Limbo
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Mark Robson
Kathleen Nolan
Kate Jackson
Katherine Justice
Stuart Margolin
Hazel Medina
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In Florida, the wives of three soldiers declared missing or killed in the Vietnam War, Mary Kaye Buell, Sandy Lawton and Sharon Dornbeck, drive to the Miami airport to meet one returning husband, each woman reflecting on her personal past: Seven years earlier, Mary Kaye learns that her husband has gone missing in action and struggles to maintain a brave front for their four children, Joe, Kathy, Pete and Julie. Joe, the eldest, becomes hostile toward his mother, however, when he discovers that his father enlisted only after a bitter quarrel with Mary Kaye. Over time, the lonely Mary Kaye grows friendly with physical education teacher Phil Garrett and Joe grows increasingly bitter. Meanwhile, Sandy is married to Lt. Roy Lawton only two weeks before he is shipped out and soon after, he is declared missing. Feeling that she barely knew Roy, Sandy does not resist her attraction to Alan Webber, a former NASA computer programmer who has been laid off and forced to work as a gas station attendant. Eventually Sandy moves in with Alan although she continues to have mixed emotions about Roy's situation. Married to a third generation Air Force soldier, Sharon remains diligently hopeful even after receiving a report that her husband has been killed in action. Drawn together by their common experience and desperate hopes to learn more about their husbands, Mary Kaye, Sandy and Sharon become friends and soon after fly to Paris to meet a North Vietnamese delegation at a peace conference. Instead of providing details about prisoners, however, delegate members show the wives a film of the atrocities committed by American soldiers on Vietnamese citizens, including children. Later, when asked to appear before a House Armed Services Committee in Washington, D.C. Mary Kaye declares her staunch opposition to the war. When Sharon receives an eyewitness confirmation of her husband's death, she comes close to a nervous breakdown. Soon after, Mary Kaye also learns that her husband has been killed, a tragedy which nevertheless brings her and young Joe back together. Receiving news that Roy is being released from a war prison, Sandy breaks off her relationship with Alan, but unable to tell him, asks Mary Kaye to break the news to him. As the women arrive at the Miami airport to meet Roy, Mary Kaye and Sharon watch as Sandy greets the weakened stranger that is her husband.
Director
Mark Robson
Cast
Kathleen Nolan
Kate Jackson
Katherine Justice
Stuart Margolin
Hazel Medina
Russell Wiggins
Joan Murphy
Michael Bersell
Kim Nicholas
Ken Kornbluh
Laura Kornbluh
Richard Callinin
Charles Martin
Frank Logan
Andrew Jarrell
Mike Phillips
Crew
Irene Aparrisio
James Bridges
Harry Caplan
Harry Caplan
Guy Del Russo
Linda Gottlieb
Don Ivy
Anita Kerr
Sonny Persons
Mickey Sherrard
Joan Silver
Joan Silver
Dorothy Spencer
James Sullivan
William Varney
Marjorie Wahl
Howard Warren
Charles Wheeler
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The entry for this unviewed film was compiled from reviews and publicity materials. Several reviews commented on the unfortunate timing of the film's release, which was in limited distribution in November 1972, but received wide distribution in January 1973, just as the Paris Peace Accord cease-fire was implemented between North and South Vietnam, thus ending American involvement in the Vietnam War. According to the agreement, American troops and prisoners-of-war would be returning home within sixty-five days.
According to Filmfacts, the film was bought by Universal Pictures and renamed Women in Limbo. Several reviewers of Limbo commented that the strong story of the difficulties faced by the wives of soldiers missing or killed in action would continue to be overlooked in the haste to put the unpopular, lost war in the past. Limbo was filmed in Florida and at the Ivan Tors Studios in Miami. The picture marked the feature film debut of Kate Jackson. Modern sources add Lillian Zucker to the cast.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States 1972
Released in United States 1972
