Lembranças

I found this a few months back on an Odyssey DVD in the UK ! Most of their stuff is pretty good value for money ! It's a fairly long film and it's reasonable to say that the latter half, where "things hot up" so to speak, is a good deal more captivating than the first ninety minutes. Donna Mills is to my mind a fairly attractive person on a physical level but I was totally charmed by her lovely voice and the character she portrays in the film. Her tenaciousness in wanting to find out really happened is most admirable, many others would have given up before getting half as far in her research ! The plot is fairly classic and people used to this sort of story may well guess the ending in advance though this was not my case ! ( thank God ! ). It's also, in passing, an excellent documentary on Amsterdam for those of you who are interested in visiting the Dutch capital. Numerous shots of canals and boats all help to drive the point home. Picture quality is a little too grainy for my liking ( better quality pictures were available in the 1950's ) and the sound appears to be flat uninspired mono, a bit of a shame when you consider how Mills' voice is SUCH a pleasure to listen to, not forgetting the background theme music which is not bad at all ( it "grows" on one during the film ). This is just the sort of thing you'd want to put on the telly to use up a rainy afternoon during the north European winter !

Well, agreeing with someone back there who points out that s/he has never heard of this author whose book has been adapted for this screenplay, I neither have heard of nor care to see anything else from this crew.

How it earns the ratings of "wholesome family entertainment" remains a mystery in and of itself, as ABC Family Network promotes this as "a film to draw the family together," with such a message repeating during each commercial break.

This production is over-ridden with extremely excessive violence if not terroristic cliché with multiple kidnappings, senseless slayings and bombs with timers ticking away the seconds.

And so it must be up to stars Donna Mills, Stephen Collins, Claire Bloom, Ian Richardson and Colin Stinton to draw in the audience with their fine talents and star power to try to make a go of things here. And that's the only plus to this monstrosity, a complete waste of time without these five performers and their hitherto track record of audience draw.

As this business goes, Nicky Wells (Donna Mills), a world-famous photographer/reporter becomes engaged with a Charles Deveraux (Derek de Lint), who disappears on the evening before the wedding and is presumed deceased at sea or in some foreign country or something.

Charles' mother, the lovely British noble lady Anne Deveraux Rawlings (Claire Bloom), had conceived him during her reckless youth with a father who perishes before their wedding, as well. She marries a Mister Deveraux, of Dutch extraction, to give Charles a name, but during Charles' youth, the only father whom he knows is murdered by an international terrorist organization, and so Charles vows revenge.

Anne then marries British MI-5 Agent Philip Rawlings (Ian Richardson), to share a lavish country estate. (But from what we learn of British MI-5 agents from several episodes of "Murder, She Wrote," this Intelligence operation is not nearly as bungling and clueless as is presented here, the police department, maybe, but not MI-5, which is not to be confused with the Michigan Congressional District of the same name).

Clee Donovan (Stephen Collins) meets Nicky Wells during her international investigation to locate Charles, whom she believes to be still alive, based upon evidence that she continues to receive secret gifts from him and also instructions from his fellow terrorists which could lead her to Charles (But not to turn around until after the enemy agent exits, which she does anyway.)

Now, Clee, naturally, falls madly in love with Nicky and vows to protect her, but she wants to travel to all of these dangerous countries alone because she can handle herself even though she is often kidnapped, stuffed into automobile trunks, and threatened with weapons (as in good, clean fun for the dysfunctional family, perhaps), but through it all, her makeup and hair style hold up even after an open speedboat chase through the canals of Amsterdam (which may otherwise undo the average coiffure).

Clee's patience with Nicky's determination to conceal evidence from himself, the police and MI-5 holds up much better than many an audience member may suspect (and probably a lot better than the average's viewer's patience), especially after he learns of flowers and gifts sent to Nicky from Charles, which she refuses to explain for fear of Charles' safety.

Art Morgan (Colin Stinton) and Anne Deveraux Rawlings (Claire Bloom) are by now written off, so it's up to Nicky, Clee and Philip to try to save the day from Charles, who continues to threaten poor Nicky with knives and firearms, and shooting innocent bystanders to demonstrate that he loves her more than just about anyone except for his murdered father.

After another series of impulsive murders, Charles convinces Nicky to use her celebrity to sneak him into an international peace conference, through very weak security anyway, so that he may grasp his final revenge to bomb the international delegation. Security guards merely hand them passes to admit them, without investigating the bomb because she is beautiful and famous.

International law enforcement and Intelligence agencies haven't the necessary resources to prevent these crazed acts of terrorism, and, of course, Clee is also powerless because Nicky waits to explain everything later, and so it is up to Nicky to try to save Amsterdam with her wit and dexterity, with mere seconds left on the bomb device before....

Well, those sinister terrorists rarely give the heroine or hero very much time to deactivate those bombs regardless as to which film or program uses this same identical plot, but now Nicky has ten seconds to act very quickly, and to decide who's the lucky fellow.

I'd been waiting for this to come back on television for years (really years) because I had seen only part of it years ago and like Stephen Collins and Donna.

Recently, Hoorah (I thought) it came on Lifetime Movie Network

It was on late at night and I set time tape, thinking it was the normal 2 hour movie. Well, next day, I was really into the storyline and the Clee and Nicky characters while watching it and cutting commercials, when I Sadly Realized, oh my Gosh !!! , this is over 3 hours (with commercials) and my tape (timed) ran out after 2 hours.

I would so much like to find it on Tape and purchase OR Borrow, so I can add ending to my tape. PLEASE, If anyone has it, Please write me direct... Unity_Bridge@comcast.net ~~ Please Put "Remember Clee" in Subject line so I know it's a mail to read and Not delete.

THANK YOU,

The story is that of Journalist Nicky Wells. Just the day prior to her wedding, her fiancé disappears at sea and is pronounced officially dead on the very wedding day. This story is very much about the difficulties of mourning after a sudden loss and there are also elements of action linked to the occupation of our main character. Lies, threats, kidnapping,terrorist attacks, are key ingredients to that movie but also for Donna Mills fans, it is a great watch since you get to see a good deal of her and her big baby blue eyes. As usual, Donna Mills is classy, sexy and great.If to you that's not enough, well, there's also Derek de Lint starring quite an unusual character ( very different from the one he plays in the series "Poltergeist, the legacy") This movie does the trick for a rainy Sunday in front of your TV.

I can't really rate this nonsense. It is a rather boring movie with the not so talented Donna Mills of TV fame in the leading role of a woman running around searching for something. Miss Mills spends most of the film footage brushing her hair out of her face. Did anyone ever think of hairspray or bobby pins? It became so annoying that I could even predict when she'd do it next. Her straw like hair seemed much too long for someone her age and frizzy and constantly hanging in her face. Then add her over the top make up which at times made her look like a raccoon with too much dark rings around her eyes and too much lip gloss. Wearing too tight dresses and high high heels, she came off more like a Victoria's Secret model. Her acting has always been on a one level style without too much going on in her blank stares into the camera.

Stephen Collins does a bit better with his role. Although he goes back and forth from Mills to another blonde bimbo on roller blades with an IQ of 0. So much for his integrity. As an actor I admire his body of work which has been for several years now. He can do better than this. He and Mills had no chemistry between them. Hard to believe they even liked each other. Derek de Lint plays a lack luster character and we are graced with the presence of such distinguished actors as Claire Bloom and Ian Richardson in thankless roles. At least there was some class in this loser. Don't waste your time with this unless you have nothing else to do. Based on a book by Barbara Taylor Bradford. Who is Barbara Taylor Bradford?