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Sunday, June 22, 2008

Touched by Love (1980)

This is one of the sweetest movies I've ever watched. It's about the tender relationship between a young nurse and a young girl with CP who, after years of institutionalization, has shut down. The nurse, determined to reach her before the girl is transferred out of a rehab school to a less progressive institution, is played by Deborah Raffin. The cast includes Diane Lane, (Good night Momma) Walton, and a character actress who many of you might recognize from The Trouble With Angels.

Although the star (Lane) is not a disabled actress, the cast includes children with disabilities who attended the actual school, showing them interacting and, in one scene, dancing in their power chairs. And, while the film is overly sentimental, it doesn't serve up a happy ending, as this book notes.

Gotta love the fact that the young star has a crush on Elvis Presley and writes him.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love this movie - can't believe you found a clip!

Julie said...

I remember this movie! I used to rent it a lot when I was a kid. Loved it, but it was so sad... actually, that's probably why I loved it. (Yeah, I was one of those meloncholy kiddos. :) I still think about it often, actually, especially when I see a Diane Lane movie.