The Bastard (TV 1978)

Phillipe Charboneau is the illegitimate son of an English duke. When he travels from France to England to claim his inheritance, he incurs the wrath of his father's family and is forced to ... See full summary »

Director:

Lee H. Katzin

Writers:

John Jakes (novel), Guerdon Trueblood

Stars:

Andrew Stevens, Tom Bosley, Kim Cattrall

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Andrew Stevens	...	Phillipe Charboneau / Philip Kent
Tom Bosley	...	Benjamin Franklin
Kim Cattrall	...	Anne Ware
Buddy Ebsen	...	Benjamin Edes
Lorne Greene	...	Bishop Francis
Olivia Hussey	...	Alicia
Cameron Mitchell	...	Capt. Plummer
Harry Morgan	...	Capt. Caleb
Patricia Neal	...	Marie Charboneau
Eleanor Parker	...	Lady Amberly
Donald Pleasence	...	Solomon Sholto
William Shatner	...	Paul Revere
Barry Sullivan	...	Abraham Ware
Noah Beery Jr.	...	Dan O'Brien
Peter Bonerz	...	Girard

Storyline

Phillipe Charboneau is the illegitimate son of an English duke. When he travels from France to England to claim his inheritance, he incurs the wrath of his father's family and is forced to flee to America, where he becomes involved in the events leading to the American Revolution.

---

Plot Keywords:

american revolution | based on novel

---

Genres:

Drama | History | Romance

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 May 1978 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Bastard: Part 1 of the Kent Family Chronicles

Company Credits

Production Co:

Operation Prime Time (OPT), Universal TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

240 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Johnny Carson joked in his Tonight Show monologue: "NBC has a new mini-series. It's called The Bastard. (Pause) I don't have a joke, I just like being able to say bastard on television."

---

Connections

Followed by The Seekers (1979)

User Reviews

An enjoyable mini-series that is very much a product of the times

I think the other reviewers are a little hard on the first part of what later turned out to be a three part mini-series. Part II, "The Rebels" was not as good as the first, and the third part "The Seekers" is kind of a throw away movie.

Still, I think "The Bastard" was pretty good and Stevens in the lead role was well cast in my opinion. Of course it doesn't have the technical sophistication that we have come to expect from more recent series like 'John Adams' but that is part of its charm.

This has a '70's' look to it all the way, and the photo locations are easily identified as California in some scene rather than England.

Heck, half the reason I like this series is because of the cheesy dialogue and there are some really good scenes such as Phillipe's encounter with Lord North on the stairway at Kentland.

Forget the bad reviews, just sit down and enjoy. No, it's not serious history but we have so little to choose on the American Revolution and the Jakes original story is quite good.

This should be available on DVD by now but alas it is not. This review is from the double VHS set.