The Cracker Factory

The Cracker Factory is an American television film directed by Burt Brinckerhoff. The teleplay by Richard Shapiro is based on the best-selling 1977 novel by Joyce Rebeta-Burditt. The film was broadcast by ABC on March 16, 1979.

Synopsis
Alcoholic Cleveland housewife Cassie Barrett is institutionalized in a psychiatric ward after experiencing a nervous breakdown in the supermarket. We learn this is the latest in a series of hospitalizations from which Cassie emerges supposedly in control of her life but actually still teetering on the edge. During this latest stay, she develops a romantic crush on psychiatrist Edwin Alexander and a close relationship with night supervisor Tinkerbell, both of whom help her take steps toward facing her inner demons and learning to live with sobriety.

Principal cast

 * Natalie Wood as Cassie Barrett
 * Perry King as Dr. Edwin Alexander
 * Shelley Long as Cara
 * Juliet Mills as Tinkerbell
 * Peter Haskell as Charlie Barrett
 * Vivian Blaine as Helen
 * Marian Mercer as Eleanor

Production
Wood was signed in December 1978.