This was one of the best TV movies ever made. It is a shame it has never been released on DVD, and no one at the current time has it available for streaming. It would be perfect for Prime Video, where so many 1970s TV movies are being rewatched by baby boomers. This film lacks the typical sentimentalism of similar type stories, so there's no feelings about how it seemed a lot better when you watched it in your younger days.
Patty is a 12-year-old growing up in the South during WWII. Her family is Jewish in a town that is of course predominately Christian. Her father owns a clothing store and is very abusive towards Patty. He obviously hated his mother and sees his oldest daughter as a replica of her. Moreover, he had to marry Patty's mother because she was pregnant. He hates Patty and believes she hates him, when she does not. That aspect of the story alone made it unusal for a 1970s made-for-TV movie about a pre-teen.
When a German POW escapes from a farm where the POWs are working, he encounters Patty and she hides him in an old barn at home, which is her beloved secret hideout. She knows it is wrong, especially as a Jew, and knows it is dangerous, but she is desperate for a friend to talk to, and desperate to be liked and understood by someone. This is not an illicit affair or anything of the sort. It's a friendship between two trapped souls trying to make sense of the world.
Both Kristy McNichol and Bruce Davison do outstanding jobs portraying the Jewish girl and the German soldier, but the most outstanding character in the film is Esther Rolle, as the family maid Ruth. She does everything she can to protect Patty from her father's wrath, and to help her understand she is unfairly "paying full price" for her "irregular" parents. The end of the film is both heartbreaking and hopeful. Hopeful Patty will heed Ruth's words and learn to hold her head up high at all times, regardless of the cruel words or thoughts of others.
Patty is a 12-year-old growing up in the South during WWII. Her family is Jewish in a town that is of course predominately Christian. Her father owns a clothing store and is very abusive towards Patty. He obviously hated his mother and sees his oldest daughter as a replica of her. Moreover, he had to marry Patty's mother because she was pregnant. He hates Patty and believes she hates him, when she does not. That aspect of the story alone made it unusal for a 1970s made-for-TV movie about a pre-teen.
When a German POW escapes from a farm where the POWs are working, he encounters Patty and she hides him in an old barn at home, which is her beloved secret hideout. She knows it is wrong, especially as a Jew, and knows it is dangerous, but she is desperate for a friend to talk to, and desperate to be liked and understood by someone. This is not an illicit affair or anything of the sort. It's a friendship between two trapped souls trying to make sense of the world.
Both Kristy McNichol and Bruce Davison do outstanding jobs portraying the Jewish girl and the German soldier, but the most outstanding character in the film is Esther Rolle, as the family maid Ruth. She does everything she can to protect Patty from her father's wrath, and to help her understand she is unfairly "paying full price" for her "irregular" parents. The end of the film is both heartbreaking and hopeful. Hopeful Patty will heed Ruth's words and learn to hold her head up high at all times, regardless of the cruel words or thoughts of others.