- Choices of the Heart
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Choices of the Heart Directed by Joseph Sargent Produced by David W. Rintels
Joseph SargentWritten by John Pielmeier Starring Melissa Gilbert
Peter Horton
Helen Hunt
Mary McCusker
Mari Gorman
Pamela Bellwood
Patrick Cassidy
René Enríquez
Mike Farrell
Martin SheenMusic by John Rubinstein Cinematography Jorge Stahl Jr. Editing by George Jay Nicholson Distributed by NBC Release date(s) United States:
December 5, 1983Running time 100 minutes Country United States Language English Choices of the Heart is an award-winning television movie based on the lives of Jean Donovan, Archbishop Oscar Romero, and the three other churchwomen who were killed in El Salvador during their Civil War.[1][2][3]
Contents
Plot
The movie is based on actual events. On March 24, 1980, Romero was killed, and three Roman Catholic nuns and a lay Catholic missionary were killed on December 2, 1980, by Salvadoran death squads, possibly funded by the United States.[3] Three of the women dedicated their lives to helping refugees and sick people for years.[4] Jean Donovan had been in El Salvador for over two years helping the children that she was so devoted to.[4] Donovan says over and over in her letters to her family in the U.S. that God brought her to El Salvador.[4] These women were raped, tortured, and killed by members of a Salvadoran death squad.[3] Attempts from the Salvadoran and American governments were made to try to cover the murders up.[3]
Production
The production was filmed mostly in Mexico. Mike Farrell plays Robert C. White, then U.S. President Jimmy Carter's Ambassador to El Salvador, who keeps running into official interference and noncooperation in his investigation concerning the murdered women.[3] Martin Sheen appears as Matt Phelan, a Dublin priest whom Miss Donovan meets while spending her junior college year in Ireland.[3]
Cast
- Melissa Gilbert - Jean Donovan
- Peter Horton - Doug
- Helen Hunt - Cathy
- Mary McCusker - Sister Maura Clarke
- Mari Gorman - Sister Ita Ford
- Pamela Bellwood - Sister Dorothy Kazel
- Patrick Cassidy - Patrick
- René Enríquez - Archbishop Romero
- Mike Farrell - Ambassador Robert E. White
- Martin Sheen - Father Philan
- Demián Bichir - Armando
- Enrique Lucero - Colonel Rojas
- Delores Devine - Gwen
- George Belanger - Father Rich
References
External links
- Choices of the Heart at the Internet Movie Database
- John J. O'Connor New York Times, December 5 1983: "TV: DRAMA OF CHURCHWOMEN SLAIN IN EL SALVADOR"
- New York Times Arts Section, December 5 1983, comprehensive article
- movies.nytimes.com: review summary and movie details
- movies.msn.com: Choices of the Heart: overview, cast, synopsis, and ratings
- videoeta.com: cast verification
- hollywood.com: synopsis, cast, and production informations
- allmovie.com: film information and plor synopsis
- spout.com: film synopsis and reviews
- Entertainment Weekly, February 21 1992: "LADIES-IN-WAITING", Melissa Gilbert listed as "most memorable" for Choices of the Heart
- InterReligious Task Force on Central America: "Martyrs of Central America & Colombia"[dead link]
- thebiographychannel.co.uk: biography of Martin Sheen
Films directed by Joseph Sargent 1960s 1970s Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) · Tribes (1970) · Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring (1971) · The Man (1972) · White Lightning (1973) · The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) · Friendly Persuasion (1975) · The Night That Panicked America (1975) · MacArthur (1977) · Goldengirl (1979)1980s Coast to Coast (1980) · Nightmares (1983) · Memorial Day (1983) · Choices of the Heart (1983) · Terrible Joe Moran (1984) · Jaws: The Revenge (1987) · The Karen Carpenter Story (1989) · Day One (1989)1990s The Incident (1990) · Never Forget (1991) · Miss Rose White (1992) · Somebody's Daughter (1992) · Skylark (1993) · Abraham (1993) · World War II: When Lions Roared (1994) · My Antonia (1995) · Mandela and de Klerk (1997) · Miss Evers' Boys (1997) · The Long Island Incident (1998) · Crime and Punishment (1998) · A Lesson Before Dying (1999)2000s For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story (2000) · Bojangles (2001) · Out of the Ashes (2003) · Something the Lord Made (2004) · Warm Springs (2005) · Sybil (2007) · Sweet Nothing in My Ear (2008)Categories:- English-language films
- 1983 films
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