Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Christopher Plummer | ... | Mel Wexler | |
Linda Purl | ... | Jane Adams | |
Gary Collins | ... | Zack Taylor | |
Ben Browder | ... | Bill Warwick | |
Josie Bissett | ... | Gaby Smith | |
John Bennett Perry | ... | Dan Adams | |
Nicole Eggert | ... | Alexa Adams | |
Brenda Bakke | ... | Sandy Warwick | |
Stephanie Beacham | ... | Sabina Quarles | |
Lenny Wolpe | ... | Harry Pizer | |
Ray Stricklyn | ... | Bernie Majors | |
John Cothran | ... | Mark (as John Cothran Jr.) | |
O-Lan Jones | ... | Darlene Hooper | |
Tom Hallick | ... | Dr. David Maltin | |
Dean Norris | ... | Henderson |
Producer Mel Wexler is putting together "Manhattan," a night-time soap opera that will definitely be the toast of the town. He puts together a stellar cast, however, each member of this cast has his own little secret: Zach is a Hollywood leading man apparently being blackmailed by 2 mysterious women; Jane was a former daytime soap star who had to abruptly leave her popular role due to problems at home; Bill is a male model whose marital status would rather be kept secret by his agent; Gaby is a struggling actress determined to make it on her own; and Sabina is a legendary film star who must now take a role on a television series due to a serious "involvement" in San Francisco. One by one, their secrets unfold in this television movie based on the bestseller by Danielle Steel. Written by Phil Fernando
This is a lame duck of a TV movie. Effectively a soap opera about a soap opera, the ensemble cast shuttle back and forth between the art of creating fiction and the terrible secrets that threaten to expose them all.The story feels stretched but curiously littered with as many holes as a golf course. It's nowhere as good as it should be and lacks the acerbic put-downs one would expect from Stephanie Beachem as the improbably named Sabina Quarles. The problem with Beacham's character is that we are lulled into thinking she is a reincarnation of her former alter ego, Sable, from Dynasty; the reality is she's as bland as the rest of the cast. It's also a slow movie with more formulaic banter than a toothpaste advert.