In London, actress Gena Rowlands is married to the elderly Murray Matheson, a rich diamond merchant who is financing her new show. Cassavetes shows up to audition and is hired to be Rowlands' lover in the play.
An instance of art imitating life. Cassavetes and Rowlands had been previously involved and now their lust is rekindled. Fine, so far, but what about the old man she's married to? He loves his wife, and you can't just divorce him because you don't want a settlement, you want the whole ball of wax.
So Cassavetes and Rowlands plan to bump the old guy off. Their first try -- unfixing the brakes on his Rolls -- fails, but it alerts Matheson to the fact that something is going on. The guy may be old but he's not stupid. After overhearing part of a phone conversation between the conspirators, Matheson arranges things so that -- well, why give away the surprise ending that the hour-long program has been struggling towards and which the discerning viewer may have anticipated anyway.
Gena Rowlands is a beautiful woman by any measure but her epicanthic folds are really extraordinary. Somewhere in her family tree there may lurk an alien. Cassavetes has turned in first-rate performances elsewhere and is a versatile actor but in this story the director, John Brahm, should have reined him in a bit. He's a bundle of sly and nervous energy. He steals scenes. If Matheson has a line or two, Cassavetes is twirling around in front of the camera or fiddling with something.
It's an interesting tale but I think that with a little talent and effort -- rare in TV dramas -- it could have been squeezed into half an hour.
An instance of art imitating life. Cassavetes and Rowlands had been previously involved and now their lust is rekindled. Fine, so far, but what about the old man she's married to? He loves his wife, and you can't just divorce him because you don't want a settlement, you want the whole ball of wax.
So Cassavetes and Rowlands plan to bump the old guy off. Their first try -- unfixing the brakes on his Rolls -- fails, but it alerts Matheson to the fact that something is going on. The guy may be old but he's not stupid. After overhearing part of a phone conversation between the conspirators, Matheson arranges things so that -- well, why give away the surprise ending that the hour-long program has been struggling towards and which the discerning viewer may have anticipated anyway.
Gena Rowlands is a beautiful woman by any measure but her epicanthic folds are really extraordinary. Somewhere in her family tree there may lurk an alien. Cassavetes has turned in first-rate performances elsewhere and is a versatile actor but in this story the director, John Brahm, should have reined him in a bit. He's a bundle of sly and nervous energy. He steals scenes. If Matheson has a line or two, Cassavetes is twirling around in front of the camera or fiddling with something.
It's an interesting tale but I think that with a little talent and effort -- rare in TV dramas -- it could have been squeezed into half an hour.