''Passions'' is a 1984 American made-for-television

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

written by Janet Greek and Robin Maxwell and directed by

Sandor Stern Sandor Stern (born July 13, 1936) is a Canadian writer, director and film producer best known for his horror films. Personal life Born in the northern Canadian town of Timmins, Ontario; raised in the small town of Prescott, Ontario, on the St. L ...

. The film stars

Joanne Woodward Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward (born February 27, 1930) is an American actress. A star since the Golden Age of Hollywood, Woodward made her career breakthrough in the 1950s and earned esteem and respect playing complex women with a charact ...

Lindsay Wagner Lindsay Jean Wagner (born June 22, 1949) is an American film and television actress, model, author, singer, and acting coach. Wagner is best known for her leading role in the American science-fiction television series '' The Bionic Woman'' (197 ...

Richard Crenna Richard Donald Crenna (November 30, 1926 – January 17, 2003) was an American film, television and radio actor. Crenna starred in such motion pictures as '' The Sand Pebbles'', ''Wait Until Dark'', ''Un Flic'', '' Body Heat'', the first three ...

Mason Adams Mason Adams (February 26, 1919 – April 26, 2005) was an American character actor and voiceover artist. From the late 1940s until the early 1970s, he was heard in numerous radio programs and voiceovers for countless television commercials, t ...

and Heather Langenkamp. The plot focuses on a widow who discovers her late husband led a double life and had a son with another woman during the course of their marriage. The film premiered on CBS and while the performances were met with positive reviews, the storyline has been met with some criticism.

Plot

Businessman Richard Kennerly is married to the socialite Catherine, and they have a daughter, Beth. Richard leads a seemingly normal life in

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...

with his wife and daughter, but this masks an affair he has been having for the past 8 years with an artist, Nina Simon, with whom he has a six-year-old son, Eric. Richard set Nina and their son up in a beachside home in Malibu and has been living a double life. Catherine is unaware of Nina and Richard's relationship, while Nina accepts the circumstances for what they are and continues the affair. While at home with his wife and daughter, Beth explains to Richard that she wants to move out with her boyfriend. Richard soon becomes severely ill and dies. The double life that he once lived is exposed. Catherine discovers the extramarital relationship that he had and becomes aware of who his mistress was. Devastated, Catherine discovers Richard's son, Eric, with Nina but realizes that he left nothing for the child. Catherine and Nina begin to feud, and Catherine refuses to acknowledge the child's existence. Nina wants her son's education to be paid for, but Catherine clashes with her. The two women get into a fist fight at Richard's funeral. However, they soon realize that they were both manipulated by him and settle their differences.

Cast

as Catherine Kennerly *

as Nina Simon *

as Richard Kennerly *

as Ron Sandler * Heather Langenkamp as Beth Kennerly * John Considine as Jack Blaine * R.J. Williams as Eric *

Viveca Lindfors Elsa Viveca Torstensdotter Lindfors (December 29, 1920 – October 25, 1995) was a Swedish stage, film, and television actress. She won an Emmy Award and a Silver Bear for Best Actress. Biography Lindfors was born in Uppsala, Sweden, the d ...

as Lila

Reception

The film has been met with mixed to positive reviews. Joanna Berry of ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves ...

'' praised Woodward and Wagner's performances but described the film as "predictable". Jeff Jarvis of ''

People A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...

'' said "There’s drama here and rich human interaction." and praised the direction of the film and the performances of Woodward, Wagner, Crenna, and Langenkamp.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Passions 1984 television films 1984 films 1984 drama films Carson Productions films CBS network films Films scored by Bruce Broughton Films directed by Sandor Stern American drama television films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films