Death in Small Doses (1995 film)

Death in Small Doses
Genre	True crime
Written by	Scott Swanton
Directed by	Sondra Locke
Starring	Richard Thomas Tess Harper Glynnis O'Connor Shawn Elliot
Music by	Jeff Rona
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producers	Robert Greenwald Carla Singer
Producer	Philip Kleinbart
Cinematography	William A. Fraker
Editor	John W. Wheeler
Running time	92 minutes[1]
Production company	Robert Greenwald Productions
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	January 16, 1995 (1995-01-16)
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Death in Small Doses is a 1995 American true crime television film directed by Sondra Locke and written by Scott Swanton. It was produced by Robert Greenwald Productions and stars Richard Thomas, Tess Harper, Glynnis O'Connor and Shawn Elliot. The film is a dramatization of the 1991 death of wealthy Dallas resident Nancy Lyon (played by O'Connor) by arsenic poisoning, a crime for which her husband Richard Lyon (Thomas) was the police's main suspect.

Locke was drawn to Swanton's script due to its ambiguity concerning Richard's guilt, which she thought would keep the audience guessing. Thomas similarly liked that the film does not give a definitive resolution to the crime unlike most other crime dramas. Marking her television directorial debut, Locke found the tight schedule to be a challenge and noted that the nature of the true crime genre limited the dramatic scope of the story. The film was shot on location in Charlotte and Monroe, North Carolina, in early 1993.

After having its release date delayed for a year, Death in Small Doses premiered on ABC on January 16, 1995, to mixed reviews. Critics who found the film engaging mostly attributed its success to Locke's direction and Thomas' performance. Others criticized the underdeveloped and unsympathetic characters, while the ambiguous resolution drew mixed reactions. The film received a Nielsen rating of 11.0, making it the 40th-highest-rated prime time broadcast for its respective week.