Unfortunately for this review, I have just finished viewing the Robert Mitchum-Deborah Kerr 1985 TV movie "Reunion at Fairborough" when I came upon "Romance at the Orient Express" starring Stuart Wilson and Cheryl Ladd and decided to view it. (I must have misread the title and thought it was a new version of an Agatha Christie mystery novel; I was awaiting the report of a murder at any time. I took a second look at the title and true enough, it's a romance, not a murder mystery.) Ha-ha!
Surprisingly, "Orient " and "Fairborough" have the exact same plot. It is the hackneyed template of across-the-pond lovers separated by unavoidable circumstances (a contractual marriage in Orient Express and the end of the war in Fairborough.) In the Wilson-Ladd romance, the man (Alex Woodward) is English and the woman (Lily Parker) is American. In the Mitchum-Kerr romance, the woman (Sally Wells Grant) is English and the man (Carl Hostup) is American.
Unbeknownst to the man in each story, during the long separation, the woman gave birth to his baby and singlehandedly raised it, so that there is much surprise when years later (about 40 years with the Mitchum-Kerr couple; 10 years with the Ladd-Wilson couple) they inadvertently meet again. But that's where the similarities end.
In the Wilson-Ladd romance, their baby, initially not shown in the film, is a nine-year-old girl given the feminine version of her father's name, Alexandra. In the Mitchum-Kerr romance, their baby (also not shown in the film) is a grownup wife and mother who died with her husband in an accident, leaving Mitchum and Kerr with a 19-year-old obnoxious granddaughter who is an annoying peace activist and dismissive of Americans.
I'm sorry to say, Romance on the Orient Express cannot even begin to hold a candle to Reunion at Fairborough. Aside from the sweet love between the young couple, there's very little substance to back up the story in Orient Express. Only the character of Susan Lawson as Ruby Wax gives it a small uplift but it's not enough. It shows Cheryl Ladd bitterly moping and moping and moping about something Stuart Wilson and this movie viewer could never fathom.
OK, I get it. The love-of-her-life a long time ago disappeared without a trace, leaving her to raise their daughter alone. But, lucky her (not all abandoned women have that fortune) he has come back, more loving than ever, extremely sorry for what had happened, consoles and comforts her, ready to endure whatever punishment she might want to deal him with, even makes love to her the way she had long longed for. Yet she cannot forgive and she continues to mope and mope. I'm sorry, because of her irritating endless moping, I stopped watching the film some way before the end.
Contrast that with the Deborah Kerr character (Sally Wells Grant) who receives her former lover with a cordial (courteous and friendly) wait-and-see attitude until she feels safe enough to rekindle the spark. She does it with real class and elegance that even in her old age, rekindling the romance is far from cringey. Moreover, Fairborough satisfies in many levels. The heartwarming reunion members of WWII bomb squadron provides a great back up to the story and their different tales of heartbreaks and triumphs give much substance to the film.
On the other hand, Romance on the Orient Express is a flat, slow-moving story, set in a fast-running train. Boring.
Surprisingly, "Orient " and "Fairborough" have the exact same plot. It is the hackneyed template of across-the-pond lovers separated by unavoidable circumstances (a contractual marriage in Orient Express and the end of the war in Fairborough.) In the Wilson-Ladd romance, the man (Alex Woodward) is English and the woman (Lily Parker) is American. In the Mitchum-Kerr romance, the woman (Sally Wells Grant) is English and the man (Carl Hostup) is American.
Unbeknownst to the man in each story, during the long separation, the woman gave birth to his baby and singlehandedly raised it, so that there is much surprise when years later (about 40 years with the Mitchum-Kerr couple; 10 years with the Ladd-Wilson couple) they inadvertently meet again. But that's where the similarities end.
In the Wilson-Ladd romance, their baby, initially not shown in the film, is a nine-year-old girl given the feminine version of her father's name, Alexandra. In the Mitchum-Kerr romance, their baby (also not shown in the film) is a grownup wife and mother who died with her husband in an accident, leaving Mitchum and Kerr with a 19-year-old obnoxious granddaughter who is an annoying peace activist and dismissive of Americans.
I'm sorry to say, Romance on the Orient Express cannot even begin to hold a candle to Reunion at Fairborough. Aside from the sweet love between the young couple, there's very little substance to back up the story in Orient Express. Only the character of Susan Lawson as Ruby Wax gives it a small uplift but it's not enough. It shows Cheryl Ladd bitterly moping and moping and moping about something Stuart Wilson and this movie viewer could never fathom.
OK, I get it. The love-of-her-life a long time ago disappeared without a trace, leaving her to raise their daughter alone. But, lucky her (not all abandoned women have that fortune) he has come back, more loving than ever, extremely sorry for what had happened, consoles and comforts her, ready to endure whatever punishment she might want to deal him with, even makes love to her the way she had long longed for. Yet she cannot forgive and she continues to mope and mope. I'm sorry, because of her irritating endless moping, I stopped watching the film some way before the end.
Contrast that with the Deborah Kerr character (Sally Wells Grant) who receives her former lover with a cordial (courteous and friendly) wait-and-see attitude until she feels safe enough to rekindle the spark. She does it with real class and elegance that even in her old age, rekindling the romance is far from cringey. Moreover, Fairborough satisfies in many levels. The heartwarming reunion members of WWII bomb squadron provides a great back up to the story and their different tales of heartbreaks and triumphs give much substance to the film.
On the other hand, Romance on the Orient Express is a flat, slow-moving story, set in a fast-running train. Boring.