Born Innocent (1974)

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Last updated: May 28, 2019

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Made For TV Drama about a runaway girl who ends up in a juvenile detention center in New Mexico. The film was controversial at the time as dealing with psychological abuse and portraying a rape on television. Starring Linda Blair, Joanna Miles, Kim Hunter, Richard Jaeckel, Sandra Griego, Janit Baldwin, Mary Murphy, Mitch Vogel. Filmed around Albuquerque and Algodones.




Notes on Individual Scenes
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Jail

Juvenile Detention Home

Bernalillo County Courthouse Annex, located at the corner of 5th St. and Tijeras Ave. NW.

Bernalillo County Court House Annex, located at the corner of 5th St. and Tijeras Ave. NW.

Bernalillo County Court House Annex.

Bernalillo County Courthouse Annex, located at the corner of 5th St. and Tijeras Ave. NW.

Stairwell.

Second floor doors.

Arthur Silva Lath & Plaster, Inc. - Unresolved

Imposing Building

First View of Many-Windowed White Building (Approximately 35.119137°, -106.628094°)

Another white building

Classroom

J Mountain in the distance

Running from School - Second View of Many-Windowed White Building - near first location

View of now-defunct sign above I-25

Trip Home - Unresolved

Old Bus station - Near Bernalillo County Annex and what eventually became Civic Plaza?

Third View of Many-Windowed White Building - (Approximately 35.119139°, -106.629010°)

Algodones Cemetery (35.371078°, -106.482897°)

Final View of Many-Windowed White Building - (Approximately 35.118703°, -106.626117°)

White, Many-Windowed Building, Approximately 3421 Pan American Frontage Rd. South NE.

What an interesting looking place! What was its purpose?

This is where my dad might have helped. When he was a kid, in the 30's, he used to live in Hahn, NM, which was swallowed by ABQ as it grew (Google Earth points to Griegos Rd. & the railroad as the neighborhood of Hahn). This hall could have served that area. But alas, my dad passed away in 2009, so no questions.

A friend named "WallDruggie" talked to someone who worked nearby who said it used to be a girl's school. That is plausible, but there may have been other purposes as well.

I sat on the matter for seven years, then posed a question in the "Albuquerque Memories" Facebook Group about the matter. I figured, these antiquarians might already know.

Initially, the antiquarians were stumped. Since the building lies off the beaten path, many of them hadn't seen it. Group member Meredith Edwards worked particularly hard at tracking down leads.

One member did a tax assessment map search. The entire area is labelled 3411 Pan American Fwy NE, and the tax records show the owner as the NM Girls School.

The current bureaucratic entity appears to be New Mexico Youth Diagnostic Development Center (YDDC-NM Girls School).

Interesting. Still leaves many questions open, though. If NM Girls School is current owner, what is their connection to YDDC? What is the history here?

Another "Albuquerque Memories" Facebook Group member noted "Born Innocent" was filmed nearby.


Born Innocent

"Born Innocent," starring Linda Blair, and Number 1 TV movie of the year, was filmed at the youth detention center nearby. According to imdb:

A constant runaway is given over to the care of the state and finds herself in a remand centre for girls. She is soon caught between the uncaring bureaucracy, the sometimes brutal treatment from her peers and her own abusive family, and only one care worker sees her potential to rise above her tragic circumstances.

Here is Linda Blair's escape-attempt sequence. The white, many-windowed building can be seen in the background as she tries to flee.



The full movie "Born Innocent" has Albuquerque scenes. The runaway scene featuring the white building is at 34:40, there is a nice drive on what might be Broadway at 45:40, with suburban scenes too, and the cemetery scenes at 1:22:00 are at Algodones Cemetery. https://youtu.be/hgBi5W9paxA

Finally Meredith Edwards found an authority:

UPDATE: Francelle Alexander, author of the new NORTH VALLEY books, answered my question about the building today at her book-signing/slideshow. She said the building WAS the NM Girls Welfare Home, said it was in the 1930 census, so probably built in the 20s. Joe Sabatini said it was used into the 60s

And so, for the moment, that's how things stand.

North side.

Well-assembled concrete and rock retaining walls (e.g., supporting tree base) show loving construction.

North side.

Front side.

South side.