CBS Afternoon Playhouse (TV Series) Portrait of a Teenage Shoplifter (1981) User Reviews

Would love to get a copy...

[kcmaop · 7/10 · 28 April 2008]

This movie was filmed at my high school, Paramus High School in Northern New Jersey. A bunch of us were used as extras. In one scene I was lying by a tree while two or three girls sat around me. In another, I walked down the hall hand in hand with a girl named Lisa something or other. If I remember correctly, my sister was shown in a close up in the crowd during the basketball game scene. I also seem to remember that during the filming, the stars wiped out on the motorcycle they were supposed to ride off on. I got a chance to talk to the actress, Maureen Teefy, during a break, and she was pretty cool. All in all, a kinda cool memory. If anyone knows how I can get a copy of this movie, please let me know by posting it here. Thanks.

Still Relevant

[espinosat3 · 8/10 · 15 June 2016]

Although this TV movie is almost 35-years old, the topic is still one that is very relevant since shoplifting is still a growing crime that costs billions of dollars. (Spoiler Alert) Toward the end of the movie, when the parents of the girl caught shoplifting were talking to the police officer, the officer was telling them how judges get very tough on shoplifting, and that how, at minimum, the shoplifter will get a police record that will follow her for the rest of her life. That appears to be one thing that has changed since then, and now judges seem to be getting very lenient about shoplifting. As a result, people are getting arrested multiple times for repeated shoplifting mainly because of such lenient judgments. Another result of the growth of the shoplifting problem is that some police departments handle shoplifting on a citation basis instead of immediately arresting and prosecuting the thief.

(Spoiler Alert) As this movie ends in the arrest of the shoplifter, throughout the film it depicts how easily such a crime can become a habit and a thrill if/when the first shoplifting attempt is "successful." It is definitely not a path that one should start down as it can become a habit that is very hard to break.

Luv'd this movie!

[metzler87323 · 9/10 · 19 January 2004]

I first watched this movie when I was only 10-11 yrs old. This movie hit me when I was a very impressionable little girl and taught me about how shoplifting is wrong. Although the movie was only an hour long, it stayed with me all these years and would love to show a copy of it to all adolescents.