Reunion at Fairborough

I wasn't even aware of this 30-year-old US TV film from HBO until it was aired recently on the Movie Channel in the UK. I am so delighted to have discovered this bitter-sweet romance, it is an absolute gem.

It is a tale very well told, of renewed comradeship, of rediscovered romance, of tension and understanding between the generations. The emotions are real, the performances superb, especially Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr, who bring a special something to this understated but well-nigh perfect script. The rest of the American and British cast are excellent too, but I thought the standout performance was that of Judi Trott as the idealistic teenage granddaughter.

This film satisfies on so many levels, and I shall be watching my recording of it again, I know. Highly recommended.

Well, I was finally able to obtain a digital copy of this great movie (Google the title and you can as well), and I just watched it for the first time in probably 20+ years. I can tell you it is just as good today as it was the first time! Sure, it is set in the 80s and things have changed, and there are some goofy bits to it; but it is still an excellent movie! Mitchum cannot be any more natural in this role. As a matter of fact, I think I consider this to be his best work ever! Kerr is the same, it almost seems as those the two of them aren't really acting but as the characters they are playing. Buttons may have been a little over the top, as was the young lady who played Mitchum's granddaughter but I was stationed in the UK during the early 80s and she portrayed a typical CND'er of the time.

If you are a fan of this movie, make every effort to get a copy of it. As I said, it can be done and it is well worth the trouble. Why this hasn't been released on DVD is beyond me, it is simply a great movie!

So many movies I have watched with Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr. They are wonderful together. So believeable. I have watched this movie twice this year. I am sorry I didn't know about it in 1985. The nicest romance that anyone can see. Thank you. Florence Forrester-Stockton, Reno, Nevada

Please help me to find this video or see it on tv.It is one of the finest movies i think of Robert Mitchum in his career,and the supporting cast is excellent.Deborah Kerr also stars in the movie and is outstanding.Red Buttons is one of the excellent supporting actors and has another outstanding part.

The star power of Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr carry Reunion At Fairborough for the audiences watching HBO in 1985. Though this film is only a pale reflection of their previous work like Heaven Knows Mr. Allison, The Sundowners, and The Grass Is Greener, these two legends show the 1980s cable HBO viewers what being a screen legend is all about.

Mitchum plays a 60 something with little to look forward to having lost his job, made a failure at his two marriages, and with no prospects is looking toward a bleak future. He hears from Barry Morse who was a sergeant in his old Army Air Corps outfit and they're planning a reunion for the survivors where their base was, in Fairborough across the pond.

While there what better to do than look up an old wartime romance who is shop owner Deborah Kerr. Turns out they had a daughter whom he never knew about and a granddaughter as well. The daughter and her husband were killed in an automobile crash and Kerr has raised granddaughter Judi Trott who certainly was cast because of her red hair so like Kerr's famous scarlet tresses.

The film is Mitchum getting reacquainted with Kerr and getting to know the granddaughter he never knew he had. Trott is quite the radical, she's busy protesting the American air base nearby the old Army Air Corps field and the nuclear weapons there. Trott also doesn't like Americans as a rule, but she can't help liking Mitchum.

Red Buttons is in this film playing one of the enlisted men during war time who is now an alcoholic janitor. It's a wonderful performance of a man who was not blessed with the material success that Mitchum found so fleeting. Buttons really stands out in this film.

So do the old pros Mitchum and Kerr. The two liked and respected each other and it shows through in the work. It's not as good as their big screen films but I'll take them on any old screen.