Dead Before Dawn

was directed by Charles Correll, who also directed several other TV suspense movies, including "Into the Deep Woods" with Tony Perkins and Rosanna Arquette.

Primarily it is the true story of Linda Edelman, whose husband plotted to have her killed. Not a novel idea. But Cheryl Ladd is pleasant to watch, she is usually very believable in these roles, which is more than can be said for Jameson Parker, who portrays the abusive husband.

For some reason I am thinking Gerald McRaney would have been better in this movie, because he is a better actor, or perhaps because he was the foil to Jameson Parker in TV's "Simon and Simon" detective series. Jameson Parker is simply too uptight really, to even act the part of a stuffed-shirt wife beater!.

Matt Clark and Hope Lange, noted veteran actors, portray Ladd's parents. Matt Clark is particularly funny when he says at a restaurant: "I hate Italian food, it all tastes like pizza", as they are longtime Texas residents, born and bred.

All in all, give the movie a chance. Ladd does well, it is not too soapy, and movies about spousal abuse at least send a valid message to the audience.

This movie pretty much follows the sequence of events leading up to the arrest and conviction of Robert Edelman for hiring someone to murder his wife.

However there are some inaccuracies. The actor playing Edelman looked nothing like him, although the character of the man was in line with the way he was said to be - high strung, aggressive, easily angered and disrespectful toward others.

The background events leading up to the divorce are not mentioned in the movie. The couple had agreed to not have children when they married because they were of different religious beliefs. However, after a decade the wife converted to Edelman's religion, and then they had two children. But after three years, she returned to her parents Baptist faith, and this infuriated Edelman.

But much of the movie was accurate, especially the parts with the private investigator hired by Edelman. Young even looked a lot like the actor playing him.

Be warned - there are some very violent scences in this film - a first viewing shocks, surprises and keeps the spectator under a certain amount of stress. Once the novelty has worn off, further viewings find the film less interesting, and I thought that the husband would get more threatening as the film goes on. Unfortunately, Mr Zang, the pseudo oriental gentleman has too sweet a face to be a contract killer and one wonders why hubby is not prowling around at the grandparents's cabin at the end. All in all, rather a lot of script errors and incoherences - not a real "feel good let's watch-it-again" film !

The story took off straight from the beginning. No time wasted in character building. The story telling was exceptional and gave enough screen time for emotional buildup, especially the struggle the family goes through in the light of the shocking discovery. On the whole a well-made movie.

I think this role gave us an insight to Jameson's acting ability. He was a calculating, deadly bad man, who wanted his wife disposed of. He was callous and uncaring....... I loved it! He has the ability to play most roles, but I did prefer him in Simon & Simon, and miss seeing him on TV in that role. This wife's role was also very well acted by Cheryl Ladd. She was terrified of her husband, and look so on screen. But Jameson drew me to this movie. I watch all his films and would like to see more this year, if he makes any, but we shall see. I enjoy watching all his TV and Film appearances and miss seeing him on our small and big screen. COME BACK, PLEASE!