV movie had held up. The film centers around Chris Parker, a 14 year old girl played by the excellent young actress Linda Blair, who after running away from home several times due to her dysfunctional home life ends up in a state "home" for girls. The facility she is in is in reality a reform school for young women with varying degrees of mental problems due to their lack of love and guidance at home. It is very apparent that Chris doesn't belong there, she is not a criminal, just a troubled young girl who desperately wants the love and attention she was denied at home. I remember being shocked 32 years ago when I watched the infamous rape scene in the shower, and the DVD I rented from Netflix has this scene still intact. Seeing it after all the years didn't lessen the impact of the brutality and reality of this rape. I have read where this pivotal scene has been edited out of some viewings of "Born Innocent", and as awful as this sounds, the scene is central to the movie, and in explaining how Chris ends up being no longer innocent, as she was before she went to the "home". This is one of the best made for TV movies ever made. This DVD can be rented from Netflix, and I highly recommend it, even though it will leave you feeling sad in the end.

This TV-Movie warning the dangers of being an incorrigible runaway titled BORN INNOCENT begins three times, not finding the right place for 14-year-old Linda Blair to be holed-up: first at an adult prison as the opening credits surround our wide-eyed kid amongst rugged women inmates, tough enough to carry their own feature... to the next lockup but with younger females, and, at this point, at this place, we should be underway... until she's moved once again...

And the next place is permanent, a comparably loose juvenile hall that takes a rural dirt road to enter from a benign main building, at least reuniting one of the nicer girls from the second locale, while OVER THE EDGE director Jonathan Kaplan's butchy sister Nora Heflin and b-starlet Janit Baldwin are the token bullies...

And right when INNOCENT could be another watered-down small-screen exploitation, new girl Linda - having dodged lesbian advances from Heflin and deemed The Virgin - gets violently raped with a plunger's handle... even more shocking (and downright disturbing) than if BORN were flickering at an R-Rated midnight drive-in...

On the lighter side is grownup protagonist (and overall acting ringer) Joanna Miles, the progressive teacher who desperately foresees future hope in this new arrival -- who would understandably rather have freedom during the first half and, when let out on a two-day furlough, we learn WHY she's a runaway as veteran actors Richard Jaekel and Kim Hunter portray sleazy parents making prison seem lucrative...

And making BORN INNOCENT one of those edgy vehicles that improves upon realizing what both the audience and central character had been through despite some melodramatic sequences and potentially aggressive inmates that aren't quite fleshed-out enough to matter, including pretty black girl Tina Andrews, who'd have more potential in her own blaxploitation since, with an exception of Blair, the actresses were twenty-somethings portraying teens...

But overall it's Linda's sole ride despite her performance being cautiously toned-down as a cautionary-tale pawn, taking everything with stride and yet, by the very end, following an all-girl riot against the Nurse Ratched type overseer -- you'll realize that Blair's edgy, all-knowing, experienced prowess had been right there, lurking all along.

I remember this movie clearly when it debuted in September '74, and all of the controversy due to the rape with the toilet plunger. It ran on reruns, with the rape scene deleted, throughout the late '70s & '80s, but then this movie seemed to disappear in the '90s. Recently I was able to find a copy and view this made-for-tv classic. Being a fan of Linda Blair, this movie has withstood the test of time. It follows the story of a 14 year old girl that's unwanted by her messed up parents. The parents were the ones that should have been sent to reform school! If this movie was to be released today, it would still have controversy. Not only for the "toilet plunger" scene, but the fact that 14 year old characters are smoking cigarettes throughout the movie. When this movie was made, this was not mentioned due to the social stigma to smoking was not established yet. In some ways this movie is pretty tame compared to todays standards, it's still a slice of '70s fare TV, when there was less channels, but more to watch on TV. If you are a fan of '70s made-for-tv movies, then this one should be at the top of your list.

It was something I never forgot. I can't believe this was shown on national television. It made me scared of people even more. I thought it was a broom not a plunger. I can remember being severely affected by watching it. I really don't know what else to say about it here. It should if had a warning on it. I do think when movie should be required viewing for every high school student today and they should be educated in such matters to learn compassion and see that there are reasons why some people are the way they are and learn empathy about that. And that we as a society can and should do better.

I discovered this movie with a retailer selling OOP's. And this one surely is an OOP. One year after The Exorcist she's back in business with this movie but what we all new was that the career of Blair never broke out, she never became a mega star. That's one of the reason's many of her films are OOP. She gives a good performance in this movie. It's about a reject not recognized by her parents and doesn't have any friends. Played at an age of 15 playing a girl of 14, that's funny. The movie is also known for the rape scene in the showers were they stick a broomstick up her virginity. In most editions it's cut out, why, I don't know, no blood is involved, okay, Blair is butt naked but nothing is shown, no T&A so nothing to offend people. But the movie is slow, extremely slow. It doesn't happy normally to me but I almost felt asleep. It's just about that 14 year old becoming a rebel against society but no blood flows, no gore no nothing. Why this is categorized in horror is still a wonder to me. If you're a fan of Blair, buy it if you can find it otherwise leave it as it is.

