''Women in Chains'' is a 1972 American
television film
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
directed by
Bernard L. Kowalski for
ABC's ''
Movie of the Week
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
''. The leading players are
Ida Lupino
Ida Lupino (4 February 1918Recorded in ''Births Mar 1918'' Camberwell Vol. 1d, p. 1019 (Free BMD). Transcribed as "Lupine" in the official births index – 3 August 1995) was an English-American actress, singer, director, writer, and producer. T ...
,
Belinda Montgomery
Belinda Montgomery is a Canadian-American actress. She initially attracted notice for her starring role in the 1970s science-fiction series '' Man from Atlantis'' as Dr. Elizabeth Merrill and for her recurring role as Caroline Crockett/Ballard ...
,
Lois Nettleton
Lois June Nettleton (August 16, 1927 – January 18, 2008) was an American film, stage, radio, and television actress. She received three Primetime Emmy Award nominations and won two Daytime Emmy Awards.
Early life
Lois Nettleton was born on Aug ...
and
Jessica Walter
Jessica Walter (January 31, 1941 – March 24, 2021) was an American actress who appeared in over 170 film, stage and television productions. In film, she was best known for her role as a psychotic and obsessed fan of a local disc jockey in t ...
.
Plot
Parole officer Sandra Parker (Lois Nettleton) becomes aware of the death of one of her cases, Ginger Stratton, at the hands of brutal prison guard Claire Tyson (Ida Lupino). All too aware of Tyson's impeccable record, Parker and her friend, Assistant District Attorney Helen Anderson (Penny Fuller), come to the conclusion that Tyson is basically untouchable.
Parker hatches a scheme to expose Tyson by going undercover in prison herself. Helen attempts to persuade her that this is foolish but there is no stopping Sandra. She adopts the name Sally Porter, bleaches her hair and gives herself some needle marks as if she were a drug addict.
Helen gives her boss Barney Fielder (John Larch) the appropriate papers for transporting "Sally Porter" to prison, where she finds herself on Ginger's "ward" and begins asking questions of her other inmates.
Outside the prison, Helen Anderson (the only person who knows Sally's real identity) is shot and killed by a boyfriend of one of her cases. Sally must therefore prove Tyson's true credentials before she can escape.
Life in prison moves on and Tyson's "henchwoman" Leila (Barbara Luna) becomes suspicious of all of Sally's questions. At first Tyson is angry with Sally's insolence but begins at one point to warm to her as she shows spirit. However, as Sally attempts to protect Melinda (assigned to the same ward at the same time but innocent of the crime she was convicted for) – so Sally and Melinda find themselves in an impossibly small room for a prolonged period.
Just before lights out – Leila informs Sally that "the word's been passed" and Sally is due to be killed tomorrow. Sally is all too aware that she must escape and makes a run. Initially unaware of the escape attempt, the prison closes for the night – until Tyson does the usual number checks and sounds the alarm.
A chase ensues with Sally still within the prison grounds, where taking one wrong turn brings her face to face with a furious Tyson. The two exchange blows before Sally pins Tyson to the floor putting Tyson's own truncheon across Tyson's throat and kneeling on it.
The struggle is interrupted by the prison governor. As the pair of frantic women are separated, Sally cries out to the governor that she is in fact Sandra Parker, asking him to contact Barney Fielder (Helen's boss) to confirm her identity. As this is taking place, Tyson is frantically explaining to the prison governor that Sally had tried to kill her. Accusing her repeatedly of being "a dirty lying lousy little con". In the film's penultimate scene, the governor looks somewhat disbelievingly at Tyson as Sally (realising she has been believed) cries out "Oh my God". The film ends with Sally walking triumphantly down the corridor which led to her ward – dressed in her ordinary clothes (as opposed to prison uniform).
She promises to reopen Melinda's case.
