Here is today's movie with a scene that happens today, May 28, I hope you enjoy it and watch it tonight.
MILLION DOLLAR BABIES
The poor Dionne family lives in
rural Ontario, Canada. The mother, Elzire collapses and goes into what everyone
thinks is premature labor. Even though they have no money the husband, Oliva
races to get a doctor. Early on the morning of May 28, 1934 she gives birth to
five daughters. [03:50 to 20:58] The
quints birth soon causes a media frenzy. Helena Reid, an American radio
personality arrives on the scene. Oliva and the other children leave in order
to save the quints from infections. After Americans take the lead in providing
for the quints, the Ontario government finally starts to provide some
assistance. Oliva signs a deal to have
the quints displayed at the Chicago World’s fair and he is attacked for this by
Helena Reid. The Canadian government
moves to take the kids and they all develop high fevers, but are pulled through
by Dr. Dafoe. The Ontario government declares the quints wards of the state and
Dr. Dafoe is named their guardian. The kids are taken away and placed in a
house built just for them across the road. Dr. Dafoe starts to profit from the
kids, including taking them on tour. They kids are put on display and the area
acquires a circus-like atmosphere. Finally, the parents are only allowed to
visit with Dr. Dafoe’s permission. The
Dionne parents try to tell their story and in response the government extends
the guardianship until the quints are 18. Dr. Dafoe makes tons of cash in
endorsement deals for the quints. The Dionnes have a baby boy. The quints are
kept on a strict schedule isolated from everyone else and put on display for
mobs of tourists, but only one of their nurses disapproves of this and is
fired. The parents finally find a lawyer to help them get the girls back. He
takes the tack that the quints were only taken away only because the parents
were French-Canadians. They get French nurses and teachers hired. The parents
get better access. The government finally gets ticked off at Dr. Dafoe excesses
and remove him as guardian. Oliva finds out that the quints are paying for all
their expenses out of their funds. Helena Reid returns and now sides with the
Dionnes. It all comes to a head in a dramatic confrontation when Emilie goes to
Dr. Dafoe instead of her mother. Ms. Reid gets Dr. Alfred Adler to condemn the
regime that the children are living under. The quints and their parents meet
the King and Queen. The guardianship is dissolved and the girls are returned to
their parents.
An interesting film. You can’t
help but feel sympathy for the parents who were accused of exploiting the
girls, so they were removed from them and actually exploited for years. The
girls were eventually returned, but as the film’s final minutes hint, the
damage had already been done.
In The Dionne Years: A
Thirties Melodrama by Pierre Berton (W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., New
York, 1978) at page 11 we are told that “[o]n May 28, 1934, between the hours
of three and six in the morning, there were born ….. five identical girl
babies” .Date is also given in film at 3:55.
Director - Christian Duguay
Producer - Bernard Zukerman
Screenplay - Suzette Couture, Stuart Foxman and John Nihmey
Released - November 20, 1994
Runtime - 180 minutes
Starring -
Beau Bridges as Dr. Allan Roy
Dafoe
Roy Dupuis as Oliva Dionne
Céline Bonnier as Elzire Dionne
Sean McCann as Premier Mitch
Hepburn
Ginette Reno as Madame Legros
Domini Blythe as Nurse Lena de
Keyzer
Kate Nelligan as Helena Reid
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