Chain of Passion Part 2: Harlequin Adaptations and the Shades of Love Series

Here is part two of my look at Romance TV movies. If you were curious about part one, you can click on this link , or just keep in mind that the mid 80s were all about the revolution of Romance Theatre on VHS and hot kisses in cool rain. OK, you're set! Enjoy!

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Showtime took a shot at bringing the passion and moniker of the Harlequin romance books to the small screen in 1986. The first film, Love with the Perfect Stranger, starred Marilu Henner as an American businesswoman who finds love and adventure in Italy. Such a no-brainer. Sign me up!

From Harlequin's At the Midnight Hour
The Harlequin films were a co-production between Harlequin Books, Showtime, Video Ventures and Yorkshire Television, Ltd. Harry Chandler, who was in charge of Showtime’s program development remarked that “romance was something the audience wasn’t getting,” and that it was a “good compliment for male orientated programming, like boxing.” And how!

At the time, Harlequin romance novels accounted for 35% of all book sales! What a great market to tap into and in 1987, Showtime also aired Cloud Waltzing and Dreams Lost, Dreams Found. There have been over a dozen Harlequin movies released to date, some of which aired on Showtime, while the rest were televised in the 90s as Sunday afternoon movies on CBS. Lest we forget that the success of these films is often considered the precursor to our favorite television for women, Lifetime.

Thank. You. Harlequin.

The success of the Romance Theatre distribution and perhaps the release of the Harlequin movies prompted the creation of the Shades of Love Series in 1987. Shades has a somewhat dicey history. Co-producer L/A House, which was run by Kenneth Achity saw great potential in the market. However, every source I checked has a different story on where Shades was originally released. Some say the series was made for television, others say they were produced for the direct to home video market and still there are others who claim some were made for cable TV and also made for video! Geesh! Can anyone clear this up?

I’m a huge Shades of Love fan. This Canadian series of films featured many a hunky and familiar TV face, such as Dack Rambo, Simon MacCorkindale and the swoon-erific Parker Stevenson. The female love interests were lesser-known Canadian actresses. The idea was that the viewers could envision themselves in the female role, and fantasies would ensue! Shades had much higher production values than Romance Theatre, and a bit of nudity which I assume was to entice the boyfriends/husbands who were forced to watch it. Hey, everybody wins, right?

The 80s were a great place to find love in the afternoon, on cable and on video. It’s unfortunate that most of these movies have fallen by the wayside, with the exception of the latter round of Harlequin TV movies, which are mostly available on DVD. Below are my recommendations for the Shades of Love and Harlequin series, should you so desire. And it’s all about desire, right?

Shades of Love:

Make Mine Chartreuse: Yes, this is perhaps the worst titled movie ever, but boy, is it ever romantic and fun! Chartreuse converted me into a complete Joseph Bottoms lover. He plays a romance writer who falls for a pretty business executive (played well by Catherine Colvey). Their careers keep getting in the way of the sexy stuff, but by the end, you know these two are destined for long nights of… um, chartreuse, which is the name of a drink in the movie. OK. It’s still romantic and silly and all those things that make me giggle. I love.

Honorable Mention: I like all of the Shades of Love movies I’ve seen so far, and I’m going to mention two more.  

Champagne for Two: This was the first movie in the Shades series I saw and it is just the cutest movie ever (yes, that’s my critical review of it). It’s sweet, the leading lady is great and the love interest (Nicholas Campbell) is pretty damn sexy. See it!

The Rose Café: Full disclosure: It’s really not my favorite in the series, but it does feature Parker Stevenson as the perfect leading man. The lead actress (Linda Smith) is a bit grating, but Parker smoothes the whole thing out with his luscious locks and gorgeous blue eyes. I’ve seen this one probably more than the others in the series because I just can’t get enough of Mr. Stevenson. And I’m thinking I need to give it another spin soon!

Harlequin: I haven’t seen as many of these, so I’m only able to recommend one, but it’s great.

Change of Place: This piece of fluffy goodness is about a top model that has to go into rehab so she asks her mousey art historian twin sister to replace her! No joke. Rick Springfield owns the fashion house she works for, and love blooms amongst the shoulder pads and stonewashed jeans. I bought this movie on a whim because I adore Rick, and I was happily pleased with it. The lead actress, Andrea Roth is gorgeous and talented and I was rooting for her the whole way.

And just cuz it’s my blog, here are some Danielle Steel adaptation recommendations:

Daddy: Yes, I know this is not the fan favorite of Steel’s wonderful tele-films, but it’s the one I watch the most. Patrick Duffy is fantastic as the happy family man who has his life torn apart when his cold-hearted wife (Kate Mulgrew playing one of the most dislikable characters I have ever come across) leaves him. He ends up meeting the gorgeous Lynda Carter, and the story is just so darn engaging and well done. It’s a perfect rainy afternoon movie, and one I love with all my heart.

Secrets: I can’t say enough good things about this one. It’s pretty over the top, featuring a story about a nighttime soap where the actors’ lives are just as melodramatic as their characters. This is a fast and fun flick. And I have to give a nod to Stephanie Beacham who appears in both this and A Change of Place. I so want to be her!
 

