Anya's Bell

• Director: Tom McLoughlin
• Release Year: 1999

Plot

Virtually the quintessential "CBS Sunday Night Movie" (especially during the traditional "fall sweeps"), Anya's Bell is set in 1949, a time when handicapped people were feared, pitied, scorned, shunted away, but seldom treated as "worthwhile" human beings by so-called normal society. Della Reese stars as Anya Herpick, a middle-aged blind woman who has been cared for since birth by her elderly mother. Having seldom ventured outside her house, Anya has compensated for her loneliness by amassing a collection of small bells. When her mother suddenly dies, Anya is truly alone, and she is paralyzed with fear at the prospect. Enter 12-year-old delivery boy Scott Rhymes (Mason Gamble), whom has been written off by his parents as "slow" because he has never learned to read. At first wary of one another, Anya and Scott soon become the closest of friends. It is eventually revealed that Scott suffers from dyslexia (an all-but-unknown affliction back in 1949), for which Anya compensates by teaching him how to read the Braille alphabet, which turns out to be easier to comprehend than printed words. At the same time, Scott helps Anya to become more independent and self-reliant. The changes wrought on the two protagonists are both dramatic and heartwarming, clearing the path for a happy ending (relevant to the film's title) despite the death of one of the two. Filmed on location in Salt Lake City, Anya's Bell was first telecast on October 31, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast

Jay Bernard - Clarence; Al Fann - Mr. Lempke; Mason Gamble - Scott Rhymes; Della Reese - Anya Herpick; Kelly Rowan - Jeanne Rhymes; Mary Parker Williams - Miss Jenkins; Clayton Taylor - Billy; Carlton W. Bluford - Herby; Steve Anderson - Mr. Halstrom; Katherine Reilly - Mrs. Hughes; Thomas Cavanagh - Patrick Birmingham; Nancy McLoughlin - Lila; Shane McLoughlin - Steve; Curley Green - Preacher; Bob Eric Hart - Mr. Taft; Hamilton Lucas - Rich; Elzabeth Thornell - Trudy Mullnicks; Jean Montanti - Miss Gaston; Sandra Shotwell - Cora

Credit

Tom McLoughlin - Director, Chalres Bornstein - Editor, Graham Ludlow - Executive Producer, Karen Danaher-Dorr - Executive Producer, Franklin Lett - Executive Producer, Stephanie Hagen - Executive Producer, Sam Okun - Executive Producer, Lee Holdridge - Composer (Music Score), Chester Kaczenski - Production Designer, Gordon Lonsdale - Cinematographer, Ann Kindberg - Producer, David Alexander - Screenwriter

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