The Survival of Dana

The Survival of Dana
Genre	Crime; Drama
Written by	Frank Norwood (teleplay); Tom Lazarus (story); Frank Norwood (story)
Directed by	Jack Starrett
Starring	Melissa Sue Anderson; Robert Carradine; Marion Ross
Music by	Craig Safan
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
Production
Executive producer(s)	Tony Converse; Roger Gimbel
Producer(s)	Marc Trabulus
Production location(s)	Los Angeles
Cinematography	Bruce Logan
Editor(s)	Joy Wilson
Running time	96 min.
Production company(s)	EMI Television
Distributor	CBS
Release
Original network	CBS
Original release	May 29, 1979[1]

The Survival of Dana is a 1979 CBS made-for-TV film, a teenage drama starring Melissa Sue Anderson, who experiences conflicting social values when her parents divorce and she moves from Fargo, North Dakota to the San Fernando Valley suburbs of Los Angeles.[2]

The cast also includes Robert Carradine, Talia Balsam, Marion Ross, and Judge Reinhold in his first film. Anderson was on hiatus from Little House on the Prairie and Ross (playing Dana's grandmother) was at the time a star on the series Happy Days. The Survival of Dana was directed by Jack Starrett, whose only child, Jennifer, plays Lynn, one of the members of the antisocial clique.

Plot

Dana Lee Gilbert has moved from Fargo to the San Fernando Valley to live with her grandparents after her parents' divorce. She finds her new school, Tremont High, was vandalized the night before by a teenage gang led by Donny Davis. At the end of her first day, she watches the school's ice skating team practice and wants to try out for it. Waiting for her grandmother at a shopping mall, she meets another Tremont girl, Rona Simms, who shoplifts and they are both arrested. Banned from skating, she joins the gang and starts dating Donny. One of the gang's big plans brings them into conflict with adult criminals.[3]

Cast

Melissa Sue Anderson as Dana Lee Gilbert
Robert Carradine as Donny Davis
Marion Ross as Madeline
Talia Balsam as Rona Simms
Michael Pataki as Arnold
Kevin Breslin as Skates
Judge Reinhold as Bear
Dan Spector as Anthony
Barbara Babcock as Lorna Sims
Shelby Leverington as Mrs. Blake
Dawn Jeffory as Joanie
Trent Dolan as Coach Tanner
Scott McGinnis as Paul

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References

The Survival of Dana at Rotten Tomatoes, retrieved August 16, 2020.
Earle Copp, "Copp's Beat: Has Walter Cronkite been forgotten?", The Free Lance Star (Fredricksburg, Virginia), June 9, 1981, p. 18.
Steven Puchalski, "The Survival of Dana, 1979, Shock Cinema Magazine, 2012.

External links

Survival of Dana on IMDb

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[1] The Survival of Dana at Rotten Tomatoes, retrieved August 16, 2020.

[2] Earle Copp, "Copp's Beat: Has Walter Cronkite been forgotten?", The Free Lance Star (Fredricksburg, Virginia), June 9, 1981, p. 18.

[3] Steven Puchalski, "The Survival of Dana, 1979, Shock Cinema Magazine, 2012.