"Not Without My Daughter" Meet the real Betty Mahmoody, played by Sally Field. Harrowing story! 

Let’s not forget the good Iranian people that helped her and her daughter escaped. Without them Betty and her Mahtoud would not have had make it back home.

Please ladies, don't go to countries where you loose your rights.

I dated an Arab man right after college. When he brought up marriage, this kind of scenario came to my mind - even though it was years before Not Without My Daughter came out. Women in ANY free country that marry men from far less free countries are taking a HUGE risk. I didn't do it. Take heed, ladies. The message is very REAL.

the fact that she still wants her daughter to think positively of her father after all he did really shows how emotionally mature this woman is. so inspiring

I can't even imagine trying to escape the way they did... This mom is so strong and amazing

This movie opened my eyes about marrying into different cultures. The importance of really understanding where people come from and how they are raised and to dig deeper.

Why are people offended by this story/movie? she literally said "you can't judge whole Iran just because of the family that were holding us"

God bless those people who helped her escape!

Sally Field was excellent in this movie.

“No woman initiates abuse, we shouldn’t say that” Slow clap 👏

I grew up with a similar experience. I changed my name just so my father wouldn’t find me and mother and siblings we flead Iraq in the 1980s

I was raised by a muslim woman and grew up in a muslim country. I can testify that everything described in the book is the pure truth and I witnessed some of the events described with my own eyes. Throughout the book I didn't fell the slightest or tiniest bit of exageration. Life and rules are really how they are described !

I can't believe anyone has the gall to criticize this woman. This actually all happened to her. She even says that she's not speaking of ALL of Iran or the culture. She's speaking her truth. And she's so non judgmental after it all. To judge a woman whose been through what she has in any way except as a brave, determined, loving, protective mother is just wrong. May God + Allah Bless You, Betty Mahmoody

She said clearly: we are naive about other cultures. We need to get better informed before getting into a relatipnship with a person from another culture.

The man who almost killed me, was the nicest guy for four years. Never even raised his voice to me.

I read her book twice. I felt Betty's pain throughout the book as she depicted her tortuous journey. Any American woman who marries a foreigner whose culture is so radically different needs to be careful about going overseas with him must, and she must proceed with caution. There are too many horror stories. She is blessed to have escaped.

Amazing how she shows no signs of resentment towards him despite what he did. She is a special kind of person

How on Earth she able to talk about her ex husband, with understanding and not hate? Such a remarkable woman!

I took my daughter to this movie. I wanted her to understand how important it was to never let anyone take her away from her mother for any reason & also to help her understand how strong a mother’s love is for their child, especially their daughter.

This interviewer deserves an award!!! She listened, she was sensitive yet though. And the best part is she corrected her no woman deserves to be hit…. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

My American mother went through a very similar thing situation with my Saudi father in the mid 1980s. He held her and my eldest brother in Saudi for over a year and the only reason they got out of that situation was that she asked to see her father in America one last time as he was sick and my brother may never seem him again. They didn’t go back. Because she was incredibly dependent on him financially, she took him back when he returned to the US and ended up having 3 additional children (including myself). As he worked in oil for Aramco, he was traveling to Saudi quite often until we moved to Texas when I was 7. He lived with us full time for the first time. He was incredibly strict but good to me until I was older. I found out later that he was severely abusive to my mother which kept her dependent and depressed. It’s a looooong story. But…I grew up watching Not Without My Daughter on repeat. It’s so hard to explain this to folks who do not have a similar background (American mom and Middle eastern father). Not all are bad, but unfortunately he and his family were not the best.

When she saw that American flag..I knew she was gonna be okay.

When she sees the flag at the end, I always cry.

When the movie came out, I took my teenage daughter to go see it & told her to be very careful who she dated & married, as it could happen to anybody & I'm glad this movie made a difference!

What a brave woman!!! She is so well spoken and intelligent. I'm happy she escaped with her daughter.

I made this mistake. I married an arab. It was tough enough. Ladies be aware of the dangers.

