Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four and wrote , " This is difficult material to bring to life , but a young actress named Kathleen Quinlan does it with heart and sensitivity . There were opportunities here for climbing the walls and chewing the scenery , I suppose , but her performance always finds the correct and convincing human note . And it 's the skill with which Miss Quinlan ( and Bibi Andersson ) follow that thread of characterization that makes the movie work . Otherwise , those desert fantasies and all those feathers and fur might have been fatally distracting . " Vincent Canby of '' The New York Times '' stated , " How Deborah , with the help of one remarkable doctor , is eventually able to recognize her own pain and thus come to some kind of terms with her demons is the moving substance of this film that leaves one almost as exhausted as the heroine . " He also praised Kathleen Quinlan for " a remarkably fine , contained performance as Deborah . There are no mannerisms , no tricks , only a sense of panic barely contained , of intelligence and feeling struggling to break free . " Gene Siskel of the '' Chicago Tribune '' gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote that Kathleen Quinlan was " smashing " in her first major role , but the plot " spends a lot of time — too much time — telling us about the troubled world of mental hospitals , " and the fantasy sequences " run on too long and look phony . " '' Variety '' said in a negative review , " Good intentions resolve into high-minded tedium and pic 's sensationalistic aspects come off as confusing or repulsive , sometimes both . " Charles Champlin of the '' Los Angeles Times '' called it " a thrilling account of the struggle to save an attractive young girl from her self-destructive delusions , " with Quinlan giving " a spectacular performance . " Gary Arnold of '' The Washington Post '' wrote , " Unfortunately , the movie places a premium on shock effects and mawkish reassurances at the price of the authenticity and hard-earned inspirational resolution that distinguished the novel ... When the movie Deborah recovers , it seems an inexplicable and even ludicrous miracle , a happy ending for slipshod filmmakers . " Geoff Brown of '' The Monthly Film Bulletin '' called it " simplistic and sentimental ... It is largely left to the cast , particularly the excellent Kathleen Quinlan , to invest the proceedings with any emotional truth . " The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 50th Academy Awards
50th Academy Awards
50th Academy Awards
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (film)