ABC MONDAY NIGHT MOVIE: GETTING OUT (TV)
Summary
This made-for-television drama film, based on the 1978 play by Marsha Norman, follows a Southern woman as she attempts to rebuild her life after leaving prison. The program begins as a heavily pregnant Arlene "Arlie" Holsclaw runs through the Georgia woods and attempts to hitchhike her way to Macon. At a gas station, she calls her mother and asks for help, explaining that she "paroled herself," and when she tries to rob the station owner, she ends up accidentally shooting an intervening policeman. Arlie flees the scene and begins to suffer labor pains, and she is eventually captured by state police and gives birth to her son Joey at the jail. Her mother arrives and takes the baby, leaving her daughter to her uncertain fate. Eight long years later, Arlie prepares to depart the prison on parole, admitting to her kindly chaplain friend that she is nervous about reentering the world. She heads to Macon on a bus, thinking longingly of her son all the while, and arrives at her new home, a rundown apartment formerly occupied by her sister, Candy. After checking in with her parole officer, she meets her new neighbor Ruby and is dismayed to learn that Candy had been prostituting herself.
Arlie's mother arrives with food and greets her daughter unenthusiastically, revealing that she has long known about Candy's profession. Arlie firmly states that she is now "Arlene" and wants to improve her life in order to regain custody of her son, aware that her mother gave him up to social services after two years and informed her only after the fact. Arlene's mother questions her about her relationship with the chaplain, suspecting that they were more than friends, and when they begin to argue, she observes that Arlene was simply "born bad." In a flashback, Arlene is enraged to receive the letter about her son and starts a fire in her cell, nearly killing herself in the process. In the present, however, she recalls the chaplain's advice and begins to fix up her apartment, telling Ruby that she must find a "respectable" job in order to prove herself a worthy mother, and she is less than thrilled when Ruby offers her a dishwashing position. Arlene then meets with her no-nonsense parole officer, who hands over her meager earnings from her work in prison and questions her about her job search. She is then surprised by a visit from Carl, a pimp and her former flame, and he scorns her plans to secure a regular job and suggests that she will fare better "working" for him, though she angrily orders him out.
Arlene's job hunt goes poorly, as she has few marketable skills, though she soon encounters a charming businessman, Brian Craig, who promises a hefty salary for selling a certain elite beauty product. She excitedly tells Ruby about the promising opportunity, but Ruby informs her that she has been conned and has given up her hard-earned money for nothing. Dismayed, Arlene decides to take advantage of her one distinctive skill and visits a knitting shop, showing the owner her elegant handiwork. She is quickly hired to work in the shop and teach a special knitting class, and she and Ruby celebrate her new job at home, though they are interrupted briefly by one of Candy's "suitors." She then heads to the courthouse to ask about Joey, explaining that she is finally prepared to take him back, but she is shocked to learn that he has been formally adopted and that she is legally barred from contact with him. She struggles through her knitting class, explaining that the hobby is a "comfort" to her, and when she visits her old elementary school, she recalls being cruelly taunted for her family's poverty and her mother's questionable lifestyle.
Arlene gets into her mother's cab and questions her about an incident from the past in which she was left alone in the car while her mother went off with a man, implying that she too was prostituting herself. Her mother counters that she was always trying to get her father's "attention" as a young girl, resulting in her being sent to reform school, and Arlene storms out of the cab in anger. Ruby visits and, seeing Arlene's distress, advises her not to behave rashly, pointing out that Joey is likely happy in his new home. Nevertheless, Arlene visits the local school and, claiming that her son was kidnapped by his father, sneaks a look at the computer and finds Joey's current address. Later, she is fired from her job at the knitting store for lying about her criminal past, and her parole officer sternly informs her that she will be sent back to prison if she interferes in Joey's life. She calls her chaplain friend in desperation, but he explains that he is forbidding from associating with ex-convicts outside of the prison. Having lost all hope, she reunites with Carl and agrees to leave town with him, but she flashes back to her childhood abuse and fights him off, then revealing that Joey is his own son. Returning to her parents' home, she vividly recalls the darkest moments of her childhood and then confronts her father, now old and infirm, furiously rebuking him for sexually abusing her. She calls her mother out for knowing about the abuse and doing nothing to stop it, but her mother refuses to acknowledge the truth and declares that she is simply a liar.
