The Best Little Girl in the World

The Best Little Girl in the World
Directed by	Sam O'Steen
Produced by	Lynn Loring
Written by	David Moessinger
Starring	Jennifer Jason Leigh
Distributed by	ABC
Release date(s)	May 11, 1981
Running time	100 min.
Language	English

The Best Little Girl in the World is a 1981 television film directed by Sam O'Steen and executive produced by Aaron Spelling. The film is based upon the 1978 novel of the same name Steven Levenkron.^[1]

Plot

17-year-old Casey Powell is a shy and insecure teenager, whose friends are caught up with dieting to become better in ballet. Her parents, Frank and Joanne, give all their attention to her 19-year-old sister Gail, who just found out she is pregnant by somebody she has no interest in marrying. Frank is infuriated with and Joanne is worried about Gail, so they forget to spend time with Casey. They think of her as the good girl who doesn't cause any trouble. Feeling ignored, Casey starts wanting to look like the girls on the covers of magazines and begins working out and dieting as well.

One day, Casey's friends convince her to join a ballet lesson. Casey is noticed by the teacher, Madame Seurat, who tells her she could be very good if she loses a few pounds. It doesn't take long before Casey becomes a starving anorexic who occasionally purges. She is surprised when her parents don't take her desire of professional dancing seriously, but doesn't give up her dream. Over the next two months, Casey becomes obsessed with dieting and improving in ballet. This causes her school work to deteriorate, which brings attention from her parents.

When her sister really sees how thin Casey is, she warns her parents. Casey is sent to a doctor who orders her to start eating normally again, threatening to send her to a hospital if she doesn't. Despite the pressure, Casey is afraid to gain weight and continues her eating disorder secretly. When her parents discover diet pills, Frank forces her to eat in his presence, but she refuses to do so. After her parents take the pills from her, Casey steals a package at the pharmacy the next day. However, she is caught and is arrested. After her parents bail her out, she collapses and is taken to the hospital. She tries to run away, but collapses yet again and is taken back.

In the hospital, she befriends fellow patient Carol Link. Carol is also suffering from anorexia and bulimia and gives Casey advice about how to get kicked out of the hospital and also teaches her tricks to mislead the doctors. At one moment, Carol overdoses on pills and Casey witnesses her dying. Crushed and devastated, she runs away, but collapses for the third time. When she becomes conscious again, she is angry that she is in the hospital again. She tells her doctor, Clay Orlovsky, that she is afraid to die as well, but he assures her that is not going to happen.

When Casey improves, she is finally allowed to see her family again. Dr. Orlovsky analyzes their meeting. He tells the family that he thinks Casey has developed an eating disorder, because it seems to be the only way for her to get attention. After a while, Casey finally recovers and is released from the hospital. She doesn't want to leave, however, and feels safer with Dr. Orlovsky. In the final scene, she eats ice cream without disliking it.

Cast

(in credits order)

Production

Producer Aaron Spelling came to the idea of making a movie about the book.^[3] Jennifer Jason Leigh replaced Jodie Foster, who was at one point assigned to play the lead.^[4] Leigh weighed 98 pounds at the time, but dieted down to 86 pounds to play the role.^[5]

Reception

The film was received generally positive; in particular, Leigh was praised for her portrayal of a teenager.^[6] The film gained attention again in 1983, when performer Karen Carpenter died of complications from anorexia nervosa.^[7] Although the film was later released on VHS, the movie is now quite rare.^[3]

The movie however received criticism for its portrayal of treatment for anorexia victims, which was thought to be unrealistic. Another criticism was that its plot differed too much to the novel.^[3]

References

External links

• The Best Little Girl in the World at the Internet Movie Database