Suzanne Pleshette receiving top billing attracted me, like a moth to this flame of a show immediately, and I was rewarded with a strong, glamorous performance by her, a talented actress who rarely was cast as the central figure. But the surprise here is a towering performance by "special guest star" Stanley Baker, portraying a self-centered, misanthropic author with an acid tongue.
Their story is told in embedded flashbacks from a script by Stanford Whitmore, who seems to be channeling the approach so often favored by Orson Welles, in such films as "The Immortal Story", "Mr. Arkadin" and "Lady from ShanghaI". Not the detail, but the spirit of the storytelling.
Show opens with a tour of The Citadel located in Sicily, Baker's home as the tour guide narrates the tortured tale of his last days and the melodrama concerning the "great man's" fate. In non-linear fashion we witness his widow, Pleshette, closing the place five years after her husband's death and firing the loyal house staff, then going back in time to when she first arrived, hired as Baker's secretary, to type up his latest novel from his manuscript.
She idolizes him but he is mean and belittling to her (he calls her "kiddo") and everyone, almost acting like a civilian Don Rickles, holding court at parties where well-heeled people enjoy his cruel putdowns.
The saga leads to their unlikely marriage, her quick disillusionment of having to live in his shadow, neglected and unfulfilled, her seduction by a sleazy Sicilian lothario/criminal, nicely played by John Saxon with a fake moustache, and several inventive twists and turns including tricks of fate.
Like Welles, the pleasure of mythmaking permeates this forgotten TV episode. The three main characters, and what they represent, are larger than life and yet highly personal thanks to the acting talent. Pleshette's transformation is remarkable and the thematics are powerful.
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