Main Cast: Marilyn Hassett, Julie Harris, Anne Jackson, Barbara Barrie, Donna Mitchell
Release Year: 1979
Country: US
Run Time: 113 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Poet Sylvia Plath wrote an immensely popular roman à clef, The Bell Jar, which chronicles a woman's descent from functioning as a highly educated, motivated, and capable young woman to being completely incapacitated at the hands of mental illness. Sadly, Plath committed suicide at age 30, and did not have a chance to enjoy the success of her novel, which wasn't officially published in the United States until the early '70s. In this tragic tale, Esther Greenwood (Marilyn Hassett) is the central figure, a college student on a publishing internship with a woman's magazine in Manhattan. As she begins to experience psychological difficulties, her troubles are compounded by the incredible insensitivity of the people around her. On one occasion, her boyfriend condescendingly berates her for taking an overdose of pills. Critics complained that this movie, which did not do well at the box office, failed to capture the evocative emotional tone of the novel. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
Donald Brooks - Costume Designer, Steve Barnett - First Assistant Director, Larry Peerce - Director, Marvin Wallowitz - Editor, Gerald Fried - Composer (Music Score), Janis Ian - Composer (Music Score), John Robert Lloyd - Production Designer, Gerald Hirschfeld - Cinematographer, Jerrold Brandt, Jr. - Producer, Robert A. Goldstone - Producer, Larry Peerce - Producer, Michael Todd Jr. - Producer, Andrew Bonime - Producer, Tony Lamarca - Producer, Paul Hefferan - Set Designer, Marjorie Kellogg - Screenwriter, Sylvia Plath - Book Author
