''Sooner or Later'' is a 1979 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

teen Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the te ...

romantic drama film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typica ...

directed by Bruce Hart, starring

Denise Miller Denise Miller (born July 17, 1963) is an American actress. She is noted for her appearances in the television sitcoms '' Archie Bunker's Place'' and ''Fish,'' as well as the made-for-television movie '' Sooner or Later''. Miller started her a ...

, Rex Smith (in his film debut),

Barbara Feldon Barbara Feldon (born Barbara Anne Hall; March 12, 1933) is an American actress primarily known for her roles on television. Her most prominent role was that of Agent 99 in the 1965–1970 sitcom ''Get Smart''. Early life Feldon was born Barbara ...

and

Judd Hirsch Judd Seymore Hirsch (born March 15, 1935) is an American actor. He is known for playing Alex Rieger on the television comedy series ''Taxi'' (1978–1983), John Lacey on the NBC series '' Dear John'' (1988–1992), and Alan Eppes on the CBS series ...

which premiered on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

on March 25, 1979. As a then up-and-coming recording artist, Rex Smith became an overnight

teen idol A teen idol is a celebrity with a large teenage fan base. Teen idols are generally young but are not necessarily teenagers. An idol's popularity may be limited to teens, or may extend to all age groups. By region Asia East Asia possess ...

immediately following the film's telecast and he achieved pop star status in America with his hit single from the film's soundtrack entitled " You Take My Breath Away", which reached No. 10 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and spent two weeks at No. 7 on the ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' Top 100.

Plot

Jessie Walters (Denise Miller) is a buoyant 13-year-old girl who goes to the Eddie Nova Guitar Institute and is stunned to discover that her guitar instructor is Michael Skye (Rex Smith), a 17-year-old aspiring musician she has just seen play with his rock band (The Skye Band) at the local shopping mall in upstate New York and with whom she is instantly smitten. Through the grace of make-up, Jessie enters the world of a 16-year-old, and she tells Michael that's her age when he gives her a ride home from class one week. They start to flirt. When Michael invites her to a band rehearsal, they kiss for the first time; when he invites her to a drive-in movie, things start moving just a little too fast, and Jessie has to quickly decide whether or not to confess.

Cast

as Jessie Walters * Rex Smith as Michael Skye *

as Lois Walters *

as Bob Walters *

Lilia Skala Lilia Skala (née Sofer; 28 November 1896 – 18 December 1994) was an Austrian-American architect and actress known for her role in the film '' Lilies of the Field'' (1963), for which she received critical acclaim and an Academy Award nomination ...

as Grandma Esther *

Morey Amsterdam Moritz "Morey" Amsterdam (December 14, 1908 – October 28, 1996) was an American actor, comedian, writer and producer. He played Buddy Sorrell on CBS's ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' from 1961 to 1966. Early life Amsterdam was born in Chicago ...

as Eddie Nova *

Vivian Blaine Vivian Blaine (born Vivian Stapleton; November 21, 1921 – December 9, 1995) was an American actress and singer, best known for originating the role of Miss Adelaide in the musical theater production of ''Guys and Dolls'', as well as appearin ...

as Make-up Artist *

Lynn Redgrave Lynn Rachel Redgrave (8 March 1943 – 2 May 2010) was an English actress. She won two Golden Globe Awards throughout her career. A member of the Redgrave family of actors, Lynn trained in London before making her theatrical debut in 1962. By ...

as The Teacher

Soundtrack

Rex Smith's self-titled LP, released by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

, is basically a

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' ...

featuring the pop/rock songs he performed in the film. The album's first four tracks are the soundtrack songs from the film composed by

Stephen Lawrence Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; h ...

and Bruce Hart: # " You Take My Breath Away" # "Sooner or Later" # "

Simply Jessie "Simply Jessie" is a song by singer/actor Rex Smith, released as the second single from his third studio album '' Sooner or Later''. The song is also featured in the 1979 made-for-television film of the same title starring Smith and Denise Mill ...

" # "Better Than It's Ever Been Before"

Production

In an interview, Rex Smith recalled his experience of achieving instant fame simultaneously with ''Sooner or Later'' and the hit single "You Take My Breath Away":

''On March 25, 1979, my life changed overnight. I was one of the stars of a made-for-TV movie called Sooner or Later, along with Barbara Feldon and Denise Miller. In the film, I was a guitar instructor, and I fell for one of my young students who lied about her age (she was only thirteen). The movie was written and directed by Bruce Hart, who also wrote the
Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...
theme. The day before the movie aired, I could walk the streets without being noticed, but that next day, I was literally swamped by five hundred girls when I tried to go shopping for clothes. Suddenly, I was this teen idol with a hit record from the film called "You Take My Breath Away", which I recorded for Columbia in one take. When it was played back in the studio, I said I needed to go to the bathroom. There, crying, I just knew I'd just recorded a big, big hit record. You can just tell. It was an amazing time in my life''.

Novelization

A paperback

novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...

of the film was written by Bruce and Carole Hart (based on their teleplay) and published by

Avon Books Avon Publications is one of the leading publishers of romance fiction. At Avon's initial stages, it was an American paperback book and comic book publisher. The shift in content occurred in the early 1970s with multiple Avon romance titles reach ...

as a promotional

tie-in A tie-in work is a work of fiction or other product based on a media property such as a film, video game, television series, board game, web site, role-playing game or literary property. Tie-ins are authorized by the owners of the original prope ...

Home media

On March 13, 2001, ''Sooner or Later'' was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

in Region 1 by Henstooth Video.''Sooner or Later'' DVD
at

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sooner or Later 1979 television films 1979 films 1979 romantic drama films American romantic drama films American coming-of-age films American teen romance films NBC network original films NBC Productions films Films set in Westchester County, New York Films shot in New York City 1970s teen romance films 1970s English-language films 1970s American films