Customer Reviews

Larry [VHS]

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I remember watching "Larry" when it was a made-for-TV movie in the CBS prime-time line-up in 1974. Tyne Daly was an obscure actor then. It was many years before "Cagney And Lacey" premiered. The film also features Katherine Helmond when she was obscure.

"Larry" is a docudrama that tackles an issue untouched by any other film. (Or else what other film has touched it?) That is the issue of a doctor making a mistake that damages a person's life for many years. The victim can recover.

The film starts with Larry at age 26. We learn about the core of his problem toward the middle of the film. It's a scene in which Tyne Daly and another doctor from the state institution that considers Larry retarded visit his mother for the first time. Skillfully portrayed by the then-obscure actress Katherine Helmond (before the sitcoms "Soap" and "Who's The Boss?" made her famous), the mother painfully reveals what she went through as a young unwed mother 26 years ago.

While pregnant in an era that heavily frowned on out-of-wedlock motherhood, she met a seemingly sympathetic doctor who agreed to attend her childbirth if she went through it in a home for the retarded that he owned. The baby came out appearing "backward" for a few moments so the doctor deposited it in the home and the mother only saw Larry once more. That was when he was seven. She regularly sent money to him.

Tyne Daly as a young hopeful institution doctor has the job of teaching the normally intelligent Larry to handle the outside world.

The conclusion of the story is an unusually realistic one for a made-for-TV movie. The ending lends huge credibility to the onscreen caption at the beginning that vouches for the story's truthfulness. CBS executives who demanded a Nielsen hit would have thrown Larry to the dogs at the end. But they didn't. It suggests the movie closely follows its source, a book listed in the final credits as "Larry: Case History of a Mistake" by Robert McQueen. I suspect one must visit the Library of Congress to read it. The World Cat data base doesn't list it.

During the closing credits a voice-over actor reminds viewers that the medical mistake they've seen belonged to its era, an era when many institutions for the retarded and mentally ill were small enough for one or two doctors to control everything. Mistakes happened. The voice-over concludes by saying, "It is very unlikely that such a mistake could happen today." Today means 1974, when the film was completed.

Speaking as a lay person I vouchsafe the idea that you won't find a single person of average intelligence or a potential college professor in today's homes for the mentally challenged. These places have too many bureaucratic doctors, occupational therapists and licensing boards for a baby to grow to adulthood under a misdiagnosis. If "60 Minutes" learned of the situation it would destroy the careers of everyone involved.

But the docudrama "Larry" still holds value as a reminder of the careless mistake that a non-psychotic person of power can make when he or she has total control of people's lives. If it's not a doctor, it could be a computer help desk person at a small company who inadvertently releases private data about employees to a wide audience. Films like "Swordfish" and "Single White Female" give you the idea that impactful mistakes must be made by psychopaths.

Wrong! "Larry" reminds us that very nice people can make honest mistakes or they can misshape a vulnerable person's life based on an honest mistake made by a professional colleague they've never met. Maybe that sounds heavy-handed or longwinded, but the truth is that many mistakes on our planet don't originate in a simple setting with obvious good and evil forces, even though John Travolta says they do.

I close by saying that it's fascinating to see Tyne Daly in this film. She has long hair and comes across as soft and demure compared to the pushy roles that made her famous. I refer to her star billing as Mama Rose in the 1989 touring theatrical version of the musical "Gypsy" in addition to her more visible TV gigs in "Judging Amy" and "Cagney and Lacey." Go, Tyne!

As noted by another commenter, this film was based on a book by Dr. Robert McQueen, who is Nevada licensed Psychologist Number 1, and happens to be my next-door neighbor. He is a marvelous man who has been a pillar of the Reno area community for decades. The stories he can tell you regarding his experiences in the psychological field would curl your hair, and his tale of this particular patient is entirely factual (though a tiny bit of literary license was taken in the making of the film). The doctor character in the movie, intended to have been modeled on Dr. McQueen, himself, is not the compassionate and beloved man that my friend is, so that clearly is one area where screenwriters saw an opportunity to sensationalize a bit for "Hollywood."

I recommend the film as a timeless - despite the period fashions and lingo - story of how bureaucracy can screw things up and enable them to remain screwed up for a person's entire life, without the intervention of someone who truly cares and puts more into his/her job than the minimum necessary to collect that paycheck. I know people like the latter do exist in the health care field, and applaud any tale of someone who views their role in a more noble and solemn light. Tyne Daly plays that role well and injects considerable compassion into her character's development.

This is a tremendous story and one we can learn from in the psychology and social work profession. I know there is a book written by Dr. Mcqueen and I would love to find a copy of it for my library. If anyone has any information on how to acquire a copy of this book, please post it on amazon. thanks

This movie is excellent to illustrate learning, socialization, behavior modification techniques, & abuses of mentally handicapped.