The Fine Line, Part II

Part II of a special report presented by KPIX, the Mental Research Institute of Palo Alto and Stanford University which first aired on Ch.5 KPIX in the Bay Area at 7:30pm on August 18, 1959 with reporter Bob Douglas. The title is taken from a statement made by Dr. Bernard L. Diamond when representing the defense for convicted murderer Penny Bjorkland: "There has been no permanent resolution of the impulses that caused her to kill. I feel she could do it again. She is walking a very fine line." In his introduction, Douglas promises: "You're going to see this evening that the fine line between sanity and mental illness is a very fine line indeed. And that at any moment any one of us - you or I - could cross that line." Includes scenes of: a sketch portraying a family at breakfast who exhibit "abnormal responses" to social pressures; an analysis of the sketch by anthropologist Gregory Bateson; Dr. Harold A. Abramson speaking to psychologist James Terrill "in a guarded room just above this studio" after giving Terrill a dose of LSD-25 (6:25-16:22) and a symposium with Gregory Bateson, Dr. Donald. Jackson and Dr. Harold Abramson about the relative differences between temporary, drug induced mental states and symptoms caused by clinical illness.This report was produced by Stanley T. Donner and John Upston and directed by David Parker. Opening graphic designed by Carrie Hawks.

Note: this 16mm kinescope was transferred in 4K (4096x2970) using a Lasergraphics ScanStation film scanner, in November 2021. This special report originally aired as one continuous program on TV but we're streaming it in 2-parts online, in order to preserve the picture quality.