I Never Promised You a Rose Garden is a 1977 film based on the Joanne Greenberg novel of the same name.
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. For unknown reasons, 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 a recent interview, Greenberg stated that the references to Judaism were removed because the producers were "terrified." Speaking with characteristic frankness, the author added that the characterizations of mental illness in the film "stank on ice."[1]
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".[2]
The film's supporting cast included Diane Varsi, Sylvia Sidney and Signe Hasso. Total running time is 96 minutes.
The studio is listed as "Imorh" Productions, imorh (variously meaning "sleep", "death" or "insanity") being an Yri word from the novel.
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