Sarah T. - Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic (1975)

I was 14 when this movie was first shown on TV. (The actress, Linda Blair, is a year older than me.) Even though I was not a drinker or a user, I remember feeling like the character of Sarah Travis was the first in movie/TV that I could identify with. I had gone from school to school, and my parents were split up. My Dad was an alcoholic, and I had a hard time fitting in. But like Sarah, I babysat to make pocket money, and I loved music. The Carole King album 'Tapestry' was my favourite album already, which the song 'It's Too Late' is from, (sung by Linda Blair in the movie.) As I lived through the teen years at the same time as this character, and had many similar issues, I feel like for me, the movie was an important one. I have the book again, like I did back then, but I would very much like to see this movie come out in DVD.

This is a teaching tool about the dangers of alcohol abuse. Linda Blair plays a 15 year old girl named Sarah Travis. She struggles in school, and with her family. She resorts to alcohol, to help cope with her adolescence troubles. It works perfectly at first, but it backfires when she starts getting hooked on it.Maybe I'm being a bit bold by praising this movie as much as I'm going too, but this movie affected me deeply. The made for T.V label shows, and it is a little dated at times, but the message behind the movie remains an extremely powerful one to this day. I think what disturbed me most about this movie is how realistic it was, as well as Sarah's (Blair) age in this movie. I'm a drinker myself, and to see someone that young get hooked on alcohol is really heartbreaking. I was fully invested in Sarah's relationship with her oblivious & self centered parents, as well as the Stepfather. (Very well played by Larry Hagman (Father), William Daniels (Stepfather) & Verna Bloom) The scary thing is this can happens with parents. They are so self involved in their own little world, that they fail to notice their kid's problems, and when they find out, they care more about the repercussions they will receive, and how they will be looked at, rather than be concerned about their kid's problems. They think it's more of a reflection on their parenting, and while that is true, it just disgusts me. Verna Bloom is thoroughly despicable as the Mother. Her self absorbed character will have you hating her. Perhaps it's not an appropriate time to add in a lame joke with such serious subject matter, but Mark Hamil is in this movie as well as a love interest. You could say Regan McNeil is paired up with Luke Skywalker. Unfortunately the young Jedi Knight couldn't get rid of the demon in this one, the force wasn't strong enough. Low blow, I know. Mark Hamil is actually fairly decent in this movie. I always found him to be a corny actor, but he has his effective moments here, especially near the end involving his horse. The finale of this movie is one of the most uncomfortable things I've ever witnessed, and Linda Blair absolutely nails it. Watching her deny her problems with alcohol was very saddening, and seeing her progressing worse and worse as the film goes along, almost had me in tears. It's her best performance in my opinion. Her scenes with the AA counselor (Michael Lerner) really hit home with me. It's kind of ironic… Linda Blair may have peaked when she was young, because she was an excellent actress at such a young age. Final Thoughts: I'm gonna give it 10 stars. Call me bold if you will, but it deserves it for making me think so much. I watched it three days ago, and it's still haunting me a little bit, now that's power for you. Maybe people won't feel as strongly as I did with this movie, but it's one of the most gut wrenching films I've ever seen. It's on You-Tube, so go see it, and make up your own mind. I'd love to see this movie on DVD. A special edition would be absolutely tremendous. One of the final lines from Sarah "I'm an alcoholic" It's so saddening.10/10

Sarah T. (1975) Linda Blair is in deep trouble again. This time she's a teenage lush who can't keep her nose out of the bottle. What's scary about this one is that she's eerily credible as a drunk. The cheese factor of Mark Hamill keeps this picture from earning any real credibility (one scene has Luke Skywalker crying like a woman, watch out Star Wars fans). Well, it was pretty funny watching ol' Skywalker pour on the water works. Other than that (sans Mark Hamill) it's a good film about young alcoholics. Recommended.

Contains spoilers Teenage alcoholics - not only a problem of the seventies. An insecure future, divorced families, spending too much time with the wrong 'friends' -drinking to give their lives a 'future' to kill time - to show others that they aren't different - that they're tough - that they're a member of the gang they joined. Sarah (Linda Blair) - fifteen - the youngest child of a divorced family. She has to live with her mother and step-father - her older sister has her own family. Sarah isn't very lucky - she's missing the dad she loves - and he dotes her on her when he's around. When she finds out her mother has arranged a blind date to a party, Sarah is furious. After she realizes it's with Ken (Mark Hamill), seventeen, popular at school, owner of a horse called Daisy and wants to become a veterinarian, she changes her mind. Sarah gets very drunk behind Ken's back. Because he likes Sarah, he feels responsible for all, allowing her parents to blame him for the incident. They spend some time together, and he shows her his horse. Sarah continues drinking, despite Ken wanting her to stop. She attends an AA meeting, but leaves because she feels she isn't an alcoholic. She makes an effort to stop drinking, though.One evening Sarah and Ken are babysitting. She tells him that she wants more - wants him all for herself - while Ken isn't interested in forcing their relationship - he wants it in the way it is. They end up in an argument and Ken leaves her. Sarah is very frustrated and starts drinking again. She gets very drunk and is found in a stupor by the crying child's angry parents. Sarah's mother and her step-father finally realize the extent of her drinking. She tells them that it wasn't Ken - that it was she who was responsible for the alcohol in the house. Sarah pleads to go live with her real father - and her mother agrees. But then Sarah finds out that her idolized father has feet of clay - he doesn't want her because he has his own problems. The world around Sarah collapses. Going on a drinking spree she steals Ken's horse, Daisy. Ken runs after them but can't catch them before they ride into traffic. The horse gets hit by a car and must be destroyed. Sarah survives uninjured. She cries for forgiveness - but Ken coldly walks away - the pain of the loss of his horse that meant so much to him still on his face. He wants nothing more to do with her. Sarah finally realizes only she can help herself and commits for treatment. "I'm an alcoholic." Words that shocked her parents - words that makes them realize that they failed themselves, too. And for Sarah - it's her first step into a future without alcohol.Mark played his role very well. He's warm and gentle - frustrated and devastated - gives a nice and easy performance. He brought realism and believability in his role that he changed a bit. In the original script, Ken was colder - a youth that has only his own future in view. His emotional scene at the end of the film is outstanding.Linda Blair, as usual is outstanding, she begins to have a nice body in this one, the future looks good for the rising star!