In what's basically a lost genre by now (sexy, poolside page-turner spun into glitzy, big-screen epic), Pisier goes from an innocent, young French girl to a fabulously wealthy film actress in the course of about 8 years. Wasting no time in establishing the tawdry tone of the film, she is basically sold by her parents, as a youth, to a local couturier (a straight couturier?!) who is played by a hairy and repugnant Booke (soon to be famous as Boss Hogg on "The Dukes of Hazard"!) Her father passes on the sage advise, "Let the hand under your dress be one of gold" (one of many howlers in the movie's dialogue) as her stone-faced mother (Chauvin) looks on. Unhappy with this arrangement, she flees to France where she meets up with Beck, a Canadian airman who takes her in and falls in love with her. When he's shipped off, she waits for him to come back and marry her (made ever more urgent by the fact that she's knocked up), but things get off course. Meanwhile, Sarandon is a slightly daffy, but resourceful public relations worker who's saving herself for Mister Right. When contrivances place Sarandon and Beck in the same vicinity, they fall for each other and are married, much to Pisier's dismay. From this point, Pisier is driven to bringing Beck back to her no matter what it takes and making him hers no matter what it takes, even if it's murder. Pisier (who in some shots resembles a young Joan Collins) injects a fair amount of emotion into her meaty role, but still comes off just a touch lacking. A bigger name actress may have given the role a few more layers, though few actresses would have been as willing as Pisier to continually doff her clothes and show off her pert bust (and more.) The very petite actress wears some downright massive heels throughout the film in order to meet Beck halfway and to show off some truly eye-popping Sharaff costumes. Beck (whose chin seems more prominent in his early scenes than at any other time in his career) fails to give his role the necessary magnetism or charisma that would inspire a woman to move heaven and earth to possess him. He's serviceable at best. Sarandon gets to have the most fun, displaying everything from wacky humor to imperiousness to romance to the degradation of alcohol to even the thrill of wearing a flimsy nightgown during a thunderstorm. Other key cast members include Vallone as a barely disguised Ari Onassis clone and Gulager as Sarandon's principled boss. For some reason, Marquand is denied the same star billing as the other folks and gets lumped in with the secondary players. Perhaps it is due to his humiliating love scenes with Pisier in which she tantalizes him with her long hair and two handfuls of ice! At least he seems to have retained a sense of humor about it. Look fast for Hesseman, of all people, as a film director. The film has the unfortunate task of trying to cram nearly a decade's worth of story into feature length. Even with its bloated running time, it's still necessary to skip over a lot. The director never met a music montage he didn't love and there are many in the film. Fortunately, skilled composer Legrand is on hand to ladle some sense of romance onto the film. One great asset is the production design, which features some really striking sets (primarily belonging to Vallone's character.) There are also a few memorable sequences such as a harrowing (and harrowingly tacky) bathtub abortion and a mean-spirited trip into a deserted section of a cavern. In the end, the film cannot escape its many clichés and contrivances and its ultimate silliness, but there are a few laughs and bits of interest to be had along the way. This type of flick (see also "The Betsy" and "Jacqueline Susann's Once is Not Enough") would soon be virtually abandoned as the type of material was more often used in TV mini-series like "Scruples" (also featuring Pisier), "Princess Daisy", "Hollywood Wives" and the lame sequel to this very film "Memories of Midnight", which had Jane Seymour (!) taking over Sarandon's role.
Review of The Other Side of Midnight
