A Child's Cry for Help (TV 1994)

A recently widowed doctor moves with her daughter to start at a new hospital. While there a loving mother brings her son in for treatment. The doctor suspects that there is something wrong,... See full summary »

Director:

Sandor Stern

Writers:

Sandor Stern (teleplay), Jan Jaffe Kahn (teleplay),

Stars:

Veronica Hamel, Pam Dawber, Daniel Hugh Kelly

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Veronica Hamel	...	Dr. Paula Spencer
Pam Dawber	...	Monica Shaw
Daniel Hugh Kelly	...	Donald Prescott
Lisa Jakub	...	Amanda Spencer
Cynthia Martells	...	Thelma
Daniel Benzali	...	Dr. Everett Morris
James Pickens Jr.	...	Brad Currie
Jeff Williams	...	Dr. Alec Jefferson
Zachary Charles	...	Eric Shaw
Tobey Maguire	...	Peter Lively
Regina Krueger	...	Dr. Joan Cates
Lois Hicks	...	Nurse Alma
James Gale	...	John Pinetta
Connie Craig	...	Receptionist
John Ashton	...	Cal Warner

Storyline

A recently widowed doctor moves with her daughter to start at a new hospital. While there a loving mother brings her son in for treatment. The doctor suspects that there is something wrong, and theorizes that the mother is deliberately making her son sick so that she could bring him to the hospital for the attention that it gives her. When the doctor decides to restrict the mother's access to her son and is reporting her to child services, the mother in turn decides to sue the doctor and the hospital. And some of the hospital board don't agree with her diagnosis or think that she's over-reacting. And even while the mother's not allowed access to her son, he is still sick, so is the doctor right or wrong?

---

Plot Keywords:

doctor | hospital | single parent | battle of wills | lawsuit | 

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 November 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

Intensive Care

Filming Locations:

Denver, Colorado, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hallmark Entertainment, Longbow Productions, Ronald J. Kahn Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

I'm really torn ...

I'm really torn how to rate this movie. So after much thinking, here's this movie in a nutshell: subject matter = stellar ... acting = not so stellar.

1) The subject matter is a topic never really addressed in the movies, but of very high interest and importance. EXCELLENT topic.

2) But the acting and portrayal of this topic was kind of trite, contrived, and over-acted.

Still a healthy 7 out of 10. Definitely worth watching until the same topic with much better acting comes out someday hopefully.