TV Movie Time Tunnel: The Three Faces of Ange...

Bless the programmers/salespeople at Tubi for continuing to find wonderful copies of all-but-forgotten movies, TV series and TV-movies. I had no recollection of this one ever having happened (and it has at present ZERO User Comments on imdb, a sure sign of obscurity.) Here we have Miss Angie Dickinson, having completed her series Police Woman six years prior and having won brief movie popularity again with Dressed to Kill (1980.) That was followed up by less-successful films and a stab at another series (Cassie & Co), which didn't stick. Still a household name, this project was put together in order to offer her three roles in three vignettes, while supported by a variety of notable supporting performances. It aired on ABC on January 23rd, 1984. 

I'm going to be honest and let you know that, while I certainly don't dislike her for any reason, I'm not a rabid fan of Miss Dickinson. One reason is that, no matter what role she ever seemed to be playing, she could not let go of the (basically) same, blonde hairstyle, even in period pieces where it was completely anachronistic. In the '60s, when everyone had it, it seemed less problematic. But later it began to grate. 

But on to the project at hand. Full disclosure is that I'm going to cheat. I'm going to examine the second and third vignettes first. Because Miss Vanessa Williams taught me long ago to save the best for last...

LAURA: In this comic story, Dickinson plays a newlywed. Her fabulously wealthy husband is portrayed by Richard Mulligan of Soap. He's relaying the news of his recent nuptials to a member of his household staff (via old-school cordless phone) while they relax on his private yacht. 

He excitedly brings her to his splendorous estate.

In the '70s and '80s, a vintage car was a sure sign of success. In all honesty, had it not been for that cordless phone and some of Dickinson's fashion options, I'd have thought this was a period piece...! 

Upon entering the house, Mulligan can't contain himself and goes bolting up the stairs and racing to the end of a hallway in order to see Melody, who he'd been feverishly inquiring about on the phone.

And at last Dickinson meets Melody for the first time. 

She has a loving husband with a fleet of servants, a glorious estate, all the best that money can buy...

...yet there's Melody. The bird's needs and feeling seem to come first. And Melody clearly has no great love for the new wife.

Dickinson girds her loins and decides that, one way or another, she and this bird are going to get along. 

But Melody ain't havin' it...

When Mulligan gifts his new bride with a dazzling piece of jewelry...

...the joy is short-lived because the bird is swiftly given a jeweled trinket of her own! 

One day, when Mulligan is headed out of town, Dickinson makes up her mind that the time has come. She and Melody are going to come to an understanding. 

Nothing about this goes right, of course, and there is a calamity followed by a (ridiculous) twist ending. The broad comedy of this segment was surely deemed necessary to balance the other two, more serious, ones, but it didn't really satisfy me. 

GINNY: In this one, Dickinson plays a small town gal with a controlling and potentially-abusive boyfriend, played by David Carradine. 

Both Dickinson and her roommate Susan Tyrell, work at the Silver Dollar Saloon. Tyrell (whose name here is "Dixie!") is a cocktail waitress. 

Dickinson, meanwhile, is a country singer...!!!! This is really something that must be seen to be believed. It's surreal to watch her swaying out of time while an increasingly inauthentic voice emanates. Vocals were provided by one Lynne Marta, who was once the girlfriend of Starsky & Hutch's David Soul.  

Carradine was most famous for his peace-seeking Eurasian character on Kung Fu, but could really turn on the nasty when he wanted to. (Ever see him in North & South? Eeek!) Here, he's a heavy-drinking gun shop owner. What could go wrong?!

The couple has split up and reunited several times, but Dickinson is finally just done. But he's not. 

"Would you like a holster of fries with that Double R burger?"

Back home, Dickinson decides that taking down all the pictures of Carradine from her bedroom wall will help get him out of her system, though Tyrell is skeptical. Tyrell, even when playing the most benign role, always looked bat guano insane to me. Ha ha! 

Just as it would happen in real life, record producer Bo Svenson comes to town in search of talent and is immediately taken with the early-50s Dickinson's warbling.  

