The Girls of Huntington House

I very much enjoyed this touching TV melodrama about a bustling maternity home for unwed, teenage mothers-to-be and their new, kindly, somewhat oversensitive English teacher Miss Baldwin (Shirley Jones). A well-written, soulful, thought-provoking story that is given additional zip by the quality of its believable performances. I must say, The Girls of Huntington House really does have an exemplary cast: Sissy Spacek, Mercedes McCambridge, Shirley Jones, and pretty Pamela Sue Martin. Unsurprisingly, the effervescent Spacek is quite lovely as the spirited folksy songbird Sarah. Earnest, quirky, saccharine-free, and pleasingly lachrymose at times, there's something about this vintage Lorimar production that I found curiously soothing.