Go Ask Alice

Director: John Korty John Korty

Overview

"Alice" was the pseudonymous name of the teenaged author who wrote the book upon which this above-average TV movie was based. Jamie Smith-Jackson portrays a shy, slightly overweight high schooler who is so anxious for acceptance that she falls in with the drug crowd. In a methodical, almost casual matter, we see how Alice descends into a nether world of pushers, pimps and prostitution. Perhaps to make the point that this could be the story of any impressionable youth, few of the characters are identified by name: Julie Adams plays "The Mother," William Shatner "The Professor," Andy Griffith "The Priest," and so on. Filmed in a cinema-verite fashion, Go Ask Alice makes excellent use of relatively unfamiliar Los Angeles locations.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/18/2006
UPC:	0018619109489
Original Release:	1973
Source:	MUSIC VIDEO DIST.***
Region Code:	A
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:13:00
Sales rank:	34,841

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Jamie Smith Jackson	Actor
William Shatner	Sam
Julie Adams	Actor
Wendell Burton	Actor
Ruth Roman	Actor
Andy Griffith	Priest
Ayn Ruymen	Actor
Mimi Saffian	Actor
Jennifer Edwards	Actor
Daniel Michael Mann	Actor
Robert Carradine	Actor
Mackenzie Phillips	Actor
Charles Smith	Actor

Technical Credits

Ellen M. Violett

John Korty	Director
Ellen M. Violett	Screenwriter
Charles Fries	Executive Producer

Editorial Reviews

Modern viewers who turn to Go Ask Alice for campy kicks will be disappointed when they discover a sober-minded TV film dealing tastefully with subject matter too often sensationalized beyond realism. The authenticity of the published diary which provided the basis for Go Ask Alice has often been questioned, but that never hurt its popularity among teens, many of whom ignored its anti-drug message and reveled instead in the gory details of smack orgies and chemical rebellion. Director John Korty takes a non-exploitative approach to the material, managing to make the central character's plight compelling without manipulating the audience through the uglier aspects of the story. Certainly its status as a mainstream television broadcast tempered what could be depicted, but the film never stoops to indict anyone for Alice's addiction, painting her dilemma as far more complicated than mere peer pressure or a generation gap. The cast is natural and understated, even when caught in the throes of LSD usage and drug withdrawal. Jamie Smith Jackson is a bit anonymous as Alice, but it's appropriate for a character who is at an age when personality is pliable and easily altered. William Shatner is more reserved than usual as Alice's father (though his moustache doesn't seem to be glued on straight), and Andy Griffith takes a hard-bitten turn in his cameo as a no-nonsense priest. In one of her first roles, Mackenzie Phillips appears briefly as a street urchin with a hunger for dope, a characterization she might have known a bit too well. Go Ask Alice can still be found on video from time to time, though its reputation as a sleazy romp dressed up in freaky hippie duds is exaggerated and its usefulness as anti-drug propaganda is compromised by its dated appearance. It is, however, a well-crafted drama with period ambiance, worth seeing again for nostalgic baby boomers.