Message to My Daughter

The story in "Message to My Daughter" is very, very maudlin...so I am warning you. If you are depressed, it's NOT a good film to see and it's definitely a film to watch with a box of Kleenex nearby!

When the film begins, young Miranda (Kitty Winn) is driving like she would just as soon die...and she nearly does! She winds up in the hospital and her father (Martin Sheen) is scared but only seems to know how to yell at her. Later, after trying very unsuccessfully to communicate with her about her problems, he offers her a VERY strange gift--a stack of audio recordings her mother made specifically to be given to Miranda when she is older. What is this all about anyway? Well, it seems that Miranda's mom, Janet (Bonnie Bedelia) died when Miranda was only a toddler...and the tapes consist of her mother talking to her, talking about her life and giving her nuggets of wisdom (such as a sex talk, dealing with parents, struggling with wanting to get an abortion, etc.). The plot is a bit contrived and odd, that's for sure! But it IS something will suck you into the film as Miranda goes through a journey of self-discovery.

Overall, this is a very good and very manipulative film...with a theme song that might just annoy the heck out of you. In the 1970s it worked...today...not so much. A great film if you're looking for a good cry. And, quite daring since it deals with abortion...which was hardly ever talked about at the time or even now.

By the way, wouldn't the tapes have been reel to reel since the mother died in 1956? Cassettes weren't invented until 1962. Yet, oddly, it's all on cassettes.

I was so drawn to this then. I remember it so well. Miraculously my search on YouTube with very little information was spot on!! Now I want to Rewatch The Panic in Needle Park. This picture is dated a little. But, when the mother says "My baby!" I was a blubbering mess. ABC TV Movies in those days are GREAT. Reccomendation. Watch The Jericho Mile, with Peter Strauss 1979.

I was looking for a Martin Sheen movie similar to this, and re-connected to this movie. It's so long ago, but all three characters were (are) moving to me, and very well played. It could very easily have been sappy or preachy, but it played quite well.

I watched this when I was "between", about 22-23, beyond teen-age angst, but not a grown up parent. All three characters spoke to me. Truly one of those "open filming" movies that were shown 1971 approximately, and now they cut or fuzz over, topics or body parts.

I guess I remembered Bonnie Bedelia strongly from this movie, and she had not been in many movies, particularly just after that. If I find a place that owns it, I will let you all know.

amazing i saw this film when i was 14 and still remember it today.was very moving and as it was on in the afternoon was quite shocking for the year ,wish i could buy it on DVD.excellent acting from all party's and a real tear jerker,I've always been a film buff and even at a early age i kept a log of films i would like to see again ,unfortunatly I've never seen it aired again,we get American love stories here on TV here every afternoon now(england) and i always check the listings for it,sadly no sign of it yet.any body with imfo please e mail me,batcavehotline@aol.com or if you have any comments about my view,thanks for taking time to read my comment,steve

I saw this, at age eleven, when it first aired in 1973. My parents had left us alone for the evening, and I'm certain they would have been quite angry if they'd known we had watched a film involving a potential abortion. Frankly, I can't even imagine a current network TV movie daring to approach this subject in the same way. This film had a lasting impression on me - so much so, that I clipped the TV listing from the paper, and put it in my box of "favorite movies" after I saw it. I just came upon this title again, while performing a cross-reference IMDb search. Now, if I can only find that box with all those TV clippings - I'd love to revisit the films which meant so much to me as a child.