Sunshine (1973 film)

Sunshine
Written by Carol Sobieski (teleplay)
Jacqueline Helton (see below)
Directed by Joseph Sargent
Starring Cristina Raines
Cliff DeYoung
Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush
Theme music composer Hal Mooney
Country of origin  United States
Original language(s) English
Production
Producer(s) George Eckstein
Running time 121 minutes
Release
Original network CBS
Original release November 9, 1973

Sunshine is a 1973 made-for-television docudrama directed by Joseph Sargent and produced by George Eckstein.[1] The movie starred Cristina Raines in the title role of Kate Hayden in her first big movie role, Cliff DeYoung as Kate's husband Sam Hayden and twins Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush as the role of Jill Hayden; Kate and Sam's daughter. The movie aired on CBS and originally aired as an episode of the CBS Friday Night Movie on November 9, 1972. At the time of its airing, Sunshine was the most watched made-for-TV movie in history.[2]

Movie origins

The movie was based on a true story. The movie was based on the life of Jacquelyn Helton (September 13, 1951 – November 7, 1971). Helton was a woman diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a form of cancer in the bone marrow of the leg in 1969. Helton, her newlywed husband and their newborn daughter Jennifer moved to Denver, Colorado to seek medical treatment. Helton agreed to take part in a medical research program to tape and write her thoughts about having a baby and knowing that she is going to die. The thoughts she had written down were saved in journals and tape recordings that inspired the dialogue of the movie. Helton eventually died on November 7, 1971, at the age of 20.[3]

Plot

A young woman named Kate, (Cristina Raines), falls in love with a struggling musician named Sam Hayden, (Cliff DeYoung). The two get married and have a daughter named Jill, (played by various people, see below).

Shortly after Jill is born, Kate, now 20 at this point, gets the shocking news that she has osteosarcoma, a form of cancer that affects the bone marrow of the leg. After her diagnosis, Kate sees Dr. Wilde, (James Hong). Dr. Wilde gives her two options to treat her cancer. She can either get her leg amputated and hope the cancer does not spread or can pursue chemotherapeutic treatments. She decides against either. But she does take part in a medical research study in which she has to keep a recorded journal and in the journal, she was to tell what it was like to have a baby and expecting death at the same time.

Kate keeps a recorded journal but it is stolen one day by a little boy. Suddenly, her stories gain national attention. She gains another tape recorder until her death which comes towards the end of the movie.[2][4]

Cast

Filming Locations

Vancouver, British Columbia with neighbourhood scenes in Kitsilano and the West End, and footage of the Burrard and Granville Street Bridges, and North Shore mountains.

References

External links

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