She was strong and determined under terrible circumstances. I'm happy she and her daughter are safe.

And those people that help them are heroes....thank you guys.

This movie was so good I remember watching it as a kid and getting scared they would get caught and have to go back but I’m glad everything turned out good for them in the end.

He was a monster just in America he masked it..like any abuser

Powerful film that haunts me to this day! A must see that is more timely today than it was when it first came out. Sally Fields is remarkable in this film! Interesting to see the real Betty Mahmoody.

Captivating book. This interview is amazing after 30+ yrs, putting a face with a name.

I know someone who married a Nigerian and waa held hostage. A woman helped her escape. She slept in a field and ran on the tarmac reaching the plane with nothing but what she had on. She didn't even have her passport. The US and those at the airport were very sympathetic response to her plight. ❤ the US.

I did a paper on this in graduate school. This was so sad. The way he changed was devastating.

SHE has a little bit of Diana charm in the interview.

Alot of people don't realize that Iran never used to be like this before it was taken over and made an Islamic state ,it was once a very free country just like the united states .The women could dress in regular clothes and not have to wear hijabs and cover themselves up..

Terrible husband!

It’s really not racist to tell her story. You know the story where she was held captive and beaten by her husband in a foreign country? She said it shouldn’t make Iran look bad because it shouldn’t. One persons actions don’t define a country. But it’s still NOT wrong to tell her story.

I saw this movie when I was living overseas with a very abusive spouse. It gave me courage,being 5 months pregnant with twins, to “kidnap” my ten older children , go to the US Embassy, and return to the United States. My gratitude to Ambassador Michael Armacost for rendering “usual and normal consular services” as he termed it. May God richly bless him for his help. It made a tremendous difference in my children’s lives.

This movie was so profound to me at 13 years old.

Bless her, such strenght a true survivor. In 1985 I met a man from Pakistan. He treated me like a queen, so different from my previous American boyfriends. We eventually married only about 5 months after we met. He was Muslim and I was Lutheran, but we had a big church wedding and I never saw him practicing his religion. The only weird thing was that he was so scared of me getting pregnant and thank God I didn’t or I may have had the same story. Two years after a story book marriage I came home from work one evening to what then was the worst night of my life. He tells me that his family in Pakistan, who I believed knew we were married, had found a ‘wife’ for him and that I had to divorce him or else! This was after 2 years of marriage and one year after he got his green card. I tried to refuse but he had changed back in a serious muslim and after a while told me that if I wanted to remain healthy I better file for divorce immediately. Thins got scarey so I did as he demanded. He left to Pakistan to marry this woman who I later found out he’d known almost all his life. He was engaged to her when he came to America to study avionics. So the truth was he used me to get that green card. It took me a long time to emotionally recover. Despite what he did I still loved him because our marriage was a good one until the truth came out.

today this film would get so much backlash

This hits me so hard to the core. Her bravery n willingness to escape for their safety. She is an amazing lady.

Good mom. Especially to not want her daughter to hate her dad. True good mother.

It's sad that she said basically that she might have been the cause of the abuse a little,glad the interviewer said no. No human being should ever be abused in anyway physically,mentally,emotionally period.

I remember reading this book...I will never forget it!!! Betty you are an inspiration to all women!!!

Thanks to everyone every man that understood her and helped her .....

I was there the same time she was there I didn't Escape as she had you I was there for 10 years after the revolution during the war American hostage crisis I escaped because my husband was abusive. I was eight and a half months pregnant with an almost two year old and a 10 year old and the same man that helped her get out of the country help me he was an American man

Amazing how if you get a divorce then the husband/father gets custody of the children and you are prevented from having any contact with them. This is put in place to trap the wife in the marriage. Sure, some women might leave their marriage and their children but by and large mothers won't do that and these vicious men know it. Otherwise they couldn't care less about the children.

She’s absolutely whip smart. Her wit and will to fight saved her and her daughter’s lives.

