Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 12, 1995 TAG: 9508150092
SECTION: SPECATOR PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETH KLEID LOS ANGELES TIMES
DATELINE: HOLLYWOOD LENGTH: Medium
But all too quickly he entered a world of chemotherapy, radiation treatments and teasing over his newly bald head. Chris, right in the middle of growing up, was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer - a tumor growing in his nose that at first threatened his sense of smell, and then life itself.
In the face of this, Chris mined his vivid imagination to create a fictional world - a short story that eventually would help him and those who loved him cope with the ravages of his disease. It all started when his teacher gave him an assignment to write about his summer vacation. Since Chris had spent the summer undergoing cancer treatment, he didn't want to relive those experiences.
Instead, he wrote a life-affirming tale about Squire Millard, one of the forgotten knights of King Arthur's court who overcame obstacles to attain the coveted four diamonds representing courage, wisdom, honesty and strength. And while his alter ego Squire Millard learned valuable lessons on his quest, Chris Millard used the same lessons to fight the battle of his life.
The creative tale Chris wrote - and the real-life story of his ordeal with cancer - touched a chord with producers Joe Byrne and Jeb Rosebrook. They undertook their own arduous five-year journey to bring a movie weaving both stories together to television. ``We said, `This story has to be told,''' recalls Byrne.
And like Squire Millard, who had to deal with the evil sorceress Raptenahad to acquire the four diamonds, the producers didn't have it easy. ``When we came upon this story, it was divorce-of-the-week time,'' says Byrne. But finally, the Disney Channel agreed to make ``The Four Diamonds'' from a script written by Todd Robinson, a friend of Chris' sister Stacia.
Although the telefilm has many heart-wrenching moments, those involved say it's not typical disease-of-the-week fare. As 14-year-old actor Thomas Guiry, who plays Chris, who eventually succumbed to his disease in 1972, put it, ``It's not just a regular cancer movie. It's not like this boy died and that's it. It's about him leaving something behind - he left hope behind.''
In the movie, the magical adventure story featuring Squire Millard alleviated the intense scenes featuring Chris Millard for the actors. Thanks to the real Chris, who put the people in his life into his story as characters so he could work things out with them, actress Christine Lahti had a break from playing Dr. Burke. The doctor is transformed - literally with the use of morphing special effects - into the campy witch Raptenahad, Lahti's other role in the film.
``It was helpful to kind of vent and chew up the scenery as Raptenahad, because Dr. Burke didn't have a lot of fun,'' Lahti says.
Because Raptenahad speaks in perfect rhyming couplets, Lahti says she approached the role as if it were Shakespeare. But the character required some additional interpretation. ``I didn't want to make her a cartoon character. I wanted to make her a real person with real problems and needs.''
Guiry also thought his dual role as Squire Millard offered a bit of relief from his demanding scenes as Chris. ``It gave me a break,'' says Guiry, who took horseback riding lessons to prepare for his knightly activities.
But Guiry found that his most challenging scenes were not on horseback. ``There was one scene where I was talking to my dad, and I had to keep crying and crying. It was really heavy.''
Producer Byrne finds the scene in which Chris helps his dad, in deep denial, face the reality of his son's impending death to be extremely powerful. ``I think about it and I get a little ...,'' he says with a shaky voice.
The Millards, who participated in almost every stage of the project, say they didn't want the film made for Chris' memory, but for ``what the story could bring to other people.'' The couple started the Four Diamonds Fund that helps kids with cancer and their families in Hershey, Pa., for the same reason.
Byrne hopes that Chris' spirit will touch viewers of the film, especially families who watch together: ``If we can generate a conversation between young people and their parents then we've accomplished our whole quest.''
Lahti plans to have a discussion with her own 7-year-old son about the movie. ``I'll tell him that people do die from this - but what a way to go out and what a way to live because he was such an incredibly brave kid,'' she says. ``That's really the lesson I think.''
``The Four Diamonds'' airs tonight at 8 on the Disney Channel.
by CNB