The Girl Who Came Gift-Wrapped

They insist I write ten lines...which I don't really want to do, All I wanted to do was to thank the people who wrote these reviews. As the writer of this MOW, I appreciate the great reviews and comments. After all these years, it's nice to see the movie struck some chords. It was fun to do and though there were some changes... rewrites by others, I still enjoyed the final product and working with the terrific actress Karen Valentine who became a friend. Both this and another MOW that I wrote were Top Ten in ratings in those early days of MOWs. So, to everyone who liked it... Thanks a lot!!

Susan Silver

I faintly remembered this movie, but figured since it had Karen Valentine in it, it cannot be that bad. It is actually a very cute movie, and reminds me of "Love American Style" Karen Valentine plays a girl that is hired by a friend of a big-time Magazine publisher. She shows up at his door with nothing on but a bikini and wrapping bow for his birthday. They just don't make made-for-tv movies like this anymore! The VHS print that I viewed was awful! Time has not been kind to the print the distributor used. The film was in rough shape during changeovers, and the colour was bad-people looked flaming pink or morbid grey. The only good thing was that it was recorded in SP. It would be nice if the older TV movies were treated with a little more respect, for this movie it would have been better to be out-of-print, than the crusty version that's available on the market.

Richard Long plays Michael. He's a very successful guy and has every reason to be happy. But he's just turned 40 and is in a funk. To help him out, a co-worker (Tom Bosley...NICE Tom Bosley of all people) hire a woman (Karen Valentine) to arrive at Michael's house...gift wrapped in a bow. But Michael is no cad. Instead of a quickie, he just spends the evening talking to his 'gift' and soon the pair become friends. What he doesn't realize is that his 'gift' really likes him and would like to become more than just friends. The problem is that Michael is a very damaged guy and has serious problems with commitment and intimacy. What's next in this strange comedy-romance?!

If you grew up long ago like I did, you'll enjoy seeing all the familiar TV faces in this made for TV film. Richard Long ("The Big Valley"), Karen Valentine ("Room 222"), Farrah Fawcett ("Charlie's Angels"), Tom Bosley ("Happy Days"), Dave Madden ("The Partridge Family") and Rita Shaw ("The Ghost and Mrs. Muir") are among the familiar TV folks you'll see in this one.

So is it any good? Yes. While not among the deepest things I've ever seen, it is enjoyable and has some interesting messages about commitment and modern love.

Aaron Spelling-Leonard Goldberg TV-movie from ABC in 1974 follows a pretty predictable formula: swinging bachelor meets his match, learns a lesson in love, discovers growing up isn't a bad as he thought it would be. Richard Long is a magazine publisher celebrating the big 4-0 who doesn't think his "present" from the fellas, wisecracking Karen Valentine in a skimpy outfit, is very amusing. After trading barbs with the former beauty pageant winner, he finds they have an attraction of sorts and she sticks around. Perhaps because the writer of this teleplay was a woman (Susan Silver), Long's would-be lascivious lifestyle is frowned upon--he's the one who needs (and gets) the make-over. Still, this female point-of-view provides some interesting subtext, and when Long refuses to say "I love you" (preferring instead the all-inclusive "love ya!"), the dialogue and situations show a sensitivity that isn't always found in these television quickies. Lots of fine supporting players pop up (including Farrah Fawcett and Tom Bosley), and the low-budget isn't too distracting.

........., my home town, and that's why I sought this made-for-TV film out. I heard one of the writers was a pal of Daniel J. Travanty (who's also from Kenosha), and thereby the in-joke, where Karen Valentine's character has the line "The whole world's working on a new morality, and in Kenosha, they still refer to Ingrid Bergman as 'that woman'". Just a cute, forgotten little opus which serves to mark the next-to-last film of Richard Long's career.