Mockingbird Don't Sing
| Mockingbird Don't Sing | |
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DVD cover
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| Directed by | Harry Bromley Davenport |
| Written by | Daryl Haney |
| Starring |
Tarra Steele Melissa Errico Sean Young Kim Darby |
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Release date
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Running time
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98 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Mockingbird Don't Sing is a 2001 American independent film based on the true story of Genie, a modern-day feral child. The film is told from the point of view of Dr. Susan Curtiss (whose fictitious name is Sandra Tannen), a professor of linguistics at University of California, Los Angeles. Although the film is based on a true story, all of the names are fictitious for legal reasons (e.g. the pseudonym "Genie" has been changed to "Katie"). The film was released to US theaters on May 4, 2001. It won first prize for best screenplay at the Rhode Island International Film Festival (tied with Wings of Hope).
In Los Angeles, 1970, Katie Standon (Tarra Steele), a girl who has been imprisoned in her room (and without any human contact) since the age of one, is now thirteen years old. Her mother Louise (who has cataracts; Kim Darby), has taken enough abuse from her domineering husband Wes (Jack Betts); she gets her son, Billy (a few years older than Katie; Michael Azria), to help her and Katie escape their home.
At a welfare office a social worker notices something peculiar about Katie and guesses her age to be about seven while, in fact, she is thirteen. Katie is taken to Children's Hospital, and Louise and Wes find themselves being arrested for "what authorities are calling the worst case of child abuse they've ever seen". Shortly before his trial begins, Wes kills himself. The doctors and psycholinguists investigating the case form the "Katie Team", a group of experts dedicated to helping Katie learn to speak and interact with others. One of the team members, Judy Bingham (Sean Young), a special education teacher, sees Katie as a pawn whom she can use to attain international fame. She claims Katie will make her "the next Anne Sullivan." UCLA graduate student Sandra Tannen (Melissa Errico) is one of the people who appear to have Katie's welfare at heart.
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