I knew a woman who had a similar story. She had a son and she didn’t get out with her son. When the son was 15, the dad and her husband showed up on her doorstep. The change of power had stripped the husband of his status and he had to flee the country. She did get her son back, but she had to take the husband back or the son would not stay with her. It was an awful situation for several years. She was able to eventually build a relationship with her son and loose the husband.

My mother has a very similar story. My father was Iranian and they met in the U.S.A. and married. After having 2 children my father arranged for a visit to Iran with the family. But arriving he made it clear they would never return to America. He was very abusive. He even kicked her in stomach when she was pregnant with their third child to kill the baby. She prayed to God to escape. My father could not find a job there despite his education as an engineer. So after much frustration he decided to return yo America. My mother kissed the ground when they arrived on America soil. She never left him because she always thought he would kidnap the kids to take off to Iran. So she stayed submissive to him and his violence. She was an emotional captive. I am the 5th and last child in the family. My father stopped beating my mom after I called the cops on him when I grew old enough. In his old age he became regretful for his past.

That was a horrible treatment she went through. Clash of culture and values.

Is that only me that think she looks like Prince Diana

She looks like lady Diana. Same looks same soft talking ways. Which shows her humbleness ❤❤❤❤❤❤

Thank God this woman is alive to tell her story 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

I remember reading that book decades ago, everyone was reading it. Radicalisation and fundamentalism can occur in any religion and it’s the females that suffer the most.

This woman is the bravest! God bless the people who helped her

Wow, I'm glad I was finally able to see the real woman behind this harrowing story!

I think she endured all this as a WARNING to others.

Betty is a courageous person. I saw the movie. It was tense. Glad she and her daughter made it home.

My mom read this when we were kids and told us this story...I will always remember

Sally Field was absoloutely wonderfull in the Film. I admire the sheer Bravery of Betty such an Inspiration, amazing lady.

You are my HERO!!! Amazing .... She prayed and prayed and of course GOD heard you🙏🙏🙏✨✨🕊

All I will say is THANK GOD, that you and your daughter are alive and safe. God bless.

Still one of the best movies ever made she is an incredibly strong woman

"He was a great father in this country." This absolutely shows how she is trying to give a balanced judgement, after all that he did to her and her daughter. Much love and respect!

When she walked around the corner and saw that big beautiful flag it gave me chill bumps.

I read Betty’s book again a few years ago and then read Mahtob’s book! Mahtob corroborated everything her mother said plus talked about how her father treated her. Plus both books went into details about their lives after they returned to the US! I highly recommend both books!

Today is 8/13 2024 and I've just watched this interview. I read 'Not Without My Daughter" when it first came out, and was spellbound as to the entire story from the life they led in the U.S. to the first impression of a public bathroom, to the encounter of first meeting the Iranian side of the family to Moody's indoctrination back into this radical form of Islam and everything that happened to Betty and her daughter to the escape. It was a horror that she ANF her daughter lived. I can only say, thank the Lord for some kind people that were placed in their path that helped guide their plan of escape. It was define intervention.......I cried many times while reading the book as I'm a survivor of abuse by my daughter's father. Sally Field did an amazing job of portraying Betty.and what happened to her and her family.. I firmly believe that women especially have to be very careful about getting involved with men from other counyties . Do the research to find out how women are regarded. So many American women think that the freedoms they have here hold true everywhere in the world. So, even if the person you ate choosing to be with is living here, at some point they are going to want to go home and want you to go with them. Be very careful!

I watched this movie wen I was a kid and now I'm 41. I told myself I will never go to that place or marry man from that country

Bless those that helped this woman.

I feel for her. She still defends that evil man as a good father and good husband and says that she initiated beatings. That’s what he did to her mind.

He wasn’t a different man he was just hiding how he really was.

I remember watching this with my mom when I was really young. Never forgot it. Betty is an inspiration. I'm grateful I was born in America. Where I am free. I equate being born in America to winning the lottery.

She could escape cause she was in Iran had it been in Iraq or Afghanistan or Syria she would have been long dead, Iran not very good but still better than some middle easten countries.

I saw this movie when it came out. It was difficult to watch. How horrible it was for them.

