A Place to Be Loved

{{short description|1993 American television film by Sandy Smolan}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}} {{Infobox television | caption = UK DVD cover with alternative title | image = A Place to Be Loved FilmPoster.jpeg | genre = Biography Drama Family | director = [[Sandy Smolan]] | executive_producer = Beth Polson | producer = Randy T. Siegel | writer = Blair Ferguson | starring = [[Richard Crenna]] [[Rhea Perlman]] [[Linda Kelsey]] [[Cotter Smith]] [[Joycelyn O'Brien]] [[Tom Guiry]] | music = [[W. G. Snuffy Walden]] | cinematography = Neil Roach | editor = Jim Oliver | company = Corapeake Productions [[Procter & Gamble Productions]] The Polson Company World International Network | network = [[CBS]] | released = {{start date|1993|4|4}} | runtime = 95 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = }} '''''A Place to Be Loved''''' is a 1993 American [[biographical drama]] [[television film]] directed by [[Sandy Smolan]], written by Blair Ferguson, and starring [[Richard Crenna]] and [[Rhea Perlman]]. It was released in the [[United Kingdom]] under the title '''''Shattered Family'''''. The film is based on the story of [[Gregory Kingsley]], who was the first American child to legally sever ties with a parent at the age of twelve.<ref name="Everett">{{Cite web |last=Everett |first=Todd |date=1993-04-02 |title=Cbs Sunday Movie a Place to Be Loved |url=https://variety.com/1993/tv/reviews/cbs-sunday-movie-a-place-to-be-loved-1200432111/ |access-date=2024-02-07 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref> It was broadcast on [[CBS]] on April 4, 1993.

==Plot summary== [[Gregory Kingsley]] is a boy who is [[child abuse|abused]] by his father and placed with [[social services]] by his mother. The [[Foster care|foster]] family he is put into proves to be the type of nurturing environment he needs. He ends up taking his mother to court to have her parental rights revoked, in the hopes of being adopted by his foster family.

==Cast== {{cast listing| * [[Richard Crenna]] as George Russ * [[Rhea Perlman]] as Jerri Blair * [[Linda Kelsey]] as Liz Russ * [[Cotter Smith]] as Mike Caldwell * [[Cyril O'Reilly]] as Ralph Kingsley * [[Joycelyn O'Brien|Jocelyn O'Brien]] as Rachel Kingsley * [[Sam Anderson]] as Judge Thomas S. Kirk * [[Amy Aquino]] as Debby Hunter * [[Tom Guiry]] as [[Gregory Kingsley]] * [[David Lipper]] as Robert Russ * [[Michelle Collins]] as Julie }}

== Critical reception == Todd Everett of ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' praised the performances of Crenna, Perlman, Kelsey, and Guiry.<ref name="Everett" /> He said the "strongest feature of Blair Ferguson's script may be its clarification of complicated and precedent-setting legal issue", while its "weakest point is its black-and-white contrast of the Kingsley and Russ parents; we can almost see halos above the heads of George and Liz (Kelsey), as Ralph and (especially) Rachel Kingsley twirl their mustache".<ref name="Everett" />

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{IMDb title|id=0107833}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Place To Be Loved}} [[Category:1993 television films]] [[Category:1993 films]] [[Category:1993 drama films]] [[Category:1993 in American television]] [[Category:1993 American films]] [[Category:1990s biographical drama films]] [[Category:1993 English-language films]] [[Category:1990s legal drama films]] [[Category:American biographical drama films]] [[Category:American biographical television films]] [[Category:American courtroom films]] [[Category:American drama television films]] [[Category:American legal drama films]] [[Category:CBS films]] [[Category:English-language biographical drama films]] [[Category:Films about adoption]] [[Category:Films about child abuse]] [[Category:Films about dysfunctional families]] [[Category:Films directed by Sandy Smolan]] [[Category:Films scored by W. G. Snuffy Walden]] [[Category:Television courtroom dramas]]