"The Atlanta Child Murders" (1985) TV mini-series

Director:

John Erman

Writer:

Abby Mann

Release Date:

10 February 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

The city of Atlanta, Georgia, is terrorized by a rash of child murders occurring in its black community...

Plot Keywords:

Atlanta Georgia | Murder | Child Murder | Mother Daughter Relationship | Race Relations

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 win

Cast

Calvin Levels	...	Wayne Williams
Morgan Freeman	...	Ben Shelter
James Earl Jones	...	Major Walker
Rip Torn	...	Lewis Slaton
Jason Robards	...	Alvin Binder
Lynne Moody	...	Selena Cobb
Ruby Dee	...	Faye Williams
Gloria Foster	...	Camille Bell
Paul Benjamin	...	Homer Williams
Martin Sheen	...	Chet Dettlinger
Andrew Robinson	...	Jack Mallard
Christopher Allport	...	Larry Peterson
Guy Boyd	...	Mike Edwards
Gary Graham	...	Ken Lawson
Bill Paxton	...	Campbell
Percy Rodrigues	...	Mayor Jackson
William Allen Young	...	Withers
Tina Andrews	...	Gwendolyn
Michael Alldredge	...	Bobby Tolin
Jim Antonio	...	Gilliland
Stephen Godwin	...	Jerry Heckler
Ernest Harden Jr.	...	Cool Breeze
Don Hood	...	McLean
Kenneth Kimmins	...	Broderick
Christopher Maher	...	Dr. Saleh Zaki
Alley Mills	...	Amy Kennear
CCH Pounder	...	Venus Taylor
Veronica Redd	...	Sharon Blakely
Henry G. Sanders	...	Judge Clarence Cooper
Lisa Blake Richards	...	Helen Dettlinger
Barbara Sammeth	...	Connie Levine
Essex Smith	...	Robert Henry
Harold Sylvester	...	Hindsman
Royce Wallace	...	Margaret Carter
Charles Weldon	...	John Bell
John Wesley	...	Tombe Chorro
Mark Arnold	...	David Dingle
Beau Billingslea	...	Commissioner Lee Brown
Ed Cambridge	...	Mr. Cobb
Marilyn Coleman	...	Lois Evans
Noel Conlon	...	Psychiatrist
John Devlin	...	Cassidy
Clarence Floyd III	...	J.J. Coleman
Zero Hubbard	...	Patrick
Barbara Harris	...	Mary Welcome (as Barbara Iley)
Steve James	...	Policeman #1
John Lafayette	...	Young lawyer
Lawrence Lott	...	Dr. Sack
Felton Perry	...	Rev. Avery
John Petlock	...	Pathologist
Jack Rader	...	Rackleff
J.W. Smith	...	Nathaniel Carter
Maurice Sneed	...	Roommate
Christopher St. John	...	Baltazar
Kristoff St. John	...	Sheldon Kemp
Olga Talyn	...	Mrs. Sack
Robert S. Telford	...	Polygraph operator
Anthony Thompkins	...	Darryl
Ellen Tobie	...	Gloria Patterson
Myrna White	...	Robin Shelter
Noble Willingham	...	Jerry Armstrong
Erica Yohn	...	Ruth
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Willard E. Pugh	...	Jimmy Ray Payne
Stanley V. Henson Jr.	...	Extra / Dancer (uncredited)
Warren Hudson	...	Reporter (uncredited)

Directed by
John Erman

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Abby Mann

Produced by
Bill Finnegan	....	producer
Abby Mann	....	executive producer
Sheldon Pinchuk	....	producer
Carl Pingitore	....	supervising producer
Gerald Rafshoon	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Billy Goldenberg

Cinematography by
Victor J. Kemper

Film Editing by
Neil Travis

Makeup Department
David Dittmar	....	makeup department head
Verne Langdon	....	makeup department head
Robert L. Stevenson	....	hair department head

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
D. Scott Easton	....	first assistant director
Sandra M. Middleton	....	second assistant director (1985)

Art Department
Bruce Wayne Mecchi	....	leadman

Sound Department
Vanessa Theme Ament	....	sound effects editor (uncredited)

Stunts
Don Pike	....	stunt coordinator

Transportation Department
Billy G. Arter	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Rick Nathanson	....	location manager (1985)

Production Companies

• Finnegan/Pinchuk Productions

Distributors

• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1985) (USA) (TV) (original airing)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

245 min | 60 min (4 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:12 (episodes 1-2) | Iceland:L (episode 3-4)

Company:

Finnegan/Pinchuk Productions

Trivia:

These murders prompted the first extensive use of serial killer profiling and forensic fiber analysis.

As Good As TV Movies Get

Excellent, gripping Made-For-TV story of the abductions and murders of African-American children, adolescents, and adults in Atlanta in the early 80's, and the sensational trial of the one man brought to justice for these crimes. The murders and trial polarized the communities of Atlanta and its environs, and the TV Movie re-creates this stunningly well in its deliberately ambiguous portrayal of suspect Wayne Williams, the evidence against him, and the issues of presenting a capital case based almost solely on circumstantial evidence. Just as the case inspires controversy up to this day, so does this movie.

Calvin Levels has Wayne Williams down pat in this production - alternately charming, charismatic, strange, and menacing - and creates a web of confused desires and motives that deliberately leaves audiences guessing - what REALLY happened on that bridge? Co-stars Morgan Freeman, Jason Robards, Rip Torn and Gloria Foster provide equally interesting performances throughout. While some viewers, especially those living in the Atlanta communities affected by these events, may be dismayed or even angered by the portrayal of the law-enforcement authorities attempting to make sense of this case, their issue is more with the deliberate manner in which no real sides are taken by the producers of this film. If in more recent decades the historic portrayal of White apathy towards crimes committed on Blacks is universally deemed insulting or unacceptable, then perhaps some progress has been made after all.