Not without My Daughter

Director: Brian Gilbert Brian Gilbert

Overview

In this docudrama based on true events, a mid-'80s Michigan housewife finds her life turned upside down when a vacation to Tehran with her Iranian husband turns into virtual imprisonment for her and her young daughter. Betty Mahmoody (Sally Field) is reluctant to visit the wartorn homeland of her doctor husband, Moody (Alfred Molina). But, depressed about the racism of the American medical establishment and pining for contact with his family, Moody convinces her to join him for a two-week jaunt. The Islamic fundamentalism and strange customs of Iran bewilder and frighten Betty and her daughter, Mahtob (Sheila Rosenthal). But nothing prepares her for Moody's announcement that the family will be remaining in Tehran indefinitely. Despite beatings and more pervasive psychological control from her husband and his relatives, Betty makes it to the Swiss embassy (there is no American ambassador at the time). There, she learns that as the wife of an Iranian, she is now automatically considered a citizen and that she has absolutely no parental rights over Mahtob in this country. Betty then endures several years as a virtual prisoner, escaping only with the help of Westernized Iranian friends. Based on the book by the real-life Mahmoody and William Hoffer, Not Without My Daughter was coincidentally released during the long build-up to 1991's Gulf War.

Product Details

Release Date:	12/18/2018
UPC:	0760137171188
Original Release:	1990
Source:	Mvd Marquee Collect
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Sally Field	Betty Mahmoody
Alfred Molina	Moody
Sheila Rosenthal	Mahtob
Roshan Seth	Houssein
Sarah Badel	Nicole
Mony Rey	Ameh Bozorg
Georges Corraface	Mohsen
Daphna Armoni	Koran Teacher
Mike Fenton	Actor
Sasson Gabay	Hamid
Joyce Gallie	Actor
Shay Griffin	Actor
Dalia Hovers	Actor
Mary Rey	Ameh Bozorg
Judy Taylor	Actor
Mary Nell Santacroce	Grandma
Marc Gowan	Doctor
Bruce Evers	Doctor
Jonathan Cherchi	Mammal
Soudabeh Farrokhnia	Nasserine
Michael Morim	Zia
Gili Ben-Ozilio	Fereshte
Racheli Chaimian	Zoreh
Yossi Tabib	Reza
Amir Shmuel	Baba Hajji
Yacov Banai	Aga Hakim
Judith Robinson	Ellen
Avraham Morr	Hormoz
Ahuva Keren	Miss Nassimi
Farzaneh Taidi	Khanun Shaheen
Yerusha Tirosh	Mahtob's Teacher
Shaul Mizrahi	Iranian Soldier
Ed Grady	Grandpa
Joseph Shiloach	Mohsen's Companion

Technical Credits

David W. Rintels

Brian Gilbert	Director
Avi Avivi	Art Director
Desmond Crowe	Art Director
Nic Ede	Costumes/Costume Designer
Mike Fenton	Casting
Joyce Gallie	Casting
Jerry Goldsmith	Score Composer
Peter Hannan	Cinematographer
Joe Litsche	Art Director
Anthony Pratt	Production Designer
Terry Rawlings	Editor
David W. Rintels	Screenwriter
Bob Smith	Camera Operator
Judy Taylor	Casting
Harry Ufland	Producer
Mary Jane Ufland	Producer
Anthony Waye	Associate Producer
Shlomo Zafir	Set Decoration/Design

Editorial Reviews

This deeply xenophobic film hews closely to the movie-of-the-week formula, allowing talented to but erratic actress Sally Field to succumb to every predictable pathos as her character fights for the right to leave the country to which she and her daughter have been virtually kidnapped. Regardless of the actual facts in the real-life case of Betty Mahmoody, surely director Brian Gilbert and screenwriter David W. Rintels could have tried a little harder to place the actions of Mahmoody's husband in context instead of portraying him as an evil Arab willing to marry and settle down in America for years and simply wait for the chance to whisk his wife away on a "vacation" back home. In a bit of Gandhi-style casting, half-Spanish, half-Italian actor Alfred Molina struggles nobly to give this underwritten character depth; perhaps an actual Persian actor would have succeeded. In any case, no single performance could save Not Without My Daughter from its reactionary script, disturbingly one-sided viewpoint, and distorted picture of modern Iran. By all accounts, the plight of American women taken aback by their loss of rights once they've married into another culture is a real issue, one that's rarely investigated in print or onscreen. Unfortunately, this film offers neither insight nor context -- merely propaganda and several moments of unintentional camp.

All Movie Guide - Brian J. Dillard

...I recommend that the film be seen, for two reasons. One reason is because of the undeniable dramatic strength of its structure and performances; it is impossible not to identify with this mother and her daughter, and Field is very effective as a brave, resourceful woman who is determined to free herself and her daughter from involuntary captivity. The second reason is harder to explain. I think the movie should be seen because it is an invitation to thought. It can be viewed as simply a one-sided and bitter attack. But it also provides an opportunity for testing our own prejudices, our own sense of fairness....

Chicago Sun-Times - Roger Ebert