Baby Sister (1983 TV Movie) User Reviews

Battling sisters

[triple8 · 6/10 · 27 February 2005]

SPOILERS: This movie is a dream for any Phoebe Cates fan out there. It's a pretty obscure movie that I had the privilege of viewing on TV. Phoebe plays Annie the baby sister(hence the title) of Marcia played by Pamela Bellwood.

This movie could have been called "tale of two battling sisters" because that's what it is. Oh there's other things going on and some surprisingly serious moments for such an 80's glitsfest but despite it all, this really is a showcase for the beauty of Phoebe Cates who plays the wild baby sister who winds up ruining Annie's life.

Two things about this movie-it's not as bad as it sounds and also what's funny is Bellwood is completely miscast, she's supposed to be the older serious sister, overshadowed by the sexpot Phoebe but Bellwood, is as beautiful as Cates and so it's a bit tough to buy. I happen to like both actresses and this is a decent movie of the week fare so if one's preference runs to 80's TV movies, battling sisters and a man stealing Phoebe Cates, this is most definitely the movie for you.

A classic 80s TV film that NEEDS a DVD release

[keneda-05512 · 6/10 · 6 July 2018]

Baby sister is a awesome 80s teen film that was aired by ABC back in 1983 and it has it all good scenery good romance a good story and also phoebe cates and you can't go wrong with her so basically this is a love triangle that accidentally forms and makes a lot of interesting situations and also the pace is pretty fast after the opening credits and keeps you on the edge of your seat.... and over all I recommend this scene BUT there isn't a proper physical or digital release of this movie and a lot of people don't know about it and they could really enjoy it but anyway I say watch it and also thank you for listening to my opinion......

Sometimes things just work out this way.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 12 February 2021]

This better than expected TV movie stars a young Phoebe Cates as a college dropout who shows up in Los Angeles to live with sister Pamela Bellwood, a high class art gallery owner engaged to the handsome doctor Ted Wass. With Bellwood constantly busy with art show openings, Wass gets to know his future sister-in-law a bit better, and they end up falling in love. nobody's the bad guy here. In fact, they are all really nice, just in a situation that nobody expected to happen.

Well actually there is one bad guy, sort of, and that's Bellwood and Cates' domineering father, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., who holds a resentment towards Cates for the accidental death of his first wife and their mother years ago. When Cates makes a drawing for her father for his birthday, he basically dismisses it, something his current lady friend Virginia Kiser points out as sad.

This isn't any different than what you would see on the daytime or night time soaps of the time, and in fact, it's a bit more realistic in the way that it is played out. It certainly more realistic than the stuff Bellwood had to put up with for her character of Claudia on "Dynasty". The chemistry between Wass and Cates starts off like an older brother and younger sister, but after he hires her to work in his clinic, they begin to get closer.

When she goes with him to see a young patient who has had a drug overdose, the sun has set on what he felt for Bellwood and has risen for young Phoebe. A nice love theme for them it's the story in its progression, and it's obvious that there is guilt on how they will be forced to eventually hurt Bellwood. Not earth shaking in anyway, but a reminder of the type of great women's stories that Hollywood used to make, old fashioned in many ways but in other ways timeless.

The description is wrong

[amosstubbs · 18 December 2020]

Annie didn't "concoct a scheme", she merely fell for her sister's boyfriend. And the sister and boyfriend were having trouble and were on the verge on breaking up anyway. Annie even felt guilty and tried to resist the boyfriend. It was no scheme.

Another reviewer talked about battling sisters. There were no battles, not one bit. The sisters seemed to be lifelong best friends. The only drama occurred at the very end when the sister found out about the affair and, naturally, was very hurt and felt betrayed. Yet she quickly forgave and expressed her love for Annie.

I don't know what movie some of these people were watching...