Arlene breaks down completely as she recalls her harrowing experience in solitary confinement, and Ruby soon finds her and attempts to comfort her. Later, Arlene tries to find closure with her past and observes Joey at his home, relieved to see that he seems happy and loved. She takes the dishwashing job alongside Ruby and explains to her friend that she has finally made peace with the loss of her son, deciding that she can wait until he is eighteen to reconnect with him. Includes commercials and promos.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: April 25, 1994 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:55:36
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:32867
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama; Women prisoners - Drama; Ex-convicts
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV, 1994
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - Brawny paper towels
- TV - Commercials - Cerenex migraine medication
- TV - Commercials - Clorets breath mints
- TV - Commercials - Elizabeth Arden Sunflowers fragrance
- TV - Commercials - Hallmark greeting cards
- TV - Commercials - Kellogg's Cracklin' Oat Bran cereal
- TV - Commercials - Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats cereal
- TV - Commercials - Kellogg's Just Right cereal
- TV - Commercials - Kellogg's Nutri-Grain bars
- TV - Commercials - Lever 2000 soap
- TV - Commercials - Maytag refrigerators
- TV - Commercials - McDonald's restaurants
- TV - Commercials - Mrs. Smith's Smart Style desserts
- TV - Commercials - Nestle Sweet Success diet shake
- TV - Commercials - Nissan automobiles
- TV - Commercials - Partnership For a Drug-Free America program
- TV - Commercials - Pepsi-Cola soft drinks
- TV - Commercials - Post Banana Nut Crunch cereal
- TV - Commercials - Post Grape-Nuts cereal
- TV - Commercials - Salon Selectives hair care products
- TV - Commercials - Sears stores
- TV - Commercials - Tampax tampons
- TV - Commercials - Tresemmé Gold hair products
- TV - Commercials - Tropicana orange juice
- TV - Commercials - Tylenol Extra-Strength painkillers
- TV - Commercials - White Diamonds fragrance
- TV - PSA - Center for Disease Control and Prevention
- TV - PSA - National Resources Defense Council
- TV - Promos - "A Place for Annie"
- TV - Promos - "Behind Closed Doors with Joan Lunden"
- TV - Promos - "Columbo: Undercover"
- TV - Promos - "Home Improvement"
- TV - Promos - "Matlock"
- TV - Promos - "Mike & Maty"
- TV - Promos - "Mrs. Doubtfire" home video
- TV - Promos - "NYPD Blue"
- TV - Promos - "No Escape" motion picture
- TV - Promos - "Primetime Live"
- TV - Promos - "Stephen King's The Stand"
- TV - Promos - "The Byrds of Paradise"
- TV - Promos - "The Favor" motion picture
- TV - Promos - "These Friends of Mine"
- TV - Promos - "Turning Point"
- TV - Promos - ABC World News Tonight
CREDITS
- Robert Halmi Sr. … Executive Producer
- Richard Welsh … Executive Producer
- Dorothea G. Petrie … Producer
- Brent Shields … Co-Producer
- John Korty … Director
- Eugene Corr … Writer
- Ruth Shapiro … Writer
- Marsha Norman … Based on the play by
- Mason Daring … Music by
- Rebecca De Mornay … Cast, Arlene Holsclaw
- Robert Knepper … Cast, Carl
- Carol Mitchell-Leon … Cast, Ruby
- Richard Jenkins … Cast, Chaplain
- Ellen Burstyn … Cast, Arlie's Mother
- Tandy Cronyn … Cast, Placement Worker
- Norm Skaggs … Cast, Brian Craig
- Sue Bugden … Cast, Parole Agent
- Kevin Dewey … Cast, Driver in Pickup
- Sean Sweeney … Cast, Boy in Pickup
- Jack Swanson … Cast, Arlie's Father
- Amy Dott … Cast, Young Arlie
- Bruce Evers … Cast, Prison Guard
- Linda Pierce … Cast, Shopkeeper
- Suzi Bass … Cast, Processor
- Rosemary Newcott … Cast, Job Counselor
- David Dwyer … Cast, Paraplegic
- For "ABC News Brief":
- Sheilah Kast … Anchor