Live Again, Die Again

Many, many, many years before, Thomas Carmichael (Walter Pidgeon) had his wife, Caroline (Donna Mills) put into suspended animation as she lay dying--in the hope that one day she can be revived from deep freeze and be cured. Now, 35 years later, she's awakened and her heart condition corrected and life is grand...right?! Well, maybe...maybe not. It seems that this pretty young woman is married to an old man and her children are older than she is! And, she knows very few people. Obviously, it will take some time to adjust to her new life. What takes longer to deal with is her deranged daughter...and that girl has some SERIOUS issues!!

I liked the idea of a woman waking up after decades and seeing how much things have changed as well as the strain this would put on a marriage. I really think the whole deranged daughter angle muddled this idea and was more of a distraction than anything else. Either do a psychotic daughter film OR make one about a woman frozen and then thawed decades later and her adjustment to life post-thaw...but not both. As a result, the film really lost me and it just seemed muddled. It could have been, and SHOULD have been, so much better.

You know the kind of movie that, when you describe it out loud to someone else, sounds utterly ridiculous? Well this is one of those films. Thing is, though, 'Live Again, Die Again' is actually a pretty decent film. Donna Mills, as always, is gorgeous as the main character who's been cryogenically frozen for over 30 years and comes home to find everyone changed. Even harder for her to come to grips with is the fact that her daughter is apparently certifiable. And what's worse, she's got a lot of angst from growing up sans mama and seems to be intent on destroying anything that reminds her of her mother...especially her mother herself. Even though the slight 'twist' is somewhat predictable, there's still a lot of fantastic suspense build up in this film. It held my attention quite well. My only complaint is in the editing of the final scenes. The odd choice to use multiple shots in one frame and over the top of one another actually made it hard to figure out what was going on....and that's not a good thing when you're dealing with the climax of the movie. This is certainly not one of the best movie ever made. It's not even the best TV movie ever made, but all in all, it's a forgotten film that's worth giving a go. You won't be disappointed.

I have the vaguest recollection of this film when it came on TV. I remember Mike Farrell sitting at the dinner table, going "Mommy's home, Mommy's home" so I understood that she was supposed to be his mother.

And I remember her running to hug her husband, Walter Pigeon, who now was an old man.

Wouldn't mind seeing it again tho, now for it's nostalgia, but it did seem wonderfully melodramatic.

Donna Mills seemed more at ease in pieces like this than she did on Knots Landing.

It seems like there did emerge a mystery of some sorts, that someone was trying to kill her. I don't even recall how it ended, I was so young, but I often think of this movie when I think of other films like Five Deserpate Women and Elevator.

Having contracted a deadly case of rheumatic fever, a young wife and mother by the name of "Caroline Carmichael" (Donna Mills) is cryogenically frozen, awaiting the right time when medical technology can bring her back to life. Eventually, 34 years later, she is revived and returns to her wealthy husband, "Thomas Carmichael" (Walter Pidgeon), and their two children, "James Carmichael" (Mike Farrell) and "Marcia Carmichael" (Vera Miles). But things are not the same as when she last saw them. Thomas is much older and in very bad health. And while James has turned out to be a fine young man, Marica has been mentally ill since her mother's incapacitation, and Caroline's return seems to exacerbate her condition. Two other characters have also become quite prominent within the family. The first is the nanny named "Sissy O'Neill" (Geraldine Page), who has looked after Thomas and the children since Caroline essentially passed away. The other person is a man by the name of "Joe Dolan" (Cliff Potts), who serves as Thomas' right-hand man and takes care of any problems that might occur. Even so, something is dreadfully wrong within the house, and Caroline's reappearance seems to be the catalyst that produces the mayhem that follows. Anyway, rather than reveal the rest of the story and possibly spoil the movie for those who haven't seen it, I will just say that this was more of a mystery-thriller than a science-fiction movie. Donna Mills looked great and performed quite well. Unfortunately, the movie itself was somewhat murky, and the ending was also a bit confusing. Likewise, I would have preferred to see more of Vera Miles. That said, I suppose it was a decent enough movie for the time spent, and I rate it as about average.

Donna Mills really was and is a good actress. Too bad she didn't get more roles like this and was stuck on "Knots Landing" for so long. This is another one of those great "Made for TV" movies. Here she plays a woman brought back to life after being frozen for many years, which in itself was ahead of it's time as the subject was in the news years later. Her kids are now older than she is, and are quite bitter that they were not only deprived of their mother but are somewhat jealous that she looks like a fashion model while they are old and saggy! The skeletons keep flying out of the closets in this "70's noir thriller". Good cast and direction keep your interest. It's sad there are not more actors around today who can compare with these. The story is a little hokey but the charisma and talent of cast keep this interesting. There ought to be a "Made for TV Movie" Channel on cable!