Happy Face Murders | |
---|---|
Written by | John Pielmeier |
Directed by | Brian Trenchard-Smith |
Starring | Ann-Margret Marg Helgenberger Henry Thomas |
Music by | Peter Bernstein |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Executive producers | John Cosgrove Terry Dunn Meurer |
Producers | Diane Jeanne Ned Welsh |
Cinematography | Albert J. Dunk |
Editor | Bill Goddard |
Running time | 100 minutes |
Production company | Paramount Pictures |
Release | |
Original network | Showtime |
Original release | September 5, 1999 |
Happy Face Murders is a 1999 American made-for-television crime drama film directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith. It is based on a real story.
It was shot in 21 days [1] and is one of director Brian Trenchard-Smith's favourite films. [2]
Lorraine Petrovich (Ann-Margret) frames her abusive lover killing a young intellectually disabled girl by creating details of the murder from clues she picks up from Detective Jennifer Powell (Marg Helgenberger). Powell works the case with law doctoral student Dylan McCarthy (Henry Thomas), whom she repeatedly calls "Doc", despite McCarthy not actually being a doctor yet. After implicating herself, resulting in her jail sentence, she then recants her testimony but no one believes her, until clues surface from the real killer, who leaves messages that he is still out there, has killed before, and will kill again, signing his victims with Happy Faces.
David Nusair of Reel Film Reviews gave a positive review on Marg Helgenberger's performance, writing she "provides enough charm to make it worth a look."
Ann-Margret Olsson is a Swedish-American actress and singer credited as Ann-Margret. She has won five Golden Globe Awards and been nominated for two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and six Emmy Awards, winning in 2010 for a guest role in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
Mary Marg Helgenberger is an American actress. She began her career in the early 1980s and first came to attention for playing the role of Siobhan Ryan on the daytime soap opera Ryan's Hope from 1982 to 1986. She is best known for her role as Catherine Willows in the CBS police procedural drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000–13) and the subsequent TV movie Immortality (2015). She reprised the role in season 2 of the sequel CSI: Vegas, which premiered on September 29, 2022. Helgenberger is also known for playing the role of K.C. Koloski in the ABC drama China Beach (1988–91), which earned her the 1990 Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. She is also known for roles in the TV series Under the Dome and Intelligence, and the films Species (1995), Species II (1998), Erin Brockovich (2000), and Mr. Brooks (2007).
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Who Will Love My Children? is a 1983 American made-for-television biographical film based on the life of Lucile Fray. Lucile Fray was diagnosed with cancer in 1952 and wanted to find suitable homes for her ten children, since she felt her husband could not properly care for them. Prior to her death, she succeeded. The film was directed by John Erman, written by Michael Bortman, and starred Ann-Margret in her first television film. It was originally broadcast on ABC.
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