This soapy melodrama has enough intrigue and backstabbing to cover the 9 seasons of the then recently cancelled "Dynasty", with a top notch witchy villainess in top Manhattan society matron Eva Marie Saint, deservedly winning an Emmy for playing the nastiest snob ever recorded on film. She's the mother of a gay son who informs her over an awkwardly polite dinner that he is dying of AIDS related lymphoma. She's rather cold to his partner which leads to a delicious revenge that is more destructive to her than the objects utilized.
That's just one story in this two part movie that starts off with the murder of the daughter of Ben Gazzara and Jean Simmons who are still friendly after being divorced, brought together by the love of their sweet daughter and the tragedy that follows. There's also Connie Selleca, once a stewardess, now married to wealthy Dennis Farina, who has info on the man convicted of the murder. These two stories are the glue that holds this together with little threads of subplots sticking out.
With society matron names like Maisie and Dolly, this has a bit of a gimmicky feel to it, and supporting performances by Ruta Lee as a Liz Taylor like actress raising funds for AIDS research, Holland Taylor as a Cindy Adams like gossip columnist, Beatrice Straight as a flashy party giver and Susan French as an Iris Apfel like fashion designer (minus the glasses) adds spark. Paul Williams plays a Truman Capote lookalike whose pretentiousness can be smelt from the screen.
The script indicates subtly that the snootier characters are getting a critical finger wagging and society in general being declared obsolete in its antiquitated ways. Saint's character is so vile that it is obvious without saying it, she's enjoying the chance to show how empty extreme wealthy people like this are, especially when she throws away the dinner plates and utensils that her son just ate off of. This flies by very fast for a three hour movie and doesn't need any editing whatsoever.
That's just one story in this two part movie that starts off with the murder of the daughter of Ben Gazzara and Jean Simmons who are still friendly after being divorced, brought together by the love of their sweet daughter and the tragedy that follows. There's also Connie Selleca, once a stewardess, now married to wealthy Dennis Farina, who has info on the man convicted of the murder. These two stories are the glue that holds this together with little threads of subplots sticking out.
With society matron names like Maisie and Dolly, this has a bit of a gimmicky feel to it, and supporting performances by Ruta Lee as a Liz Taylor like actress raising funds for AIDS research, Holland Taylor as a Cindy Adams like gossip columnist, Beatrice Straight as a flashy party giver and Susan French as an Iris Apfel like fashion designer (minus the glasses) adds spark. Paul Williams plays a Truman Capote lookalike whose pretentiousness can be smelt from the screen.
The script indicates subtly that the snootier characters are getting a critical finger wagging and society in general being declared obsolete in its antiquitated ways. Saint's character is so vile that it is obvious without saying it, she's enjoying the chance to show how empty extreme wealthy people like this are, especially when she throws away the dinner plates and utensils that her son just ate off of. This flies by very fast for a three hour movie and doesn't need any editing whatsoever.