Romance on the Orient Express
| Romance on the Orient Express | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Drama Romance |
| Written by | Jan Worthington |
| Directed by | Lawrence Gordon Clark |
| Starring | Cheryl Ladd Stuart Wilson |
| Music by | Allyn Ferguson |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Frank von Zerneck |
| Producers | Michael Glynn Robert M. Sertner |
| Cinematography | Peter Jackson |
| Editor | Stan Hawkes |
| Running time | 96 minutes |
| Production company | Yorkshire Television |
| Original release | |
| Release | 4 March 1985 |
Romance on the Orient Express is a 1985 television film directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark.[1]
Plot
Lily Parker (Cheryl Ladd) is a sophisticated American magazine editor on a business trip in Europe with her outgoing best friend Susan Lawson (Ruby Wax). Susan convinces her to travel from Venice to Paris by train, instead of by plane. They board the Orient Express, where Susan hopes to find romance. Meanwhile, the atmosphere reminds Lily of a train trip 10 years earlier, when she was a 19-year-old college student traveling through Europe with her friend Stacey (Betsy Brantley). On that trip, she met Alex Woodward (Stuart Wilson), an aristocratic Englishman who courted her but then disappeared completely.
On the present day trip, Lily unexpectedly runs into Alex again on the train, who admits that this meeting is no coincidence. Enraged over the past, she refuses to talk to him. Through flashbacks, their past story is slowly revealed. They had met on a train 10 years earlier, traveled together and fell in love deeply. Alex wanted to marry her, but his friend Sandy (Julian Sands) assured him that his father Theodore (John Gielgud) would never approve. Once they arrived in Paris and instead of meeting her for dinner one evening, Alex was summoned away by his father and never returned.
In the present, Alex convinces Lily to have dinner with him, but past conflicts causes her to leave prematurely. She later returns, deciding to give him another chance. They find out they were both married for five years and then divorced, but only Lily's marriage produced a child, a daughter who just turned three. Alex reveals that his father pressured him into another marriage, and that he never regretted anything more than leaving her. The conversation soon escalates into a passionate affair, but the next morning Lily makes clear that she has no desire of rekindling with him. They go their separate ways, until Alex finds out by accident from Susan that Lily's daughter, Alexandra, is really nine years old, to whom he must be the father. He then decides to follow Lily and Susan to Paris – they still on the Orient Express and he in a dilapidated old car.
Meanwhile, Lily regrets her decision of sending Alex away and for not telling him that her daughter, conceived while they were together, is indeed his child. She fears she will never love again, and decides to marry the man she had planned to meet in London at the end of this trip. One day, however, after wandering around Paris, Alex finds Lily in a Parisian restaurant with Susan and Alexandra. Alex can’t help but stare at Alexandra, until Lily walks over to him and embraces him, with tears streaming down his cheeks.
Cast
- Cheryl Ladd as Lily Parker
- Stuart Wilson as Alex Woodward
- Renée Asherson as Beatrice
- Ralph Michael as Harry
- Ruby Wax as Susan Lawson
- Julian Sands as Sandy
- John Gielgud as Theodore Woodward
- Barry Stokes as Flavio
- Betsy Brantley as Stacey
Production
The film was shot on location in Italy, France and England.[2] Shortly before its premiere, Cheryl Ladd expressed her delight in Romance on the Orient Express, because the film, due to its time span of 10 years, allowed her to play two different characters.[3]
References
- ^ O'Connor, John J. (4 March 1985). "'ROMANCE,' NBC MOVIE WITH CHERYL LADD". The New York Times.
- ^ "Romance on the Orient Express Review Summary". The New York Times.
- ^ "Cheryl Ladd: more than just a pretty face" by Pat Hilton, The Spokesman-Review, 3 March 1985. p.5