Mary Parker Williams Movies
- 2000
Four of the autobiographical novels of Laura Ingalls Wilder served as the basic source material for this made-for-TV movie. Covering some of the same ground as the Wilder-inspired TV series Little House on the Prairie, the film stars Meredith Monroe as 19th-century teenager Laura Ingalls, who at the beginning of the story is still living on her South Dakota family farm with her father (Richard Thomas), mother (Lindsay Crouse), and three siblings. Acknowledging her dad's insistence that she has "the wandering strain," Laura yearns for life beyond the prairie, but is obliged to accept a nearby schoolteaching position to help support her loved ones. After her marriage to homesteader Almanzo Wilder (Walt Goggins), Laura endures the usual trials and tribulations of life as a farmer's wife, further complicated by the loss of her first child and a raging diphtheria epidemic. Yet, somehow, Laura and Almanzo survive their many ordeals with renewed hope for the future. Tess Harper, cast as the "older" Laura, narrates the story. Originally broadcast by CBS on January 2, 2000, Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder was followed by a TV-movie sequel over two years later, on the same network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Meredith Monroe, Tess Harper, (more)
- 1999
Virtually the quintessential "CBS Sunday Night Movie" (especially during the traditional "fall sweeps"), Anya's Bell is set in 1949, a time when handicapped people were feared, pitied, scorned, shunted away, but seldom treated as "worthwhile" human beings by so-called normal society. Della Reese stars as Anya Herpick, a middle-aged blind woman who has been cared for since birth by her elderly mother. Having seldom ventured outside her house, Anya has compensated for her loneliness by amassing a collection of small bells. When her mother suddenly dies, Anya is truly alone, and she is paralyzed with fear at the prospect. Enter 12-year-old delivery boy Scott Rhymes (Mason Gamble), whom has been written off by his parents as "slow" because he has never learned to read. At first wary of one another, Anya and Scott soon become the closest of friends. It is eventually revealed that Scott suffers from dyslexia (an all-but-unknown affliction back in 1949), for which Anya compensates by teaching him how to read the Braille alphabet, which turns out to be easier to comprehend than printed words. At the same time, Scott helps Anya to become more independent and self-reliant. The changes wrought on the two protagonists are both dramatic and heartwarming, clearing the path for a happy ending (relevant to the film's title) despite the death of one of the two. Filmed on location in Salt Lake City, Anya's Bell was first telecast on October 31, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1999
Monica (Roma Downey) is the leader of a support group consisting of five terminally ill people: Corey (David Kaufman, Stasi (Lisa Jane Persky), Dolores (Eileen Brennan), Larry (Lenny Clarke), and Rachel (Nancy McKeon). It is Monica's task to help each group member realize the one big goal that must be achieved before his or her death. All are willing to take on the challenge (though Rachel is at first strangely resistant), but the journey towards that goal is fraught with surprises--not least of which is the fact that the five main characters have always shared a common bond. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
Expectant parents Bill and Joanne McNabb (Bill Smitrovich, Betsy Brantley) are torn apart by the news that their unborn child has Down Syndrome. Though Joanne wants to keep the baby, Bill is leaning in the opposite direction--and, out of shame over having an "imperfect" child, he has told Joanne to keep the baby's condition a secret until a final decision is made. Though angels Monica (Roma Downey) and Andrew (John Dye) are on hand to help alleviate the tension, it falls to another angel named Taylor (Chris Burke), himself a Downs child, to lead the McNabbs towards the right decision--but not before a near-fatal disaster! This episode features a piquant reunion of actors Bill Smitrovich and Chris Burke, respectively cast as father and son on the earlier series Life Goes On. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
Hot on the trail of a serial killer known only as "The Roper", police detective Jack Brennan (Treat Williams) is seriously injured in an accident. When he awakens, Brennan can't remember what he has been doing, nor any of the clues he has been following up. As Brennan is nursed back to health by attractive psychiatrist Molly Nostrand (Margaret Colin), his memory begins returning in fits and starts--and he can't shake the disturbing premonition that The Roper is closer to him than he had ever imagined. This is the sort of TV movie in which you start worrying the minute a character says there's nothing more to worry about. In the Shadow of Evil originally aired February 7, 1995 on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This suspense thriller from director Ron Beckstrom concerns a woman's descent into madness after finding out she can't have children. Starring Michael Berger and Mary Parker Williams. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
