One of the unfortunate factors of the 1967 Sandy Dennis movie "Up the Down Staircase" is that many of the actors playing the kids didn't have such fantastic careers. The biggest "kids" to come out of this movie were Bud Cort and Liz Torrez, both of which were uncredited.
And then we have Ellen O'Mara who played Alice Blake, the girl with the unwavering crush on teacher and would-be writer Paul Barringer, only to wind up trying to commit suicide when her affections are rebuffed. It's her guest starring role in this episode that made me want to see it. However there's another guest star, specifically some early work of Mary Beth Hurt, that also made me want to check it out, and I'm truly glad I did.
Mary Beth Hurt plays Karen Foster a young woman who at one time had a promising ice skating career. Unfortunately she is now in the psychiatric ward of the Bedford Hills Women's Prison, after a failed suicide attempt for killing her mother. Everybody is convinced she's guilty, even her. Not even El Diablo from "Suicide Squad" is as regretful as this girl. Her boyfriend, Daniel Shaw (Uegene O'Neil) goes to the Bronx County Courthouse to assassinate the assistant district attorney (Charles Kimbrough) who convicted her. That same ADA just had a heated argument with Theo over the dismissal of evidence in another case that the detective offered him, which could've proven a suspect to be innocent. When the NYPD shoots the boyfriend for trying to kill the ADA, the Lieutenant starts to investigate the crime. But for some reason, some rich high-profile debutaunt from the Long Island Gold Coast played by the legendary Geraldine Page wants to make sure he and the 13th precinct don't go through with their investigation. At the same time, the detective and his team are trying to carry out an undercover heroin bust somewhere along the East River (either Long Island City or northern Brooklyn).
A cop transferred from another precinct, named Lt. Decker (Kenneth McMillan), who more or less suggests she's a dumb slut who's not worth his time and effort. So do a few other people. However, one of his more trusted detectives finds out the opposite is the truth, and as it turns out Decker is on the take from Ms. Paige's character, and so is a female guard assigned to watch over Miss Foster.
O'Mara plays as a waitress in a "lunch box" named Sally Jo, who gives the detective some key evidence regarding Miss Foster's case. It's a small part, but it's still important. She tells him that Shaw was a frequent customer, was close to Miss Foster and mentions something about a "foreigner" who orders pizzas for Columbia University students from the nearby pizzeria that Karen's mother used to run.
Soon the question isn't why did Shaw try to kill the ADA, or why did Karen kill her mother (assuming she did), but why are their so many people in power who care whether or not she's convicted. And when the detective confronts Page's character on this, she pretends not to know anything, but he refuses to take any crap from her.
The detective decides to talk the prison psychiatrist into letting this girl out in order to spend time with her and help her jog her memory about what really happened. So he takes her to an indoor skating rink, knowing full well that it's her domain, and believing it's the best way to remind her of the truth about that night. But once the girl is taken to the scene of the crime, she falls to pieces. I can guarantee you won't find a perfomance as touching as hers until Jennette McCurdy's groundbreaking guest appearance on Law and Order; SVU. And when GetTV adds warnings and disclaimers about the possibility that the episode might trigger real suicidal feelings, that's saying something.
I'd reveal more, but since this episode was split in subsequent airings, and IMDb recognizes it as a two-part episode, you're going to have to read the rest of my review in that next episode.
1 out of 1 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
