Little White Lies (1989) (TV)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Anson Williams

Writer (WGA):

Emily Potter (written by)

Release Date:

27 November 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

What's a love affair without a few... Little White Lies.

Plot:

While detective Liz Donaldson cashes her entire life savings to go to Rome, she meets Dr. Harry MacCrey on the plane...

Plot Keywords:

Rome | Love | Fall In Love | Lie | Plane

Cast

Tim Matheson	...	Dr Harry MacRae
Ann Jillian	...	Det. Elizabeth 'Liz' Donaldson
Robert Costanzo
Marc McClure
Suzie Plakson	...	Phyllis
Amy Yasbeck	...	Vicki
Stephen Lee	...	Marty
Michael Carven	...	Gianni
Jeff Altman	...	Technician
Richard Coca	...	Claudio
Jo De Winter	...	Neurotic Woman
Jerry Anderson	...	Mawbry / Byrd
Shari Shaw	...	Nurse #1 (as Shari Ballard)
Brian Byers	...	Yuppie
Clint Howard	...	Limo Driver

Runtime:

76 min | Australia:90 min

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Company:

Larry Thompson Organization

Does Jillian deserve to land Tim Matheson?

Ann Jillian is Elizabeth ‘Liz' Donaldson, a Philadelphia detective who takes a holiday to Rome. On the plane she meets Harold ‘Harry' McCrae (Tim Matheson), a cardiologist at Glen Valley Memorial Hospital who is also bound for Rome. Wanting to protect their privacy, they both give false identities but fall in love. On return, their paths cross when Lionel Mawbry/B D Boyd (Jerry Anderson) a jewel thief Liz is chasing comes under Harry's care, and they struggle to keep up the deceptions.

Jillian's wardrobe for Liz is strangely formal, even with what she wears on holiday, with evident shoulderpads, and Liz telling Harry that she knows some Lithuanian swear words is a nod to Jillian's ancestry. A scene where she stops a street thief in Rome doesn't work because he is easy to catch, her movement isn't that skillful, and Jillian overplays her duplicity. It is notably the one time that Matheson does better than her. Otherwise she is funny with a look of revulsion at the Roman count who gives her a complimentary glass of champagne, coughing at the large restaurant bill she has insisted she pay, closing a closet door on Harry, in panic at a ringing telephone, grimacing at tasting hospital food for ulcer patients, and her answering machine changed from police gag to sexy single.

The teleplay by Emily Potter provides some funny lines. `You wiped out your entire life savings to meet a hospital orderley? He must give one hell of a sponge bath', re a request to mop a hospital room floor `That's revolting. And it's not improving with age', and to Harry's `This man's in shock' revealing he is a doctor to Liz's `He's not the only one'. Director Anson Williams has a Marx Bros feature playing inflight that Liz and Harry laugh and bond over without letting us see what or if it is funny, uses visual gags for them to pass each other undetected, and has them both turning away together to not be seen by someone who knows their real identities. Although her part is slight, Suzie Plakson is memorable as Vicky, a bitter hospital volunteer who Harry rejects.