This BBC TV production was based on two novels by Rosamond Lehman. Our protagonist Olivia Curtis (Lisa Eichhorn) has separated from her unsatisfactory husband and is barely managing to survive financially.
Olivia meets Rollo Spencer (Michael York) on a train and immediately falls under the spell of the charming married aristocrat. As a seventeen-year-old girl, Olivia had secretly fallen in love with Rollo at a Ball at Rollo's home. Rollo relates a tale of suffering with an unloving wife. This plays on the dissatisfaction Olivia has felt in her own marriage. It takes little persuading for the near penniless Olivia to be swept up in the lavish lifestyle Rollo can provide his new mistress.
After a series of whirlwind visits to country inns and an overseas trip to Austria, Olivia finds herself pregnant. Meanwhile Rollo has mended fences with his wife and they are on holiday in Scotland. Olivia probes her acquaintances to find a physician who will abort her child and spare her the shame of an illegitimate birth. In her desperation, Olivia contacts her estranged husband. He comes to her aid and tries to reconcile their marriage. Olivia spurns this decent man's offer in order to retain her independence.
When Rollo returns from his holiday, Olivia informs him of recent events. The wife is now pregnant and Rollo will never dissolve his marriage for sake of Olivia. Olivia breaks off their relationship despite Rollo's attempts to keep her on the string.
In typical British fashion, the story ends with Olivia's fate unresolved. It may be that the Spencers in this story are the real-life Spencers of Princess Diana fame. In any case, the film paints a very unflattering picture of British upper class behavior in the period between the wars. Olivia was no paragon of virtue here either.
This is the second film in which I have seen the American Lisa Eichhorn portray a British character. She apparently does the accent quite well.
This is rather an obscure production, and after watching it I can see this obscurity was well justified. The limited television budget and weak plot left me unsatisfied with the resulting film. Michael York's career has not been hurt by this film, but Lisa Eichhorn has toiled mostly in obscurity for her whole career.
Olivia meets Rollo Spencer (Michael York) on a train and immediately falls under the spell of the charming married aristocrat. As a seventeen-year-old girl, Olivia had secretly fallen in love with Rollo at a Ball at Rollo's home. Rollo relates a tale of suffering with an unloving wife. This plays on the dissatisfaction Olivia has felt in her own marriage. It takes little persuading for the near penniless Olivia to be swept up in the lavish lifestyle Rollo can provide his new mistress.
After a series of whirlwind visits to country inns and an overseas trip to Austria, Olivia finds herself pregnant. Meanwhile Rollo has mended fences with his wife and they are on holiday in Scotland. Olivia probes her acquaintances to find a physician who will abort her child and spare her the shame of an illegitimate birth. In her desperation, Olivia contacts her estranged husband. He comes to her aid and tries to reconcile their marriage. Olivia spurns this decent man's offer in order to retain her independence.
When Rollo returns from his holiday, Olivia informs him of recent events. The wife is now pregnant and Rollo will never dissolve his marriage for sake of Olivia. Olivia breaks off their relationship despite Rollo's attempts to keep her on the string.
In typical British fashion, the story ends with Olivia's fate unresolved. It may be that the Spencers in this story are the real-life Spencers of Princess Diana fame. In any case, the film paints a very unflattering picture of British upper class behavior in the period between the wars. Olivia was no paragon of virtue here either.
This is the second film in which I have seen the American Lisa Eichhorn portray a British character. She apparently does the accent quite well.
This is rather an obscure production, and after watching it I can see this obscurity was well justified. The limited television budget and weak plot left me unsatisfied with the resulting film. Michael York's career has not been hurt by this film, but Lisa Eichhorn has toiled mostly in obscurity for her whole career.
