I Never Promised You a Rose Garden movie storyline. Based very loosely on the intricate novel by Joanne Greenberg. A young woman’s devotion to a childhood fantasy kingdom has taken over her entire life and causes her endless pain and degradation. Placed in a mental hospital, she has the great good fortune to have a truly caring therapist who tries to help her accept reality, even though reality isn’t so great either.
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden is a 1977 American fantasy drama film based on Joanne Greenberg’s 1964 novel of the same name. Mel Gibson makes his film debut in a small uncredited role as a baseball player, and the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo appear as residents of Deborah’s secret kingdom. A screen adaptation of the book had been in development off and on since 1967, with Natalie Wood, Liza Minnelli, Mia Farrow and Charlotte Rampling all set to star at various times.
In the wake of the success of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Roger Corman was able to get funding for a movie version of Rose Garden. Bibi Andersson played Dr. Fried, while Kathleen Quinlan played Deborah. All references to Judaism were removed, including the storyline of the vicious cruelty Deborah suffered from anti-Semitic peers, so that her childhood bout with urethral cancer becomes the sole reason for Deborah’s “retreat from reality”.
In an interview, Greenberg stated that the references to Judaism were removed because the producers were “terrified.” The author added that the characterizations of mental illness in the film “stank on ice.” Deborah’s name is changed from Blau (which means “blue” in German, and parallels the author’s pseudonym “Green”) to Blake.
Another major theme of the book, Deborah’s artistic talent which flourished in spite of her illness, was reduced to a scene in which she scribbles childishly on a drawing pad. The Kingdom Of Yr is portrayed on-screen, as are some of its gods, but never seen in its original ethereal beauty, only the wasteland that it became much later.
The background music for the Yr sequences is a recording of a Balinese Kecak, the ceremonial chant of the sacred monkeys from the Ramayana. The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, headed by Danny Elfman, appear as extras in the Yr sequences.
In a 2006 interview, Greenberg recalled that she was not consulted on any aspect of the film, and was contacted only by Bibi Andersson. She recalled Andersson telling her that the producers had said Greenberg could not be consulted as she was “hopelessly insane”. The studio is listed as “Imorh” Productions, imorh (variously meaning “sleep”, “death” or “insanity”) being an Yri word from the novel. The movie was one of the most expensive ever made from New World Pictures.
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977)
Directed by: Anthony Page
Starring: Kathleen Quinlan, Bibi Andersson, Ben Piazza, Lorraine Gary, Martine Bartlett, Margo Ann Berdeshevsky, Darlene Craviotto, Reni Santoni, Susan Tyrrell, Signe Hasso, Diane Varsi
Screenplay by: Gavin Lambert, Lewis John Carlino
Production Design by: Toby Carr Rafelson. J. Michael Riva
Cinematography by: Bruce Logan
Film Editing by: Garth Craven
Costume Design by: Jane Ruhm
Music by: Paul Chihara
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: New World Pictures
Release Date: July 14, 1977 (New York City)
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