Romance on the Orient Express

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Romance on the Orient Express
Romance on the Orient Express poster.jpg
Cover art
GenreRomantic drama
Written byJan Worthington
Directed byLawrence Gordon Clark
Starring
Music byAllyn Ferguson
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producerFrank von Zerneck
Producers
  • Michael Glynn
  • Robert M. Sertner
CinematographyPeter Jackson
EditorStan Hawkes
Running time96 minutes
Production companyYorkshire Television
Release
Original release4 March 1985 (1985-03-04)

Romance on the Orient Express is a 1985 British romantic drama television film directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark and starring Cheryl Ladd and Stuart Wilson.[1]

Plot[]

Lily Parker is a sophisticated American magazine editor on a business trip in Europe with her outgoing best friend Susan Lawson. Susan convinces her to travel from Venice to Paris by train, instead of by plane. They board the Orient Express, where Susan hopes to find romance. Meanwhile, the atmosphere reminds Lily of a train trip 10 years earlier, when she was a 19-year-old college student traveling through Europe with her friend Stacey. On that trip she met Alex Woodward, an aristocratic Englishman who courted her but then disappeared completely.

On the present day trip, Lily unexpectedly runs into Alex on the train, who admits that this meeting is no coincidence. Enraged over the past, she refuses to talk to him. Through flashbacks, their past story is slowly revealed. They had met on a train 10 years earlier, traveled together and deeply fell in love. Alex wanted to marry her, but his friend Sandy assured him that his father would never approve. After arriving in Paris, instead of meeting her one evening, Alex was summoned away by his father and never returned.

In the present, Alex convinces Lily to have dinner with him, but past conflicts causes her to leave prematurely. She later returns, deciding to give him another chance. They find out they were both married for five years and then divorced, but only Lily's marriage produced a child, a daughter who just turned three. Alex reveals that his father pressured him into marrying someone else, and that he never regretted anything more than leaving her. The conversation soon escalates into a passionate affair, but the next morning Lily makes clear that she has no desire to reignite their relationship or to see him again. They go their separate ways, until Alex finds out by accident from Susan that Lily's daughter, Alexandra (Lexa), is really nine years old which means he must be the father. He decides to follow Lily and Susan to Paris: they on the Orient Express and he in a dilapidated old car he bought.

Meanwhile, Lily regrets her decision of sending Alex away and for not telling him the truth about their daughter. She fears she will never love again, and decides to marry the man she had planned to meet in London at the end of this trip. On their last day in Paris, however, Alex finds Lily with Susan and Lexa at the restaurant where he had promised to meet her 10 years earlier. Alex cannot help but stare at Lexa, until Lily sees him with tears streaming down his cheeks and walks over and embraces him. As the shot pans out, we see Lexa walking over towards her parents.

Cast[]

Production[]

The film was shot on location in Italy, France and England.[2] Shortly before its premiere, Cheryl Ladd expressed her delight in Romance on the Orient Express, because the film, due to its time span of 10 years, allowed her to play two different characters.[3]

References[]

  1. ^ O'Connor, John J. (4 March 1985). "'ROMANCE,' NBC MOVIE WITH CHERYL LADD". The New York Times.
  2. ^ Hal Erickson (2012). "Romance on the Orient Express Review Summary". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012.
  3. ^ "Cheryl Ladd: more than just a pretty face" by Pat Hilton, The Spokesman-Review, 3 March 1985. p.5

External links[]

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