Small Sacrifices (TV 1989)

On the 19th of May 1983 Diane Downs stops at the McKenzie-Williamette-Hospital and cries for help. She is wounded on her arm and her three children are also wounded seriously. She says that... See full summary »

Director:

David Greene

Writers:

Ann Rule (book), Joyce Eliason (teleplay)

Stars:

Farrah Fawcett, Gordon Clapp, Ryan O'Neal

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Farrah Fawcett	...	Diane Downs
Gordon Clapp	...	Detective Doug Welch
Ryan O'Neal	...	Lew Lewiston
John Shea	...	Frank Joziak
Emily Perkins	...	Karen Downs
Garry Chalk	...	Boyd Paul Downs (as Gary Chalk)
Ken James	...	Daryl Chapman
Sean McCann	...	Russell Wells
Garwin Sanford	...	Matt Jensen (Part 2)
Tom Butler
Elan Ross Gibson	...	Rosalind Dyring
Lynne Cormack	...	Lola Joziak
Jayne Eastwood	...	Evelyn Slaven
Christopher Caravalho	...	Robbie Downs
Anne Bradley Jaeger	...	Herself

Storyline

On the 19th of May 1983 Diane Downs stops at the McKenzie-Williamette-Hospital and cries for help. She is wounded on her arm and her three children are also wounded seriously. She says that a stranger shot at them but the investigation of detective Welch bring out that Diane is a liar.

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Plot Keywords:

filicide | child murderess | mother kills own child | mother daughter relationship | oregon | 

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Taglines:

Her children got in the way of her love

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 November 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Blick in den Abgrund

Filming Locations:

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

CAD 7,300,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Louis Rudolph Films, Motown Productions, Allarcom Limited

Technical Specs

Runtime:

159 min 205 min (2 parts)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Diane brings a pizza over to her mailman friend Matt Jensen's house, she asks him if he likes mushrooms on his pizza while holding the pizza out to him. He says yes. But the pizza has no mushrooms on it, it is clearly plain.

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Quotes

Frank Joziak: [Trying to calm Karen on the stand] Just stay with me, Karen; do you remember when you were shot?
Karen Downs: [Distraught] Yeah...!
Frank Joziak: [Gingerly] Who shot you?
Karen Downs: [Sobs as she glances in fear at her mother] My mom.
[Cut to Diane, hiding her face in her hands]
Frank Joziak: And do you love your mom, Karen?
Karen Downs: [Crying] Yes...!

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Connections

Referenced in Kids of Killers (2010)

User Reviews

A great film about a sickening crime

This is a film based on a story that defies belief that someone, especially a mother, could be so cruel. Based on a true story that occurred in 1983, a wounded Diane Downs claims that she and her children were attacked by an armed man leaving her eight-year-old daughter in a coma, her three-year-old son paralysed and her five-year-old daughter dead. But DA Frank Joziak and Detective Doug Welch aren't convince and build evidence that proves the person who shot the children was Diane herself.

The actors in this film all give great effort in bringing this shocking story to life. Farrah Fawcett is excellent as the pathological liar that is Diane Downs, portraying the role as a woman almost bored with motherhood. John Shea's Joziak was nicely depicted with a sense of warmth, determination and anger for what he knows Downs did while a young Emily Perkins gives a strong performance as the deeply traumatised Karen Downs, the eight-year-old who awakens from a coma with the knowledge of what her mother did.

This film is fascinating on a level that will shock and disgust the viewers as it is reveals just how insidious and self-obsessed Diane Downs is, how she tries to lie her way out of the court case and the reasons for why a mother would commit a monstrous crime upon her own small children. The story is sickening but it is one that should be told, if only to emphasis to people why Downs should never be allowed to be free.