Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon

Plot

The film stars Liza Minnelli as the title character Junie Moon, a girl whose face is scarred in a vicious battery acid attack by her boyfriend (Ben Piazza). Later in an institution, she meets a man with epilepsy (Ken Howard), and a gay paraplegic who uses a wheelchair (Robert Moore). Disabled, but not down, they live together in an older, rented house and bond, determined to prove themselves and to help each other.

Cast

Liza Minnelli as Junie Moon

Ken Howard as Arthur

Robert Moore as Warren

James Coco as Mario

Kay Thompson as Miss Gregory

Fred Williamson as Beach Boy

Ben Piazza as Jesse

Emily Yancy as Solana

Leonard Frey as Guiles

Clarice Taylor as Minnie

James Beard as Sidney Wyner

Julie Bovasso as Ramona

Gina Collens as Lila

Barbara Logan as Mother Moon

Nancy Marchand as Nurse Oxford

Lynn Milgrim as Nurse Holt

Ric O'Feldman as Joebee

James D. Pasternak as Artist

Angelique Pettyjohn as Melissa

Anne Revere as Miss Farber

Elaine Shore as Mrs. Wyner

Guy Sorel as Dr. Gaines

Wayne Tippit as Dr. Miller

Musicians

Pete Seeger as Himself

Pacific Gas & Electric as Themselves

Release and legacy

Unlike Liza Minnelli's previous film, 1969's The Sterile Cuckoo, which was a triumph artistically and financially, as well as netting Minnelli an Oscar nomination as Best Actress, Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon was a failure with critics and at the box office. Minnelli's next film two years later, Cabaret, would not only win her the Academy Award but also establish her as a superstar. Olive Films announced in 2016 that it would release the film on DVD and Blu-ray for the first time on August 16, 2016.

Awards

Otto Preminger was nominated for the Golden Palm at the 1970 Cannes Film Festival.