He offers her a recording contract (!) and may be wanting to offer even more than that as an enraged Carradine looks on. 

He harasses his ex over the phone late at night and just generally makes a nuisance of himself. 

He's either the dumbest or the most confident man around because he then decides he's going to intimidate the brawny, 6'5" Svenson (Buford Pusser, fer cryin' out loud! I hope he remembers some of those martial arts moves.)

One evening he tears up Dickinson's yard with his car, leading the inert local sheriff Ray Stricklyn to pay her a call. 

You may recall Stricklyn from his early days in movies like Ten North Frederick (1958), The Lost World and The Plunderers (both 1960) and countless TV appearances. He later became a publicist in addition to acting and played Emma Samms' psychiatrist on The Colbys. This was his first onscreen part in five years. 

Carradine is in a total state of torment.

Dickinson is in a total state of unease.

And before it's all over, it's taken into the street!

GEORGIA: Now I revert to the first segment of this movie. If you are tempted to watch Jealousy at all, based on the earlier depictions, then you MUST watch this one for reasons I will soon relay to you. Dickinson plays a woman living in a beautiful home with her young daughter. She's in an increasingly panic-stricken state because she believes that her younger, hunky hubby (not the girl's father) and her daughter are becoming too chummy.  

They certainly don't seem too shy around one another!

A considerable portion of this story takes place in and around a terribly inviting backyard swimming pool.

Even more inviting is Paul Michael Glaser, of the aforementioned Starsky & Hutch, who was probably never in better shape than this in his life! He's 41 here and it was most unusual then to see physiques like this on men that age.

Angie, who's not exactly covered up in something purchased in Mankato or Sleepy Eye, asks her daughter to change into something less revealing before they go out shopping together. 

Her own abbreviated shirt-dress is utterly upstaged, however, by Glaser's entrance from outside. Uh, I'd be canceling that shopping spree!

He's kind to her, even gently affectionate, yet oddly aloof in some ways. 

This year (1984) was the last one that saw Glaser acting for a decade and a half as he turned his attention to directing, producing and grappling with the specter of AIDS in his immediate family, when it was contracted by his wife during a blood transfusion and passed on to their two children.  

The three of them form a slightly awkward little trio. 

This is made worse when the daughter keeps encouraging play time in the pool!

When she begins to receive driving lessons from him, Dickinson becomes worried that she's receiving something else from him as well...!

She begins to have visions of the two of them making love, with her daughter wearing the lingerie that they'd spotted while out shopping.

During lunch, she spills her concerns out to bestie France Nuyen, who clearly cares about, and worries about, her friend.

While relaxing by the pool, Dickinson overhears her daughter chatting up a few of her friends and this spurs another round of visualizations.

Not that we mind!

Her daughter (Julie Philips) comes across as completely tone deaf. Next she wants to make dinner for Glaser and even don one of her mother's dresses for the occasion! Philips (most likely known best for playing Sally Frame on Another World for a time) had small roles in a few movies and worked on TV (including Dickinson's later telefilm Police Story: The Freeway Killings), but was all done by 1989 when she segued behind the scenes.

This last development is just about all poor Ange can stand. She's still envisioning them together and it's wearing her down. 

This 3-part TV-movie was entertaining, sometimes for reasons other than intended. I should think any fan of Miss Dickinson's would want to check it out. 

Needless to say, fans of Glaser will also want to watch part one. That was easily my favorite, with the middle one coming in last. Had I been she, I'd have changed my hair color for each installment and really savored the chance to become someone different, but as I noted above, she seemed quite married to a blonde bouffant. 

This cracked me up. Here we have an old VHS sleeve. It's rather worn, faded, etc... Someone out there on the internets decided that it needed to be reworked with AI in order to be brought up to snuff. 

Uh, in the first place, France Nuyen is suddenly France Nuten (not that William Shatner would argue that.) But look in the lower left corner. Suddenly Angie has seemingly had her DNA mingled with Steve Buscemi or something!!!! LOL AI is amazing, but it ain't perfect... yet. 

Anyhoo... Stay hydrated till next time!