Diane Ladd Movies

When an escaped convict is discovered hiding in a barn by two young children, he convinces the kids that he is a ghost while learning an important lesson in paying penance for his crimes. Witt Hampton was a convicted embezzler sentenced to year behind bars for his greedy transgressions. Eventually, Witt grows tired of prison life and stages a daring escape. Later, while seeking refuge in an old barn, Witt is discovered by two young boys. In order to avoid being sent back up the river, the frightened convict convinces the kids that he is actually a friendly ghost, and soon joins them on a series of fantastic adventures. Gradually, the once unrepentant criminal becomes inspired by the innocence of the children he has befriended, making a pledge to redeem himself before making the inevitable trip back to the big house. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Based on Catherine Marshall's novel of the same name, Christy: A New Beginning is the second episode of the two-part TV miniseries Christy: Return to Cutter Gap. Set in 1913, the story concentrates on feisty young schoolteacher Christy Huddleston (Lauren Lee Smith) -- a character based on author Marshall's own mother -- who attempts to bring literacy and enlightenment to the isolated North Carolina mountain community of Cutter Gap. As the community is buffeted and ravaged by the "storm of the century," Christy finds herself stranded in a remote hunter's cabin with the community's brilliant but unstable doctor Neil McNeill (Stewart Finley-McLennan). Already betrothed to Cutter Gap's troubled minister, Rev. David Grantland (John Waterston), Christy is shocked into irrationality when Dr. McNeill declares his love for her. Christy: A Change of Seasons first aired over the PAX Network on May 14, 2001, under the title Christy: Choices of the Heart, Part II. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

By rights, child psychologist Dr. Nina Moss (Mare Winningham) should be pleased and proud that her daughter Beth (Alison Lohman) is a slim, eternally upbeat overachiever. But Nina suspects that all is not well with Beth--and she's right. Desperate to be accepted by her family and friends, and determined to be fully in control of her own destiny, Beth has become bulimic, "binging" and "purging" whenever things threaten to get out of hand in her life--or whenever she gains a single pound beyond her "ideal" weight. The winner of a 2001 Peabody Award, Sharing the Secret originally aired May 10, 2000, on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on the best-selling books by Catherine Marshall, the original TV series Christy focused on 19-year-old Christy Huddleston, an idealistic schoolteacher who left a life of wealth and comfort behind to accept a job in the backward mountain community of Cutter, NC, in 1912. First telecast as a two-part, four-hour PAX Network miniseries on May 13 and May 14, 2001, Christy: Return to Cutter Gap picks up where the weekly series left off. Lauren Lee Smith replaces Kellie Martin as Christy, while Stewart Finlay-McLennan repeats his series role as the community's agnostic, Scottish-born doctor Neil McNeill. In part one of Return to Cutter Gap, titled "A Change of Seasons," the year is 1913, and Cutter Gap is in the throes of a deadly typhoid epidemic. The superstitious mountaineers believe that the illness has been brought on by such "outsiders" as Christy Huddleston and the community's new minister, Rev. David Grantland (James Waterston). Dr. McNeill realizes that the real cause of the epidemic is Cutter Gap's brackish water and squalid living conditions, but he is unable to convince the locals of his findings. Meanwhile, Christy suffers a crisis of faith when one of her closest friends dies of the fever, and on another front, she finds herself romantically torn between McNeill and Grantland. Part two, "A New Beginning," takes place three months later. This time, the community is literally torn apart by a raging storm. As the rest of the citizens head to the highest point in Cutter Gap, Christy and Dr. McNeill are stranded in a tiny hunter's shack. Shocked when McNeill declares his love for her, Christy rushes into the deluge, contracting a deadly fever. Also complicating matters is the presence of attractive aviatrix Harriet Quimby (Claudette Mink), who has apparently set her cap for McNeill. The story concludes with a wedding -- but which man does Christy choose for her life partner? Filmed in British Columbia, Christy: Return to Cutter Gap was originally telecast under the title Christy: Choices of the Heart). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A nun's prayers seem to be answered when an enigmatic carpenter mysteriously appears to build a new spiral staircase for her church. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Mean-spirited IRS auditor Carolyn Sellers (Diane Ladd) tries to close down a group home for Down Syndrome adults that has opened across the street from her house. Life Goes On's Christopher Burke) appears as Taylor, one of the home's residents, whose efforts to save a youngster from a serious traffic accident is misinterpreted by Carolyn, allowing her to whip up hatred and bigotry amongst her neighbors. Monica (Roma Downey) of course hopes to remedy this situation, but it is the serenely self-confident Taylor who manages to straighten things out...leading Monica to suspect that there is more to Taylor than meets the eye! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The tragic story of the Ruby Ridge "massacre" has been so thoroughly covered and disseminated by the mainstream press that to add anything here would be pointless. Suffice to say that the two-part TV movie The Siege at Ruby Ridge uses the facts at hand to show how the tragedy occurred, and how but for a multitude of blunders and miscommunications on both sides, it could all have been avoided. Randy Quaid stars as white separatist Randy Weaver, who for ten terrible days in 1992 barricaded himself, his family, and a number of zealous followers in a tiny refuge on a remote Idaho mountaintop, while 200 government agents surrounded Weaver's headquarters with orders to arrest Weaver's group alive -- if possible. The catalyst for the crisis is of course Randy Weaver himself, though his wife Vicki (Laura Dern) is shown to be just as rigid, stubborn, and foolhardy as her husband -- maybe even more so. Ultimately, blood is shed and lives are lost, the result of such gross ineptitude that the ramifications of the tragedy would reverberate for decades to come. Featured in the cast is Laura Dern's real-life mother, Diane Ladd, and, in the small role of the Weaver's daughter, a very young Kirsten Dunst. The Siege at Ruby Ridge first aired over CBS on May 19 and 21, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of CBS' most popular weekly series of the early '90s, Doctor Quinn, Medicine Woman began life as a two-hour TV movie. Jane Seymour stars as Dr. Michaela "Mike" Quinn, who in the mid-1860s sets up practice in a small Colorado Territory community. Not unexpectedly, there are several hard-bitten locals who don't cotton to havin' a lady sawbones in town. Still, before the film is over, it is clear that Dr. Quinn is there to stay--and nobody is happier than the "disenfranchised"--the very old, the very young, the blacks, the Indians--whom she quickly befriends. Though set in the 19th century, a strong current of 1990s Political Correctness flows through this easy-to-take production. Upon Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman's first telecast on January 1, 1993, the TV Guide critic predicted that "Given half a chance, she may just succeed." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Drawn from the novel by Kate Wilhelm, this made-for-cable thriller stars Melissa Gilbert as a grieving young mother who doubts her sanity after seeing the daughter she lost in a car accident. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

Bluegrass was a two-part TV movie that resurrected virtually every "racetrack" cliche known to man. Widowed Cheryl Ladd heads to Kentucky to start up a horse farm. Her wicked neighbor is Wayne Rogers who seeks Ladd's downfall. Faithful farm manager Brian Kerwin won't let Rogers stand in the way of Ladd's dream. Anthony Andrews hangs around as a Harlequin romance-style Irish rake with a Dark Secret. And what would a horse-farm movie be without Mickey Rooney? Part One of Bluegrass raised a stir upon its February 28, 1988 debut, with a brief shot of horses mating. But it was the foaling sequence in Part Two that really made the headlines. All tangled plotlines knot together in the second half of Bluegrass. Part Two, first telecast on Leap Year day in 1988, Ladd literally bets the ranch on the Kentucky Derby, while mysterious Irish stranger Anthony Andrews reveals his (gasp!) terrible secret. One of the film's highlights was the genuine birth of a foal. The poor animal looked so shaky that the network issued an official statement insisting that the newborn horse survived. When the truth came out (the foal didn't make it), the producers were heartily condemned by animal activist groups--which may be why all current films bear the closing disclaimer about no animals being injured during shooting. Bluegrass was directed by Simon Wincer, who later helmed the epic miniseries Lonesome Dove. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this touching family drama, a loving couple discovers they can no longer make babies so they provide a good home to unwanted children. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In order to win a bet, a nebbishy engineer must meet a model; not only does he get to know her, they begin to date. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

Little Red Riding Hood (Mary Steenburgen ) is en route to Grandma's house when she encounters a hungry stranger in the woods whose carnivorous appetite may lead him in the same direction. Malcolm McDowell is delightfully smarmy as the Big Bad Wolf who races to Grandma's house with plans to gobble her up and then wait in disguise for Red Riding Hood to arrive. ~ Carrie Downes, All Movie Guide