Small Sacrifices
Small Sacrifices is a 1989 American made-for-television crime drama film written by Joyce Eliason and based on the best-selling true crime book by Ann Rule of the same name. The film is about Diane Downs and the murder and attempted murder of her three children. It stars Farrah Fawcett, Ryan O'Neal, Gordon Clapp, John Shea and Emily Perkins. The film premiered in two parts on ABC on November 12 and 14, 1989.
| Small Sacrifices | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Drama |
| Written by | Ann Rule (book) Joyce Eliason |
| Directed by | David Greene |
| Starring | Farrah Fawcett Ryan O'Neal John Shea Gordon Clapp Emily Perkins |
| Music by | Peter Manning Robinson |
| Country of origin | United States Canada |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Suzanne De Passe Louis Rudolph Charles W. Fries |
| Producer | S. Bryan Hickox |
| Production locations | Edmonton Springfield, Oregon Allarcom Studios, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Law Centre, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada |
| Cinematography | Ron Orieux |
| Editor | Parkie L. Singh (as Parkie Singh) |
| Running time | 159 minutes |
| Production companies | Louis Rudolph Films Motown Productions Allarcom Limited Fries Entertainment |
| Distributor | ABC |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Picture format | Color |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | November 12–14, 1989 |
Plot
On 19 May 1983 at approximately 10:48 p.m, Diane Downs, drives to McKenzie-Willamette Hospital in Springfield, Oregon with a gunshot wound to her arm. She claims that an unknown assailant attempted to carjack her and shot her three children: Karen, 9, Shauna, 7, and Robby, 3. Her eldest daughter Karen was suffering a temporary loss of speech due to a stroke after the shooting, but recovers sufficiently to serve as a witness in court against her mother; Diane's son is paralyzed due to the gunshot. In a flashback, her father Wes abandons Diane by abusing her and locking her out of the house. She was eventually tried and convicted of murder and attempted murder. During the trial, the prosecution plays Duran Duran's "Hungry Like the Wolf" to demonstrate to the jury Diane's choice of song used to motivate her to kill.
Diane Downs is sentenced to life in prison, and her two surviving children are adopted by the prosecutor Frank Joziak and his wife, Lola.
Differences from book
Downs' children Christie, Cheryl and Danny were renamed Karen, Shauna and Robbie for the film. Her ex-husband, Steve, was renamed Boyd Paul. The prosecutor and his wife who later adopted Christie and Danny were also renamed. In both the book and movie Downs' lover, Robert Knickerbocker, was renamed Lew Lewiston.
Cast
- Farrah Fawcett as Diane Downs
- Ryan O'Neal as Lew Lewiston
- Gordon Clapp as Detective Doug Welch
- John Shea as Frank Joziak
- Garry Chalk as Boyd Paul Downs
- Emily Perkins as Karen Downs
- Ken James as Robby Downs
- Sean McCann as Russell Wells
- Lynne Cormack as Lola Joziak
- Maxine Miller as Verla Mae Wells
- Vicki Wauchope as Shauna Downs
- Timothy Sell as The Stranger (Carjacker)