Jean Simmons Movies

Midas Valley might just as well have been titled Falcon Crest Goes to Silicon Valley. The heroes are a pair of handsome young computer executives, played by James Read and Brent Cullen. The boys' most formidable rival is their onetime mentor, electronics mogul Robert Stack. Relationships between these business enemies are further strained when Stack's daughter Shanna Reed joins Read and Cullen's firm. When first telecast in June of 1985, Midas Valley was advertised as an "open-ended" TV movie. English translation: it was a busted pilot film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This mammoth TV miniseries, based on the best-selling novel by Colleen McCullough, proved to be a ratings bonanza; indeed, its viewership was surpassed only by the 1978 blockbuster Roots. Set in Australia, the story covers 42 years in the life of Ralph de Bricassart (Richard Chamberlain), a Roman Catholic priest engaged in a constant struggle between his calling and his carnal desires. The women in de Bricassart's life include Meggie Cleary (Rachel Ward, in her first American TV role) and Meggie's iron-willed grandmother Mary Carson (Barbara Stanwyck). Also in the cast are Jean Simmons and Richard Kiley as the Clearys, Sydney Penny as the young Meggie, Bryan Brown as Luke O'Neill, Mare Winningham as Justine (Meggie's daughter) and Christopher Plummer as the Archbishop. This 4-part, 10-hour presentation earned an Emmy award for Barbara Stanwyck, and Golden Globes for Stanwyck and Richard Chamberlain. Originally telecast March 27 through March 30, 1983, The Thorn Birds was followed 13 years later by The Thorn Birds: The Missing Years, again starring Richard Chamberlain. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Golden Gate revolves around a San Francisco-based newspaper empire run by a family named Kingsley (it could just as well have been "Kane," since the family was based on you-know-what Frisco-based publishing dynasty). Richard Kiley, the cold and commanding Kingsley patriarch, suffers a heart attack. Kiley's long-estranged son Perry King returns to San Francisco to save the newspaper from bankruptcy, and to stave off a hostile takeover by a crooked money man. There's plenty of tense infighting and terse dialogue, courtesy of veteran TV scenarist Stirling Silliphant. Golden Gate may have smelled like a pilot film, but the story was too self-contained to allow for a subsequent series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Beggarman, Thief is the 4-hour sequel to the ratings-busting miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man; both productions were based on the works of novelist Irwin Shaw. For the purposes of the sequel, a new member of the Jordache clan is introduced: filmmaker Gretchen Jordache Burke, played by Jean Simmons. It is Gretchen's task to keep the family together after the murder of her brother Tom (played by Nick Nolte in Rich Man, Poor Man) and the recent disappearance of her other brother Rudy (Peter Strauss, re-creating his RMPM role). Originally presented in two parts, Beggarman, Thief was first telecast November 26 and 27, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Dashiell Hammett's money-grubbing detective Hamilton Nash is on the case in this mystery set in 1928. This time he is looking into the suspicious suicide of a prominent millionaire and trying to recover purloined diamonds that are reportedly cursed. This version of the tale was released as five-hour television mini-series. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Jean Simmons is a housewife on a brief shopping trip to London. A young, unemployed lout (Leonard Whiting) who, seeing her on the inbound train, sets his sights on her, and tries to get a response from her as he chases her all over town. At one point desperate, he steals her purse so that he will be the one chased. Eventually, he breaks down her reserve and they are able to meet properly, converse, and get to know one another. A romantic energy has developed in their relationship as the unlikely twosome joins together briefly. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Made-for-television adaptation of Johanna Spyri's classic children's tale about an orphaned girl who goes to live with her grandfather in the Swiss Alps. ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide

This 17th-century British costume drama is taken from the life of the first Duke of Marlborough, John Churchill. Originally he and his wife Sarah were held in high esteem by Queen Anne. But when they involved themselves in political intrigue, they were socially and financially ruined. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

James Garner plays a man who awakens in Central Park with no memories at all. This drama chronicles his search for his identity. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This 60-minute TV drama stars Bradford Dillman as Matt, a 34-year-old sculptor. Spectacularly unsuccessful, Matt knows he's hit rock bottom when he has to borrow money from his girlfriend in order to attend his father's funeral. As he stands at graveside, Matt vows to do something "worthwhile" with his life. Problem is, sculpting is all he knows. Written and directed by S. Lee Pogostin, Crazier Than Cotton first aired as a Bob Hope Chrysler Theatre episode on October 12, 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A rousing chorus of Noël Coward's "Stately Homes of England" is heard as the opening titles of The Grass Is Greener fade into several stock shots of those stately homes. One of these mansions is owned by British earl Victor Rhyall (Cary Grant), who opens his home to American tourists in order to make ends meet. One such tourist is wealthy Texan Charles Delacro (Robert Mitchum), who sets his sights upon Victor's lovely wife, Hilary (Deborah Kerr). In his efforts to win back his wife, Victor presses his former girlfriend Hattie Durant (Jean Simmons) into service. The Grass Is Greener was adapted by Hugh and Margaret Williams from their own stage play. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Spartacus (Kirk Douglas) is a rebellious slave purchased by Lentulus Batiatus (Peter Ustinov), owner of a school for gladiators. For the entertainment of corrupt Roman senator Marcus Licinius Crassus (Laurence Olivier), Batiatus' gladiators are to stage a fight to the death. On the night before the event, the enslaved trainees are "rewarded" with female companionship. Spartacus' companion for the evening is Varinia (Jean Simmons), a slave from Brittania. When Spartacus later learns that Varinia has been sold to Crassus, he leads 78 fellow gladiators in revolt. Word of the rebellion spreads like wildfire, and soon Spartacus' army numbers in the hundreds. Escaping to join his cause is Varinia, who has fallen in love with Spartacus, and another of Crassus' house slaves, the sensitive Antoninus (Tony Curtis). The revolt becomes the principal cog in the wheel of a political struggle between Crassus and a more temperate senator named Gracchus (Charles Laughton). Anthony Mann was the original director of Spartacus, eventually replaced by Stanley Kubrick, who'd previously guided Douglas through Paths of Glory. The film received 4 Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actor for Ustinov. A crucial scene between Olivier and Curtis, removed from the 1967 reissue because of its subtle homosexual implications, was restored in 1991, with a newly recorded soundtrack featuring Curtis as his younger self and Anthony Hopkins standing in for the deceased Olivier. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Wearing a curiously (and perhaps deliberately) unattractive blonde wig, Jean Simmons stars in the tense psychological drama Home Before Dark. Having just recovered from a nervous breakdown, Charlotte Bronn (Simmons) returns from a mental institution to the home she shares with her academician husband Arnold (Dan O'Herlihy). Though he tries his best to help Charlotte re-adapt, his efforts are undermined by the insensitive meddling of her stepmother Inez (Mabel Albertson) and stepsister Joan (Rhonda Fleming) who may or may not have been carrying on a romance with Arnold in Charlotte's absence. The untenable situation at home leads Charlotte into a romance with college professor Jake Diamond (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.), who as an ongoing target of anti-semitism has plenty of his own emotional baggage to deal with. What is remarkable about Home Before Dark is that it is a film without a villain: even the most unpleasant characters are drawn as three-dimensional human beings, who behave badly because they really don't know any better. The film was adapted by Robert and Eileen Bassing from Eileen's same-named novel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide