Joe Tabbanella Movies

Intended as a five-times-weekly presentation of MyNetwork's "Secret Obsessions" package, the English-language telenova Saints and Sinners was based on the TV Azteca prime-time soaper La Calle de las Novias ("Bride's Avenue"). An updated rehash of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet", the series focused on the bitter rivalry between the Capshaws and the Martins, rival hotel owners in Miami Beach. Widowed Sylvia Capshaw (Mel Harris) was determined to break up the romance between her daughter Julia (Tyler Kain) and young Roman Martin (Scott Bailey), son of unscrupulous hoteliers Diana and August Martin (Maria Conchita Alonso, Charles Shaughnessy). It was not merely hatred of the Martins which motivated Sylvia: Roman had been arrested on the charge of murdering Julia's father. Acquitted of the crime, Roman endeavor to save his family from financial ruin by opening his own nightclub, "The Verona" (!) He also hoped to win back Julia from her current beau Richard Vargas (Chris Engen), the son of shady business mogul Antonio Vargas, who may or may not have actually been the infamous underworld boss known as "The Guerrero." Weaving in and out of the proceedings was the series' "Friar Lawrence" counterpart, a handsome bogus priest named Marcus (Ryan Scott Greene), and New York fashion designer Kelly Mitchell (Robin Givens), who wanted Robin all too herself. This series was originally filmed under the title "A Dangerous Love"; in the early developmental stages, the warring families were named Olivera and Manzini, Kelly Mitchell's name was Kelly Dodd, Maria Conchita Alonso's character had been conceived as the starring role. With the overall ratings for MyNetwork's various "original" telenovas plummeting precipitously, by the time Saints and Sinners debuted on March 14, 2007 the series had been reconfigured as a weekly rather than a nightly offering, with two episodes shown back-to-back each week. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi