I came across this nice little movie on the "Movies!" channel.
The movie is based on a book by Lena Canada who in the movie is played by Deborah Raffin. She is the caregiver for a young girl of 13 or 14 who is confined to either her wheelchair or her bed. She has cerebral palsy and has already far exceeded survival expectations.
The young girl is Diane Lane, only in her second movie, as Karen. This is a difficult role to play, to capture the mannerisms and speech patterns in an authentic manner, and she does it very well. Not once does she seem to be "acting."
The book was published in 1963 so this is set possibly in the 1950s. Karen is a big Elvis Presley fan. She likes him she likes his music. She wants to write to him but is cautioned that she might only get a form letter in return.
Through perseverance she gets a letter from Elvis himself, handwritten, and with a special return address that will assure he gets her letters in a timely manner. Their friendship blossoms and even though she still manages to have only a short life, when asked by another girl what she wanted for Christmas her answer was, "I don't want anything, I have everything I need."
This is apparently based on a true story.
The movie is based on a book by Lena Canada who in the movie is played by Deborah Raffin. She is the caregiver for a young girl of 13 or 14 who is confined to either her wheelchair or her bed. She has cerebral palsy and has already far exceeded survival expectations.
The young girl is Diane Lane, only in her second movie, as Karen. This is a difficult role to play, to capture the mannerisms and speech patterns in an authentic manner, and she does it very well. Not once does she seem to be "acting."
The book was published in 1963 so this is set possibly in the 1950s. Karen is a big Elvis Presley fan. She likes him she likes his music. She wants to write to him but is cautioned that she might only get a form letter in return.
Through perseverance she gets a letter from Elvis himself, handwritten, and with a special return address that will assure he gets her letters in a timely manner. Their friendship blossoms and even though she still manages to have only a short life, when asked by another girl what she wanted for Christmas her answer was, "I don't want anything, I have everything I need."
This is apparently based on a true story.