***SPOILERS*** The life that the Chadways lived was anything but normal. The head of the house real estate developer Clay Chadway, Richard Crenna, seemed to take the abuse he suffered from his jealous and neurotic wife Renee, Angie Dickinson, all in stride forgiving her for every crazy and unfounded accusation that she threw at him.
With the exception of Joanne, Molly Gross, Clay treated his children as if they were total strangers to him. Clay drove his son Bobby, Jeff Kizer, to become a virtual shut-in and older daughter Lisa, Christe Lynn Smith, to rarely stay at home spending most of her time, from work at the beauty salon, staying with her friends.
It was when Clay was spotted by Renee at a local restaurant with her sister Ellen, Meg Foster, that all the secrets that he's been keeping from his children as well as himself came to the surface! As if by accident Renee's suspicions of Clay having a relationship with Ellen brought out the truth about her and the circumstance of Renee's marriage to Clay. Circumstance that were too shocking for anyone, even Clay Chadway,to even try to describe!
Trying to put on an act as the caring husband and father Clay's fantasy world was soon to come crashing down on him. It was Clay's wife Renee's unfounded accusations against him that in the end had him finally lose it. Not that Clay wasn't somewhat responsible for his unfeeling treatment of his son Bobby and daughter Lisa, for some reason that would soon come out he didn't feel the same way about Joanne, he in fact was far more innocent of the acts that Renee accused him of then she was!
***SPOILER***It was on one cold rainy night when Renee pulled another one of her disappearing acts on him that the by now out of patience Clay finally lost his cool! And that in the end cost him a lot more then what Renee ended up losing!
Even though he was the heavy in the movie Clay Chadway, or Richard Crenna, was by far the most sympathetic character in the film. Clay did everything that he could to hold his both marriage and family together but the ghosts from his, and Renee's, past were just too much for him to overcome. It was in fact Renee's guilt, not Clay's, that was far more responsible for all the horrors that she suffered in life in trying to keep her past buried.
P.S Look for an almost microscopic cameo appearance, and try to keep from blinking in order not to miss it, of actor Tony Musante as Mr. Lennox the Chadway family attorney. Musante's as the accused gay murderer in "The Detective" and the knife wielding subway psycho in "the Incident", both films made within a year of each other, were two ground breaking roles that finally put stark and shocking realism into movies coming out of the then "World of make Believe" Hollywood studios.
With the exception of Joanne, Molly Gross, Clay treated his children as if they were total strangers to him. Clay drove his son Bobby, Jeff Kizer, to become a virtual shut-in and older daughter Lisa, Christe Lynn Smith, to rarely stay at home spending most of her time, from work at the beauty salon, staying with her friends.
It was when Clay was spotted by Renee at a local restaurant with her sister Ellen, Meg Foster, that all the secrets that he's been keeping from his children as well as himself came to the surface! As if by accident Renee's suspicions of Clay having a relationship with Ellen brought out the truth about her and the circumstance of Renee's marriage to Clay. Circumstance that were too shocking for anyone, even Clay Chadway,to even try to describe!
Trying to put on an act as the caring husband and father Clay's fantasy world was soon to come crashing down on him. It was Clay's wife Renee's unfounded accusations against him that in the end had him finally lose it. Not that Clay wasn't somewhat responsible for his unfeeling treatment of his son Bobby and daughter Lisa, for some reason that would soon come out he didn't feel the same way about Joanne, he in fact was far more innocent of the acts that Renee accused him of then she was!
***SPOILER***It was on one cold rainy night when Renee pulled another one of her disappearing acts on him that the by now out of patience Clay finally lost his cool! And that in the end cost him a lot more then what Renee ended up losing!
Even though he was the heavy in the movie Clay Chadway, or Richard Crenna, was by far the most sympathetic character in the film. Clay did everything that he could to hold his both marriage and family together but the ghosts from his, and Renee's, past were just too much for him to overcome. It was in fact Renee's guilt, not Clay's, that was far more responsible for all the horrors that she suffered in life in trying to keep her past buried.
P.S Look for an almost microscopic cameo appearance, and try to keep from blinking in order not to miss it, of actor Tony Musante as Mr. Lennox the Chadway family attorney. Musante's as the accused gay murderer in "The Detective" and the knife wielding subway psycho in "the Incident", both films made within a year of each other, were two ground breaking roles that finally put stark and shocking realism into movies coming out of the then "World of make Believe" Hollywood studios.