[...] [Classical music] [Annette Vaughn:] Well, Doctor, everything seems to be going really very well. Of course, when Robert gets home, he needs attention. And he deserves it. He works so hard. The children need attention too. I try hard to please them all. [...] But I don't know. I just seem to be getting these headaches lately. [Classical music] [Typewriter keystrokes] [Joan:] That was Jane on the phone. She's going to be able to make it to the meeting this week after all. So it looks like everyone's going to be here for a change. Ah… my coffee! [Typing continues] Damn, it's all over the desk! I'm sorry. [Typing continues] [Telephone 1st ring] [Telephone 2nd ring] [Telephone 3rd ring] [Mrs. Hall:] Hello. [Mrs. Hall's daughter:] Mom hi. How are you? Look, I just wanted to tell you I’ll pick you up and see you about 11:30, okay? The kids have hockey practice or something. We'll all have lunch together, and maybe you and I can have a chat. Okay? [Mrs. Hall:] Yes, dear. [Mrs. Hall's daughter:] Shall I bring anything along? Chocolate cake? [Mrs. Hall:] No, dear, no cake. [Mrs. Hall's daughter:] Anyway, Ruth is on a diet, and you know she can't resist your cake. So better not. Look, mom, I'm sorry, but I have to dash. We're having some people in tonight. Mom, are you okay? [Mrs. Hall:] Yes, dear. [Mrs. Hall's daughter:] Okay mom, must go. Bye bye. [Phone hangs up] [Mrs. Hall:] Goodbye, dear. [Phone hangs up] [Exciting music] [Dawn Berenson:] You remember Sandy from California? [Speaker 1:] Uh-huh. [Dawn Berenson:] Well, she came into the city yesterday, so the five of us decided to take her out for dinner. Afterwards, we all went back to Martha's place. And about four o'clock in the morning, John, I think, asked if we wanted to go in for a swim because Martha’s pool is open all night long. [Speaker 1:] Terrific!. [Dawn Berenson:] Yeah, we all decided to go in. It was really super, mind you. But we ended up having breakfast there at seven o'clock this morning. I can't believe it! I went home and showered and changed, and then I went to work. I'm absolutely zonked. [Speaker 1:] You're just incredible. I don't know how you do it. [Dawn Berenson:] No, I don’t know either. [Speaker 1:] Do you want another? [Dawn Berenson:] Sure. [?] times [?] Cheers. [Glasses clink] [...] [Music] [When We Fall] [Music fades out] [Narrator:] For every woman who's a skid row alcoholic in Canada today. There are three, four, maybe even five, who look and act much more like the other four women we've just seen. They are also alcoholics. [Classical music] [Woman drinking from a bottle in a paper bag] [Classical music] [Annette Vaughn:] An average day for me? Well, of course, every day starts and ends with Robert and the children. I get Robert off to work first and then the children to school. Our cleaning lady does the major housecleaning, but I like to keep everything reasonably tidy for her. [Classical music continues] Oh, I often go out with friends for morning coffee. Occasionally, lunch. Afternoons? Well, coffee sometimes, or a drink. Oh, sherry, gin and tonic. A light wine maybe. [...] In the morning? Well, I have, but not that often. Maybe two. Maybe three times a week, but not on weekends. [...] Mmm. I suppose I do. Maybe three or four in the afternoon, if I really feel pushed. [Classical music continues] Robert? Oh, he doesn't say anything. We don't talk about it really. Well, what would we say, anyway? Problems? What problems could I have? I have a kind and good husband. Two lovely children. Lisa wants to go to medical school, and Bob Jr. wants to be an architect. Without Robert, without them, I’d… I’d be nothing. [Music] [TV game show host:] I'm sorry, the clock beat you. But you had some nice prizes. John, what were they, sir? [TV announcer] Well, now let's see. Susan won the Liv-a Snaps dog treats and Howard Johnson's getaway days! Congratulations from Concentration! [Applause] [TV audio fades out] [Joan:] He left two years ago. Billy was five and Jan was seven. Sure, they minded! We all minded, but there was no way. He was practically living with his girlfriend, so who was I to try and keep him? Anyway, I didn't want him. [Laugh] Ah, I guess he didn't want me. Yeah, I… I suppose I'm lonely. Oh, uh… Maybe not lonely, but… [TV in background] Well, okay. Lonely. I have the kids of course. They haven't got a father, so I guess I’m it too. Yeah, I get out. Tuesdays and Thursdays, I go bowling with the girls from the office. Rosie downstairs looks after the kids. Yeah, we usually go out for a drink or three after. The kids? Well, my husband… my ex-husband… has them one weekend a month, and they go to my mother about once a month. The only time I ever get that's really my own. I buy a couple of bottles of rye or a case of beer. I go home. I order a pizza. Turn on the television, and for the rest of the weekend, at least until the kids get home, I relax. No, Rosie joins me sometimes. Most of time, I'm on my own, and that's fine. Problem with alcohol? Sure. I've got a problem with alcohol. It's the nicest problem I've got. I mean, it's not hurting Billy and Jan, so it's not a problem. [TV announcer:] Popeil's Pocket Fisherman. There's only one! Millions sold at $19.95! [Knocking at door] [Footsteps] [Floor creaking] [Mrs. Hall:] Hello, dear! [Mrs. Hall's daughter:] Hi mom. Mom, I told you we’d be here at noon, see? You’re not even ready. And look at you, you’re so thin! [Mrs. Hall:] Sorry, dear, I’m… I'm so forgetful. I’ll go get ready right now. [Mrs. Hall's daughter:] Okay, well, I'll tidy up down here. [Mrs. Hall stumbles on stairs] You okay? Can I help you? [Mrs. Hall:] I'm all right, dear. Will my grey dress be all right? [Mrs. Hall's daughter:] Yes, that'll be just fine. Look, you've got to take better care of yourself. [...] Mother, you simply mustn't forget your appointments with