Sarah T. – Portrait of a
Teenage Alcoholic (1975) (TV)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Sarah Travis	Linda Blair
Jerry Travis	Larry Hagman
Jean Hodges	Verna Bloom
Matt Hodges	William Daniels
Dr. Marvin Kittredge	Michael Lerner	½
Ken Newkirk	Mark Hamill	½
Mr. Peterson	M. Emmet Walsh	-

Review

Linda Blair gives an accomplished performance in a challenging and at times awkward part as Sarah, a 15-year-old girl who desperately tries to hide and diminish her increasing alcohol dependency. The film treats alcoholism as an illness, not a symptom, which is rather refreshing considering the year of production. Although, claim the filmmakers, her ailment is also not unlinked to her social life and character traits. The picture offers a fairly satisfactory dissection and portrait, even if Alcoholics Anonymous seem to have had a little too much influence on the production, and the predictable ending isn't quite worth the wait. The early scenes in which Sarah interacts with her classmates and her boyfriend (played by a young Mark Hamill) work generally better than the tussles within her family. Directed by Richard Donner – one year before his major breakthrough with The Omen. Michael Lerner is fun in a smallish part as Blair's psychiatrist.