The Four Diamonds (1995)

Young Christopher Millard fantasizes about being a squire of the Round Table and studies the stars. But when his difficulty breathing turns out to be caused by a tumor, his fantasies turn ... See full summary »

Director:

Peter Werner

Writers:

Christopher Millard (short story) (as Chris Millard), Todd Robinson (teleplay)

Stars:

Tom Guiry, Christine Lahti, Kevin Dunn

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Tom Guiry	...	Christopher 'Chris' Millard / Squire Millard (as Thomas Guiry)
Christine Lahti	...	Dr. Burke / Sorceress Reptannehan
Kevin Dunn	...	Charles Millard / Charles the Mysterious
Jayne Brook	...	Irma Millard / Hermit of the Lagoon
Michael Bacall
Sarah Rose Karr	...	Stacie Millard
Adilah Barnes
Catherine E. Coulson
Ryan Koch	...	Nick
Leland Baxter Neal	...	Simon
Jason Mason	...	John
Dan Kremer	...	Knight #1
Don Nau	...	Knight #2
Eric Jewett	...	Surgeon
Brett A. Jones	...	Black Cavalier

Storyline

Young Christopher Millard fantasizes about being a squire of the Round Table and studies the stars. But when his difficulty breathing turns out to be caused by a tumor, his fantasies turn into a means to battle the disease. Chemotherapy eats his summer and instead of writing the standard "What I did during my summer vacation", his teacher lets him write a fictional story, and Chris makes characters from the people around him. As Chris battles with doctor, treatments, and the illness, Squire Millard goes on a quest against an evil sorceress to gain the four diamonds of Courage, Wisdom, Honesty, and Strength: qualities that Chris himself attains as his health fails.

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Plot Keywords:

cancer | based on true story | number in title | 

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Genres:

Fantasy | Drama | Family

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 August 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

De fyra diamanterna

Filming Locations:

Eugene, Oregon, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

O'Byrne Productions, Walt Disney Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Chris Millard's real-life parents visited the movie set during filming.

User Reviews

The story behind The Four Diamonds

Christopher Millard created this beautifully written story in an effort to describe the four qualities that he believed a person would need to defeat cancer: Courage, Wisdom, Honesty, and Strength...the Four Diamonds. Unfortunately, Christopher lost his battle with cancer a few years after writing the story, but his spirit and captivating message lives on. This story led to Chris' parents, Charles & Irma Millard, to name the organization that would raise money for families who children have to deal with the disease, the "Four Diamonds Fund" which is located at the Penn State Children's Hospital. The story and the fund have become the basis for the world's largest student run philanthropy...the Penn State Dance Marathon. In it's 30 year history, THON (as it is affectionately called by the Penn State community) has raised over $30 million in an effort to "Conquer Pediatric Cancer". Over 10,000 students coming together and do what they can monetarily, spiritually, and physically to find a cure for cancer giving these "Four Diamonds" a face.

If such a story can inspire such an amazing event, it would be hard to believe it could not inspire a great movie.