TV movie on Smarts may hold surprises

Producers of a TV movie about the abduction of Elizabeth Smart are saying the film will be a testament to the strength of Elizabeth and her family. They also hint that there may be a few surprises.

In a preview that aired Saturday night, CBS gave a sneak peek of the television movie, "The Elizabeth Smart Story," which is scheduled for broadcast Nov. 9.

Mixed with movie clips, interviews with Ed and Lois Smart and television news footage, Saturday's hourlong program, "Elizabeth Smart America's Girl," took viewers through the entire nine months, beginning the night Elizabeth was taken from her bedroom to the surprising and celebratory end when she was found on the streets of Sandy and a community rejoiced in her safe return.

Ed and Lois Smart recounted seeing their daughter for the first time at the Sandy City Police Department and not recognizing her — she had changed and grown.

"I opened the door and there's a girl sitting at the sofa with her arms folded," Ed Smart says in the CBS interview. "The girl was not the Elizabeth that I knew. . . . She had grown tremendously."

Lois Smart also said she had a hard time recognizing her daughter, but once confirmed, it was an emotional moment for parents and daughter. "She was sobbing and I was crying," Lois Smart said in the interview.

Clips from November's movie showed the actors who play the parents, Elizabeth and her younger sister, Mary Katherine. In one scene, the film portrays Ed Smart undergoing a lie detector test by Salt Lake police, who ask him if he kidnapped his own daughter and then if he killed her. The film also promises to give an account of what Elizabeth experienced while in the custody of Brian David Mitchell, known as Emmanuel, and his wife, Wanda Barzee, who are charged with kidnapping.

CBS says the movie also will depict how Elizabeth tried to escape several times, including how she attempted to etch her name on a bathroom wall while her captors were not looking.

The movie is just part of a media revival of the kidnapping story. On Oct. 24, NBC will air an hourlong "Katie Couric Special: Bringing Elizabeth Home," which will include Elizabeth Smart's first TV interview.

In a few weeks, people can read Ed and Lois Smart's account of their experience when their book, "Bringing Elizabeth Home," hits store shelves.

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E-MAIL: gfattah@desnews.com