Dr. Jamison. You know, you should really keep a note of that. That's why we gave you your calendar. You're wonderful, just wonderful about birthdays. But when it comes to Dr. Jamison, you're hopeless. Tomorrow, we’ll go out and get you some groceries. Some food and some sherry. But, mother, you really must look after yourself. You've got to try harder. [...] [Upbeat music] [Dawn Berenson:] Problems? No, probably fewer than most people. I love my job. I sometimes can't believe how lucky I am. I love the work, and I love travelling, and my job gives me both. Plus, a lot of people. Of course, there are times when I get fed up, but who doesn't? No, in general, I'd have to say things are rather good. Socially? Mmm… I’m busy. Sometimes, I think too busy. I have a lot of friends, or at least a lot of acquaintances and a few very good friends. And we seem to keep each other busy. [...] Yes, some of our parties get a bit wild, but we're all rather responsible most of the time, even rather serious. You know, rather over-endowed in terms of social conscience. Into politics. The Canadian identity. Canadian art and literature, that sort of thing? Drinking? Yes, we all do a lot. Professionally and socially. Well, let me think. Yes, probably just about every day when I actually get down to it. Lunch? Usually um… Mmm… no probably always a drink or two or a small carafe of wine. Maybe one or two when I get home. Sometimes with someone, sometimes alone. I've just gotten into that pattern, I guess. Evenings? Well, I go out more than I stay home. Dinner, parties, or the theater. Yes, I suppose I do, before dinner and then wine with. And quite often, liqueur. Drunk? You're kidding. Well, occasionally, I suppose, but not often, and never alone. I know what I can handle. No, I never even thought of trying to avoid it. It's part of my life. I mean, we all drink in my group. And I never really stop to think about how much. [Trumpet fanfare music] [Narrator:] The lives of these four women are very different. Annette, rather well placed on the social ladder and successful wife and mother. Joan, the single parent with two children, little money, and few people close to her. Mrs. Hall, the loved and loving grandmother. And Dawn. The professionally and socially successful woman. But they also have a few things in common. Not only the fact that they drink too much. [Music continues] First, and perhaps most important, they share the fact they are women. With each other, and with us. As women, we learned we’d grow up, probably get married and have babies. Most of us have. Most of us were also told that there were ways for a lady to drink. To go beyond a glass of sherry was unladylike. [Male voice 1:] Woman drunks? They're disgusting [Male voice 2:]. Pathetic. There's nothing worse. [Narrator:] Men are not alone in thinking this way about women who drink too much. [Female voice:] I think they're disgrace to their sex. I just can't stand to see a woman drunk. [Music] [Joseph Hirsch:] "Women represent important social and moral symbols that are the bedrock of society. And when angels fall, they fall disturbingly far. We would rather have them in their place, which is another way of saying that they define and make our own place possible and even more comfortable." [Music] [Narrator:] A drunken woman can be something much more than disgusting. By her very existence, she may also somehow suggest her protectors have done a bad job. No more than we want to admit we may have a problem with alcohol do our boyfriends, husbands, fathers, brothers, doctors want to admit it. For instance, a husband who admits his wife is an alcoholic may feel he is admitting he has failed as a protector. Because women married to alcoholic men have so often been portrayed as Domineering Dorothys, Castrating Catherines. Women who somehow caused their husbands drinking or at least perhaps have a stake in keeping them drinking. [Music] Then there are doctors. Because they are in the vast majority men, they think like most other men. They are the protectors. They are also busy, sometimes impatient, and maybe embarrassed, even shocked by alcoholism in women. Most often, they find it quicker, easier, and more comfortable to deal with women by prescribing tranquilizers. [Doctor:] Annette Vaughn? Yes, she and Robert take a drink now and then, but… well, she certainly never mentioned having any problem like that to me, and I'm her doctor. Asked her? No, I haven't actually asked her, but I don't think she has a drinking problem. [...] [Mrs. Hall's daughter:] I know he was good to you when dad died, mom. But I really wonder if he should keep giving you so many pills. You take what? Sleeping pills? Tranquilizers? I… Well, I hate to say it, but I wonder if you haven't been drinking a lot of your sherry lately. And I can't help wondering if that isn't well, you know, good for you. [Clock ticking] [Alarm clock ringing] [Dawn Berenson:] It's strictly social. No, I simply have never thought about it. It's just strictly social. That sort of amazes me because I really tend to look after myself. You know. I'm used to taking care of myself, and I just really never thought. It's really very interesting, sort of surprising. I'm just wondering if maybe I should worry. [Clock ticking] [Rotary phone dialing] [Dawn discovers a man's necktie in her bedroom] Hello, Mary? Dawn Berenson. Can I come and see you sometime this week? I think I have something I want to talk to you about. [...] [Music] [A Production of The Addiction Research Foundation of Ontario] [With special thanks to Madelanie Coates, Reta Currie, Anne Johnston] [Bernice McGowan, Barbara Rutledge, and other A.R.F staff] [Cinematography and editing by, Video Productions, A.R.F.] [Written and directed by Anne MacLennan] [When We Fall quotation from, Joseph Hirsch, WOMEN and ALCOHOLISM] [...]