"I'll Take Manhattan" (1987) TV mini-series 1987-

Directors:

Douglas Hickox
Richard Michaels

Writers:

Diana Gould (1987)
Judith Krantz (novel)
(more)

Release Date:

1 March 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Maxi Amberville tries to save the magazine empire her father built, but her treacherous uncle stands in her way.

Plot Keywords:

Magazine | Marriage | England | Divorce | Airport

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy.

Cast

Valerie Bertinelli	...	Maxime 'Maxi' Amberville (Cipriani)
Barry Bostwick	...	Zachary Amberville
Francesca Annis	...	Lily Amberville
Jane Kaczmarek	...	Nina Stern
Jack Scalia	...	Rocco Cipriani
Paul Hecht	...	Pavka Meyer
Tim Daly	...	Toby Amberville (as Timothy Daly)
Julianne Moore	...	India West
Adam Storke	...	Justin Amberville
Perry King	...	Cutter Amberville
Kate Vernon	...	Nanette Alexander
Brett Cullen	...	Dennis Brady
Lynne Griffin	...	Candice Alexander
Georgia Slowe	...	Young Lily
Adam LeFevre	...	Booker
Doug Davidson
Staci Keanan	...	Angelica Cipriani (as Staci Love)
Barbara Barrie
Fritz Weaver
Donald Trump	...	Himself
Katharine Houghton
John Colicos
Louis Guss
Robert Milli	...	Leonard Wilder
Corinne Bohrer
Robert Addie	...	Sir Charles Kirkgordon
Walter Gotell	...	Jonas Alexander
Eddie Jones	...	Barney Koster
Hillary Wolf	...	Angelica Cipriani (younger)
Sean McCann
Barry Flatman	...	George Peterson
David McIlwraith
Lolita Davidovich		(as Lolita David)
Billy Van
Jennifer Daniel
Chris Noth		(as Christopher Noth)
Rita Fredricks
Alisan Porter	...	Young Maxi
Aubrey Woods
Carol Gillies
Robert Christie
Robin Ward
David Clement
Lucetta Jenison
Chris Cattell
Derek Bowerman
Paul Craig
Chuck Shamata
Ted Simonett
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Matt Birman	...	Newspaper Fighter
Nadia Capone
Sharry Flett
Lisa Howard	...	Stewardess
Keram Malicki-Sánchez	...	Justin Amberville (child)
Jaap Broeker	...	Office Clerk (uncredited)

Directed by
Douglas Hickox
Richard Michaels

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Diana Gould		1987
Judith Krantz		novel
Sherman Yellen

Produced by
Grace Gilroy	....	associate producer
Stanley Kallis	....	producer

Original Music by
Lee Holdridge

Cinematography by
Larry Pizer
Steven Poster		(as Steven B. Poster)

Film Editing by
Michael Brown
John C. Horger

Production Design by
Charles C. Bennett

Set Decoration by
Jaro Dick

Costume Design by
John Boxer
Larry S. Wells

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
David McLeod	....	second assistant director
Page Ostrow	....	second second assistant director

Art Department
Peta Button	....	set dresser
Jeff Poulis	....	props buyer

Sound Department
Norval D. Crutcher III	....	apprentice sound editor
Norval D. Crutcher	....	supervising sound editor
Ron Meredith	....	assistant sound editor
Tom Ruff	....	adr mixer

Stunts
Matt Birman	....	stunt performer
Branko Racki	....	stunt coordinator
Branko Racki	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Gail Harvey	....	still photographer
Simon Mills	....	clapper loader

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Jan Finnell	....	costume shopper (1987)

Music Department
Roger Monk	....	score mixer (1987)
Don Nemitz	....	orchestrator

Other crew
Marc Dassas	....	location manager
Marc Wolff	....	helicopter pilot

Production Companies

• I'll Take Manhattan Productions
• Steve Krantz Productions

Distributors

• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1987) (USA) (TV)
• Hrisma Video (1988) (Greece) (VHS)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2011) (Australia) (all media)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2011) (Australia) (video) (VOD)

Other Companies

• 20th Century Fox Studios  re-recording (as Twentieth Century Fox)
• Pacific Title  titles and optical effects
• Post Group, The  title design and video opticals
• Trans World Airlines (TWA)  air transportation and production assistance

Also Known As:

Runtime:

375 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Milton, Ontario, Canada

Company:

I'll Take Manhattan Productions

Trivia:

Lynne Griffin (Candice) and Adam Lefevre (Jumbo) would appear together again twelve years later in the TV miniseries "Storm of the Century".

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "3rd Rock from the Sun: Dick'll Take Manhattan: Part 1 (#6.4)" (2000)

The Transforming Woman

Oh my. This is so bad in so many ways. It may qualify for my list of worst film experiences I have ever had, and that's quite an achievement. Its not only bad, its a huge investment.

Sure, the production values are poor and the acting is quite literally at the Ed Wood level. But we forgive those shortcomings in other projects that have life. That's supposed to be supplied here by our spunky heroine who redeems herself. There's supposed to be some narrative folding here: the story is about a story-telling organization, a magazine company, that reinvents itself as the woman who is doing the reinventing reinvents herself.

She previously was a spoiled rich girl, incapable of a real relationship. Well, it could have worked, but what we have here is a personal reinvention because she says so.

Why did I waste so many hours of my shortening life on this drek? Because it is a nominally folded project that has Julianne Moore in it.

There are many filmmakers that I follow, but very few actors and she's one. There's a very special quality a few actresses have. It may not matter to many others, this quality, but I find it fascinating. Its the ability to enhance a self-referential narrative by assuming a dual persona: the character of course plus some other dimension that observes, mirrors or annotates that character. It creates an intimacy between the viewer and the film, placing the actress partially in the role of storyteller as well as token.

Its a skill that is much discussed in certain circles, and indeed in late 91, a small group of like-minded actors met to develop their skills in this direction. These workshops became quite famous, coalescing on Checkov projects. In '93 they were talked into an extremely folded film, producing something you really must see: "Vanya on 42nd Street." That experience sent our Julianne into the world of intelligent film, where for five years she was our most interesting and intelligent actress. Then around five years ago, she started to waver. The reason could simply be weariness, appreciation of the costs, or investing in a relationship that she didn't want to risk.

But the question still matters a bit about what she was like before those appreciated workshops?

As it happens, she's in this project in a very minor role. She plays an actress, which in later times she would have wrestled into value in spite of the lunkheads around her. She doesn't. For some reason during this part of her career she tried to play the pretty girl only. Eyes, smile twinkling. Its as lackluster as what surrounds her.

What a transformation, from a nobody to a somebody, apparently through the sort of reinvention this movie thinks about but doesn't accomplish. But she did, and I suppose we should celebrate what we have.

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.