Shattered Dreams (1990)

A woman is abused physically and mentally by her husband, a government employee, for over a decade. Finally she finds the courage to get away from him, but the struggle isn't over yet.

Director:

Robert Iscove

Writers:

Charlotte Fedders (book), Laura Elliott (book)

Stars:

Lindsay Wagner, Michael Nouri, Georgann Johnson

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lindsay Wagner	...	Charlotte Fedders
Michael Nouri	...	John Fedders
Georgann Johnson	...	Helen O'Donnell
James Karen	...	Charles O'Donnell
Ken Jenkins	...	Hal Witt
Irene Miracle	...	Elaine
Stan Ivar	...	Bryan Renehan
Bryan Clark	...	Martin Ellis
Tom Dahlgren	...	Judge McAuliffe
Jay R. Ferguson	...	Teenage Luke (as Jay Ferguson)
Patricia Heaton	...	Older Dotti
Marilyn Rockafellow	...	Ellen O'Hare
Tim Ahern	...	Kevin
Russ Anderson	...	Wilkes
Bud Anthony	...	SEC Interviewer

Storyline

Charlotte marries John. Things seem ok; John has a good job and he's going up in the world, working for the government. But every so often he loses his temper and Charlotte gets the brunt of his anger. During the 18 year course of their marriage, there are at least 8 incidents of physical abuse and countless of mental. Charlotte's family and friends tell her to leave John but she keeps going back, most likely because he has convinced her that she would be nothing without him. It finally explodes in a big divorce battle balancing on the cases of abuse.

---

Plot Keywords:

abusive husband | domestic violence | marital abuse | based on book | 

---

Taglines:

She Discovered a Stranger in the House... Her Husband.

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

User Reviews

Lindsay Wagner is lovely in this Movie

Although this movie was already 26 years old when I first saw it, I felt that it was very pertinent to misconceptions of Domestic Violence, today. Movies like this one, and the whole VAWA implies that women generally have bad judgment in domestic relationships and are prone to preserve violent sexual involvement. Lindsay Wagner did a super job portraying Charlotte Fedders a women who obviously misunderstood traditional religious principles and suffered from low self esteem. Michael Nouri carried off the role of John Fedders very well. He makes it easy to believe how women can fall for the stereotypical demoniac male and choose to have children with them.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 May 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Shattered Dreams: A Moment of Truth

Company Credits

Production Co:

Carolco Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min 120 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1