TVM Inspiried: Insidious

I've got an article up at Kindertrauma for the new horror film Insidious. I loved it, by the way! This review mostly takes a look at some TV movie references I saw in the film (whether they were intended or not, that's how I roll!), so I added it to the my TVM Inspired list. Warning: There are spoilers so read at your own risk... oh, and enjoy!

TVM Inspired: Attack of the Beast Creatures (1985)

I don’t mean to quote Blood Diner (yes, I do!), but Trilogy of Terror is one of those movies that sneaks up on you surreptitiously and bites you on the shorts. Guaranteed that if you saw this movie as a kid (as I did one fine Saturday afternoon), you remember every second of it. Well, maybe not every second of the first two in the infamous trilogy, but the third installment, simply title Amelia featuring a creepy little Zuni Fetish doll chasing Ms. Karen Black (creepy in her own right) around her horrendously wallpapered apartment was unforgettable. The end shot is the stuff nightmares are made of.












That little old Zuni doll sure did resonate with people and even inspired a sequel many years later (although the story took place on the very same night). The follow-up is essentially a remake and might have been a total loss if it weren’t for that dang doll. But a direct sequel isn’t the only inspiration that came out of that apartment. In 1985 a small regional filmmaker unleashed Attack of the Beast Creatures, which is a wonderful, mostly undiscovered, treasure trove of a film. I picked up my copy because I’d stumbled across an incredible review on Bleeding Skull and I just had to get a better look at those Zuni inspired beasties. I was not let down. Shot with a cast made up of what I assume were local theater actors, this movie is a period piece, features decent costumes, mixed but generally respectable acting and about 100 of those little dolls. In that respect, it actually one ups Trilogy (granted, the puppetry does leave a little something to be desired). It’s so much fun watching these little things attack… and attack… and attack. Why not take a look for yourself:




And they pray to their god!

Adorable!
As far as I know Beast Creatures was only ever released on VHS, but it’s not too hard to find and I got my copy off of Amazon. If you love small budget horror (and who doesn’t) and have always wanted to feast your eyes on a gaggle of imitation Zuni Fetish dolls, Beast Creatures is must for you!


Attack of the Beast Creatures Image Gallery:


































Gotta love that Zuni:





Note: While I was researching this post I came across this awesome review. Great minds think alike!

X Files: I Want to Believe (2008)

OK, this review fits. Think about it. A television show made into a theatrical film that feels like a made for TV movie! Wow. Everything I’ve dreamed of and more!

I’ve been a long time fan of the X Files from episode #1. At that time, only one other person I knew was watching the show. How surprising it was that a year later it had become the biggest thing going around. I went to the conventions, I’ve met some of the actors and a group of friends and I used to meet every Friday to salivate over that night’s episode. I collected every book, magazine and book on tape I could get my hands on and spent hours hypothesizing over why Scully chose not to believe.



At some point, this phenomenon, at least for me, kind of burned out. I watched the show until it ended, but I lost that fervor I once had just a few seasons before. I’m not sure what changed in me, but I do know it wasn’t just the show. Yeah, it wasn’t the same after Mulder left, but it was still one of the better shows on television. I think I was just growing up and responsibility took hold over entertainment. Those are bittersweet memories for me.

I Want to Believe brought back some of that feeling that I had in the beginning. It’s basically an episode of the show shot for the theater. It’s a good idea to check any preconceived notions you may have at the door. This is not Fight the Future, which was a mind boggling, epic version of the series. It was good, but it’s not this movie which harkens back to the first few seasons of the show, when it was just finding its true strength. I Want to Believe is far more cerebral than Fight could ever hope to be. This movie reminded me a lot of the episode Beyond the Sea (Season One, Episode Twelve), which is the episode where Scully first has to deal with the contradictions of the faith she was brought up on and the idea that something else is out there. In fact, Beyond is referenced in I Want to Believe. A couple of other episodes are too (like Clyde Bruckman's Repose), but this is the one that sticks.

 

Six years have gone by and Scully has given up the bureau and taken a gig as a medical doctor at a Catholic church. Even here, Scully is constantly questioning her faith as she wonders why a God would bring a child into the world only to take it away. But for Scully, this lifestyle has become preferable and she’d rather only think of the X Files as something from her past. She is now completely coupled with Mulder who spends his days as an armchair investigator, ripping various articles out of papers in the desperate hope that he can find something… anything that will have made his years with the FBI worthwhile. When a FBI agent goes missing, Mulder and Scully are pulled back into the fray of bureaucratic red tape and adversity. Here they encounter an ex-priest convicted of pedophilia. He claims to have extrasensory powers and is helping the FBI locate the agent. Aside from being a potential con-artist looking for attention and redemption, he also brings up all those questions Scully had been tangling with.

I Want to Believe is great, but I’m not sure why it was released not only in the summer months, a time for giant action packed blockbusters, but also released one week after the mega-hit The Dark Knight. This is the kind of movie that would fare much better in fall, when audiences are more prone to watching smaller, more character driven stories. Ultimately, I Want to Believe was a box office flop, but as a film that makes you think, and as one that draws you closer to two of the best characters the small screen ever saw, this movie is nothing short of a spectacular winner.

Still beautiful after all of these years