Cast
Guest stars in alphabetical order
*
Ida Lupino
Ida Lupino (4 February 1918Recorded in ''Births Mar 1918'' Camberwell Vol. 1d, p. 1019 (Free BMD). Transcribed as "Lupine" in the official births index – 3 August 1995) was an English-American actress, singer, director, writer, and producer. T ...
as Tyson
*
Belinda Montgomery
Belinda Montgomery is a Canadian-American actress. She initially attracted notice for her starring role in the 1970s science-fiction series '' Man from Atlantis'' as Dr. Elizabeth Merrill and for her recurring role as Caroline Crockett/Ballard ...
as Melinda
*
Lois Nettleton
Lois June Nettleton (August 16, 1927 – January 18, 2008) was an American film, stage, radio, and television actress. She received three Primetime Emmy Award nominations and won two Daytime Emmy Awards.
Early life
Lois Nettleton was born on Aug ...
as Sandra
*
Jessica Walter
Jessica Walter (January 31, 1941 – March 24, 2021) was an American actress who appeared in over 170 film, stage and television productions. In film, she was best known for her role as a psychotic and obsessed fan of a local disc jockey in t ...
as Dee Dee
*
John Larch
John Larch (born Harold Aronin; October 4, 1914 – October 16, 2005; also credited Harry Larch) was an American radio, film, and television actor.
Early life and military service
John Larch was born Harold Aronin to Jewish parents in Sale ...
as Barney
Co-starring
*
Penny Fuller
A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is th ...
as Helen
*
Barbara Luna as Leila
*
Hazel Medina as Althea
*
Neile Adams
Ruby Neilam Salvador Adams (born July 10, 1932), known professionally as Neile Adams, is a Filipino American actress, singer, and dancer who made more than 20 appearances in films and television series between 1952 and 1991.
Early life and fami ...
as Connie
*
Kathy Cannon as Alice
Featuring
*
Lucille Benson
Lucille Benson (July 17, 1914 – February 17, 1984) was an American character actress.
Biography
Personal life
Born in Scottsboro, Alabama, on July 17, 1914, Benson was adopted by her aunt, Mrs. John Benson, after her mother died of tuber ...
as Billie
* Alice Backes as Mrs. Foster
*
Barbara Baldavin as Ginger
*
William Bryant as Doctor
* Hollie Hayes as Girl
*
Judy Strangis
Judy Ann Strangis (born December 23, 1949) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in two ABC television series ''Room 222'' (1969–1974) and ''Electra Woman and Dyna Girl'' (1976–1977).
__TOC__
Early years
Strangis is a na ...
as Junkie
*
Joyce Jameson
Joyce Jameson (born Joyce Beverly Kingsley; September 26, 1932 – January 16, 1987) was an American actress, known for many television roles, including recurring guest appearances as Skippy, one of the "fun girls" in the 1960s television seri ...
as Simpson
*
Noah Keen as Warden Grant
* Tracee Ann Lyles as Bea
* Kathleen O'Malley as Girl
* June Whitley Taylor as Policewoman
Reception
''
Leonard Maltin's TV Movies & Video Guide'' ranks the film as "Average", stating that "Good production tries hard, but script is unbelievable, performances uneven", while the write-up in ''
Michael Weldon's Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film'' opens with "The first women's prison TV-movie stars Ida Lupino as a sadistic warden (see ''
Women's Prison'' of '55)." Alvin H. Marill in his ''Movies Made for Television'' also makes the same observation: "Playing a sadistic prison superintendent, Ida Lupino (in her TV-movie debut) virtually reprised a similar role fifteen years earlier in ''Women's Prison''." ''Women's Prison'', released in February 1955, actually preceded the January 1972 broadcast of ''Women in Chains'' by 17 years, and both Weldon and Marill also misstated Lupino's prison position (head guard) in the later film.
It became the third-highest rated original TV movie on U.S. television behind ''
The Night Stalker'' and ''
Brian's Song
''Brian's Song'' is a 1971 ABC Movie of the Week that recounts the life of Brian Piccolo (James Caan), a Chicago Bears football player stricken with terminal cancer after turning pro in 1965, told through his friendship with teammate Gale Sayer ...
'', earning a 32.3 rating and 48 share.
References
External links
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*
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{{Bernard L. Kowalski
1972 television films
1972 films
ABC Movie of the Week
Women in prison films
1970s English-language films