I say this because(for a long variety of reasons) I do not often care for TV movies, or take them very seriously. "dusty" then decided to join the Marines and move to Carolina. I was fortunate enough to win custody of our daughter when she was six-months old. an attorney questioned her about "forest". they had caught her in lies about her past. my name was mentioned in a courtroom scene mid-movie.
every fact in this movie is just that: FACT. you only got a "glimpse" of her mean-spirited angst. the actress looked exactly like that sister. right down to that dishwater-haired older sister of hers. other than that, this movie is ALL TRUTH and ACCURACY throughout. just a small group of residents (mostly her family and misguided friends). the town itself was neither mean-hearted nor an obstacle to justice. one possible stray-from-truth : a slight negative pallor was assigned upon Ada,OK.
to ALL of you who doubted the validity of these characters and events-portrayed you could NOT be more wrong. I just perused these comments for the first time. At the end of the film where Dusty is sentenced and when Mary and Jack are alone in the courtroom, I had tears in my eyes when Mary turned to Jack and said : "I wish Chris was here, I want to hold him in my arms and say you can rest now Mum and Dad have taken care of everything", poor Mary and Jack losing that precious boy, but at least they have little Christine to help them go on and at least they got the justice they needed, this was an excellent film with great acting especially from Patty Duke. Dusty was very lucky to have such a sweet, loving, caring husband and to have him murdered was an evil act and I am glad she got what was coming to her. Patty Duke's acting in this film is absolutely excellent and at times gave me a lump in my throat, what an incredibly strong character, to have lost her only child to murder then have to fight for her son's widow to be brought to justice and to seek custody of her grand-daughter, what an incredibly strong woman. This movie made me very sad because it was a true story. While this film was based on a true story, a few liberties were taken, but you will still be interested in the outcome. Patty Duke is amazing, because she always transcends material, engaging the audience. is also very good as the detective who tracks Dusty and the grandchild, discovering they are living in squalor in Oklahoma, collecting money from the murdered husband's army pension. Apparently as a resident of Alabama, she only has influence due to the fact that she is in a small town, and must hound and harass the district attorney. After protracted legal problems, Duke eventually wins a minor victory, seeking justice for her son's murder. When Duke's son is murdered, she suspects the worst. She has a baby too young (Duke's grandchild) and decides that she is tired of being an army wife, and becomes a prostitute in Honolulu. His young wife ("Dusty"), well-portrayed by Alexandra Powers, may have been the culprit. Shine in this film, which is a disturbing account of a young serviceman, murdered for profit.