FAQ

Southern-born English teacher and football coach Tom Wingo (Nick Nolte) is forced to leave his family behind in South Carolina and travel to New York City when his twin sister Savannah (Melinda Dillon) attempts suicide. Her psychiatrist, Dr Susan Lowenstein (Barbra Streisand), requests Tom's help in serving as Savannah's childhood "memory" when she is unable to recall her own. Along the way to helping Savannah, Tom finds his own painful memories of growing up in a dysfunctional family also need work. When Susan begins to open up and talk about her painful marriage to a famous concert violinist, the two of them fall in love, providing the therapy they both need to find their way back to their own lives.

The Prince of Tides (1986) is a novel written by American author Pat Conroy. It was adapted for the film by Conroy and American screenwriter Becky Johnson.

After spending a romantic weekend with Susan at her country cabin, Tom receives a phone call from his wife Sally (Blythe Danner), telling him that she would like him to come back to South Carolina. When Tom relays the information to Susan, she cries but admits that they knew this day would come. Savannah is released from the hospital and informs Tom that she has written a new book of poems that she titled The Prince of Tides and dedicated to him. On the last night before Tom moves back to South Carolina, he and Susan have dinner together at the Rainbow Room and slow dance into the wee hours, just like in Tom's dream. In the final scenes, Tom returns to his wife and children in South Carolina. However, every time he crosses the bridge that takes him home, he admits that he thinks to himself about "Lowenstein...Lowenstein."

Those who have both seen the movie and read the book say that the novel is much richer in detail, as well as more disturbing, than in the movie. Savannah's story, as well as the tiger's role, were larger in the novel. Luke, who is the real "Prince of Tides" in the book, was almost entirely left out of the movie and the bonds between the three children were played down, while Tom's love affair with Susan was made the central theme. The killing of the three escaped prisoners also was handled differently in the book, such that Tom killed one and the tiger killed the other two. Several viewers have commented that there were so many stories in the 600-page book that at least 4-6 different films could be shot and never repeat the same information.