My mom had me watch this show when I was a child and I'm so glad she did.

Me too I also read the book at the edge of my seat. It’s a book that you can’t put down ever, when you put the book down then the book is in your heart because it is that moving.Waw! What a book!

The book contains even more than the movie. Her husband's culture was a dangerous pit.

Her determination to get out from her abusive husband but did all she had to leave without her daughter. Love her guts. Applause her being a mother🥰👏🙏

This is one of the most powerful movies I have ever seen. Iran was terrifying, and I sure hope things have improved there!

Oh my goodness! I just watched the film and I cant believe it. I’m so sorry Betty, I can’t imagine how hard that must’ve been for you!

This a great story but to this day I can't reconcile the idea of him being muslim and a great father. Especially after watching the movie. The man was a monster and how can he be a great dad when he aBUseD his wife and used his own child as a weapon against her mother?

This is an example of why mothers are the strongest over this planet!! I finished the book just today and I'm so glad you've managed to make it through! When there's well there's always hope.

“No woman ever initiates abuse.” Yes. I would add ‘no PERSON’ but for the 80s/90s this is refreshing to hear. 👏🏼

"No women ever initiates abuse." Gotta love this swift response from the interviewer after the victim claimed she initiated the conjugal violence!

And today , Iranian people are fighting this horrible regime ! They are going through the same ordeal you went through . Let’s pray for Iran and the free women of Iran !

Where there is will, there is a way

This is the movie that I realize just how important America is to the world everyone knows how important the American flags is if your in trouble in a foren country when you see the American Flag you feel instant relief you know your safe.God Bless America.

What an amazing woman Betty is.

I did read the book at the beginning of the 90s (all my friends did it too!). I was shocked. I suffered with Betty and her sweet Mahtab. I saw the movie also, but since I read the book, I started to watch Muslim culture with other eyes. Betty is such a strong woman. A proud American woman, born and rised in Democracy and Free. Thank you Betty for share your story with the world.

There are beautiful people of every ethnicity and even in the scriptures we see there will be people of every nation in heaven. May Yah bless the people who helped this woman .

What an incredible woman. Her children have a mother to admire.

I had a child with an East Indian man whose family is portraying themselves as Brahmin. If the man is Indian, the community considers the child as Indian regardless of the mother's ethnicity. Had I ever gone to India with him I would have been in the same situation. By Durga Maas grace that didn't happen. Once his abuse was apparent, I got out and saved my daughter

This was my mother's favorite movie. Her first love was a boy from Saudi Arabia that she met in school. His family wouldn't accept their relationship because she was an American and Catholic. They were going to move to Saudi Arabia but he said she would be kept a secret in an apartment away from everyone. She eventually decided not to go and after seeing this movie I am glad she chose to stay in ths U.S. excellent movie!!!

This is a great story for marrying out of ones culture. It is always lovely initially. Who decides which culture to embrace?

After seeing the film in the theater, I read the book -- the film barely scratches the surface of what Betty details of her ordeal in the book! Also read her book "For the Love of a Child" and came to appreciate the extreme difficulty of orchestrating the return of children who suffer international abduction by a parent from a different country/culture. That book immediately came to mind with the Elian Gonzalez case, where the boy was returned to his father in Cuba -- while Americans immediately imposed a value judgment that Elian would be better off in the US, Betty's book had clued me in to the fact that in order for the American government to help get American children returned to the US, they need to reciprocate and help facilitate the return of foreign kidnapped children to their own countries. The process has to remain a two-way street, or other governments can (and sometimes do) refuse to return our children. It's bad enough when a parent uses his/her own child as a pawn, but children should never suffer becoming the pawns of governments.

This lady was strong, determined, and a survivor...I really couldn't imagine going through this....I appluade her for her courage to get back to the United States with her daughter...the movie got a thumbs up from me👍👍👍

This is literally one of my favorite movies!.. It's not on TV ever but every once in a blue moon it's on tv.. Like last week....It's mind boggling how God put people in her path that could help her get out...👏🥺💖🤗