What an amazing career Linda Blair has, seriously! Of all my favorite actresses, she's the one with the most remarkably uneven repertoire. In the 80s, the lovely Mrs. Blair was a B-movie/sleaze-queen with some questionable but courageous career choices ("Chained Heat", "Savage Streets", "Night Force",...). But in the 70s, as a teenager, she pretty much exclusively starred in prominent productions ("The Exorcist", Airport 1975") as well as in very respectable and melodramatic TV-movies ("Sweet Hostage", "Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic", and - of course - "Born Innocent").

I wonder she often contemplated during the 80s about where exactly her career took a complete U-turn...

To be entirely honest, "Born Innocent" isn't my favorite type of film-story at all. I only watched it because of Linda Blair, but the subject matter is far too dramatic, sentimental, and socially moralizing for me. It is, obviously, a very forceful and engaging film. Blair stars as Christine "Chris" Parker; a 14-year-old and very intelligent girl who gets committed to a sort of detention home for girls after she ran away from home for the fourth time already. Chris clearly doesn't belong here, and both she and social worker Barbara Clark realize this. For quite a while, the viewer also genuinely wonders how Chris ended up in a depressing place like this, until we're painfully confronted with the fact her family members are complete jerks and the poor girl really doesn't have any luck in her life whatsoever.

The script is also very (over-) ambitious, because next to the tragic tale of Chris Parker, it simultaneously attempts to criticize a whole lot of things that are wrong with American society, like parenting and the guidance of troubled teenagers into adulthood. Chris and the other girls in her group are supposed to evolve into better persons at the detention center, but they only grow more cynical and nihilistic. "Born Innocent" not exactly a cheerful movie, but the performances of the ensemble female cast (and Richard Jaeckel as the loathsome father) are stupendous, and a handful of sequences (like the unsettling shower moments or the funeral) are impossible to forget.

After scoring in The Exocist Linda Blair's next project was Borm Innocent with Blair playing a habitual runaway. If I had a dad like Richard Jaeckel ready to believe the worst at all times, a subservient mom like Kim Hunter I might consider running away myself.

Where she lands is hardly any improvement. This institution for runaways s just that for runaways. Not like these girls are criminals yet., emphasis on the last word.

Allyn Ann McLerie is the house mother and she's sort of a Nurse Ratched lite. And we know what happened to Ratched.

A forcible sodomy scene was most controversial in its day. This would hardly raise a ripple now.

Controversial back in the 70s, Born Innocent seems just exploitive now.

This films is far better than I expected. For a low budget film I found the acting to be above average. The story-line is depressing about a young teen girl with no one really caring about her and a history of running away from home. My local library in Westchester County, New York has it available to rent so I did not have to purchase it or bother with Netflix. Check your on-line library system to see if they carry it on DVD. About the rape scene it is not very graphic but is on the shocking side. It's about a bunch of girls holding down a teen and using a toilet plunger to penetrate her- that's it. If you have grade school kids you may not want them to see this title. There is a fair share of other violence mixed in too. I viewed this solely to see Linda Blair. She is only age 15 when this was shot and released in 1974.

I know at times people tend to either go full out on a 10/10 or a 2/10 for movies but, in trying to be fair and looking at this movie again many decades after seeing it for the first time. There's a definite deepness to this movie which was probably very low budget and the script wasn't too much on complexity but there is emotion in this movie that does reverberates inside if you let the movie creep inside of you as it may not be so obvious the first 20 minutes.

There's sadness, there's a low of raw emotions, there's truth, there's reality of a broken family, there's the violence and the abuse and the despair. I did bumped it from 6.4/10 to 8/10 for my own taste as I believe that rating is far too low for this unpolished gem.

Linda Blair gives a chilling but pogient performance in this harsh,realistic look into the abusive world of juvenile justice.As "Chris Parker", she tries to flee from her abusive father and her drunken,irresponsible mother.But her running away only leads to her being unjustly placed in a girls reform school.Where she is abused and condemmed even further by the school's insane and dangerous students and by the insensitive and corrupt school officals(The main villian in this dramatic tale is Allyn Ann McClaire.Who plays the evil housemother:"Mrs.Emma Lasko").Ms.Blair's character goes from being a gentle,navie'and put upon young innocent to becoming a tough,violent young punk.Who distrusts and attacks anything that is phoney or authoritative.The most memorable but forgotten scene is Ms.Blair being raped by four perverse girls in the shower room with a brush handle.The scene has since been edited,due to the complaints from one girl's family.That she was raped in a similar manner.Despite the editing of this graphic scene."Born Innocent"is Linda Blair's best tv performance.