Television Movie with Pamela BELLWOOD, Ted WASS and Phoebe CATES

[ZeddaZogenau · 5/10 · 18 April 2024]

From 1981 to 1986, Pamela Bellwood, born in 1951, played one of the main roles as Claudia Blaisdel Carrington in the globally successful series DYNASTY. Her Claudia struggled with mental problems from the beginning of the series. At some point, Pamela Bellwood had enough of the series and used her private pregnancy to have herself written out of the PrimeTime soap through a dramatic death by fire. The entire hotel "La Mirage" was reduced to rubble and ashes.

The role she played in this television film broadcast on ABC on March 6, 1983 was completely different. Marsha (Pamela Bellwood) is a successful gallery owner and is married to a very attractive doctor (Ted Wass, born 1952) in Los Angeles. Her little sister Annie (Phoebe Cates, born 1963) dropped out of college after problems with their father (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) and quickly moved in with Marsha and her husband. At some point he can no longer keep his hands off the "Baby Sister" (the original title), which of course leads to considerable complications.

Not a very convincing story, the details are overly exaggerated, and it's actually only worth seeing because of the attractive stars. Ted Wass also appeared in another installment of the Pink Panther film series that year. Phoebe Cates, who has now been married to Oscar winner Kevin Kline for many years, would have to deal with the nasty "Gremlins" a year later. And before her television career, Pamela Bellwood could be admired in the disaster film "AIRPORT 77 - Lost in the Bermuda Triangle" (1977).

When it gets too hot ya gotta cool down

[kapelusznik18 · 7/10 · 16 January 2016]

***SPOILERS**** Movie about two sisters Annie & Marsha Burroughs, Phoebe Cates & Pamela Bellwood,in love with the same man struggling doctor David Mitchell, Ted Wess, that leads to fireworks by the time the movie ends. It was kid sister Annie just dropped out of collage who ends up in L.A at her older sister Marsha's pad that starts the ball rolling. That's with her getting a job as a receptionist at Marsha's boyfriend Dr. David Mitchell's clinic in South L.A. It took the tragedy of one of David's young patients to overdose on drugs that brought the two together when after coming on the scene they couldn't save his life.

Meanwhile Marsha has been up to her neck on her long awaited art gallery opening that she loses interest in David and that has him in return lose interest in her and that's where Annie comes in. At first just flirting with each other it, the affair, soon becomes serious with the two jumping in bed together with Marcha left out in the cold. It's later when one of David's junkie patients Fancher, Thomas F. Duffy, broke into his office, while he was talking things over with Annie, looking for his sh*t-drugs-that David really got so worked over by the crazed junkie that he ended up in the hospital with a brain concussion.

***SPOILERS*** Skiping her art gallery opening and rushing to David's aid Marsha learned that his "girlfriend" is also there looking after him. It's when Marsha learned that David's "girlfriend" happened to be her kid sister Annie that she completely flips. Not realizing that his "girlfriend" had earlier broke off her relationship with him and was to go back east to continue her collage education! Heart warming final with both Annie & Marsha coming to terms as well as their pop Mr. Tom Burroughs, Efrem Zimbalist-Mister Z-Jr, making up with Annie in not blaming her for her mom's as well as his wife's tragic death in a traffic accident! Something that Annie,if she didn't have enough problems already, held herself responsible for all these years since she was a little girl.

A must-have for Phoebe fans

[turkeyb · 8/10 · 2 April 2005]

As a TV movie, Baby Sister is just slightly above your run-of-the-mill. Simple plot, but interesting and entertaining nonetheless. The acting is competent, not cheesy as you come to expect from 70s-80s TV fare. And good dramatic snippets throughout, it never felt boring.

But who's kidding who, the reason to watch old productions with Phoebe Cates in them is to... well, see Phoebe Cates do her thing. And she never looked better. Tall and slim and 19, with her engagingly expressive face. If you loved her before, you'll love her twice as much after watching this.

Ridgemont was great and Gremlins was charming, but this is the one the Phoebe fan will keep at the center of their collection.