{"id":18854,"date":"2019-01-19T10:24:49","date_gmt":"2019-01-19T15:24:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=18854"},"modified":"2019-01-19T10:24:49","modified_gmt":"2019-01-19T15:24:49","slug":"br-sunshine-1973","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=18854","title":{"rendered":"BR: Sunshine (1973)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Film<\/strong>: Excellent<\/p>\n

Transfer<\/strong>: Excellent<\/p>\n

Extras<\/strong>: Standard<\/p>\n

Label:\u00a0<\/strong> Redwind Productions<\/p>\n

Region:<\/strong>\u00a0All<\/p>\n

Released:<\/strong>\u00a0 November 20, 2018<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong>\u00a0 Docu-Drama \/ TV Movie<\/p>\n

Synopsis:<\/strong>\u00a0Tender docu-drama about a young mother who recorded an hours-long audio journal for her daughter and husband before dying of a rare cancer at age 20.<\/p>\n

Special Features:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>Theatrical Trailer \/ 8-page colour booklet with liner notes by film historian Julie Kirgo \/ Limited to 3000 copies \/ Available exclusively from Screen Archives Entertainment<\/a> and www.twilighttimemovies.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Review:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Prior to the era of Pay TV and specialty channels, ABC, CBS, and NBC were the three major networks that created and broadcast new programs, plus a longer format that was evolving into a regular staple: the made-for-television film [TVM].<\/p>\n

After their original telecast and occasional network rebroadcasts, most TVM\u2019s migrated to syndicated stations, where some were discovered by younger audiences, a few were released theatrically in Europe as feature films, and in later years several were rediscovered on home video, especially when the productions featured actors who\u2019d prospered in feature films and hit TV series.<\/p>\n

In terms of DVD and especially Blu-ray releases, the quantity of TVMs on disc is far less, perhaps because outside of a special cult status, most are perceived as too niche, or too old, now featuring actors whose subsequent successes have similarly faded into the ether.<\/p>\n

Such is the case with Sunshine<\/strong>, which makes its Blu-ray debut via Redwind Productions.<\/p>\n

Based on the published journals by Jacquelyn Helton, Carol Sobieski\u2019s adaptation follows the basic chronology of the young mother’s diagnosis of a rare form of bone cancer, and her decision to dictate personal thoughts, articulate feelings, and provide advice for the daughter and husband destined to lose her at age 20. Some of the words from the transcribed journals were ported into the script, but perhaps because of a need to create a loose docu-drama (and a possible TV series), names were changed.<\/p>\n

At 121 mins., Sunshine<\/strong> is unusually long for a teleplay (as part of the CBS Friday Night Movie, it was broadcast in a 2 & \u00bd hour slot), and the fate of its central character is known after the opening scene, in which ashes are scattered from a mountain top. The drama emerges from watching the family deal with the grim inevitable, and how Kate Hayden (Christina Raines) will ultimately face the end of her life.<\/p>\n

Although scenes could\u2019ve been trimmed to reign in the drama to a more standard 97 mins., the measured pacing and gradual introduction of regular characters allows audiences to grow accustomed to Kate just before the\u00a0the birth of daughter Jill from a prior marriage to ex-husband David (Alan Fudge), her subsequent marriage to Sam Hayden (Cliff De Young), and the strong trust that develops between Kate and Dr. Carol Gillman (Brenda Vaccaro).<\/p>\n

The free-spirited nature of the couple goes beyond the painted VW van that Cliff uses to ferry himself and fellow guitarists Weaver (Billy Mumy) and Givitz (Corey Fischer) to gigs at bars and nightclubs: he\u2019s a talented amateur photographer and struggling musician specializing in folk songs for an acoustic guitar trio, and Kate\u2019s a young mother deeply determined to raise Jill outside of the stringent rules, rigid structure, and impatience of her traditional parents and estranged sister.<\/p>\n

Sobieski\u2019s script is near-perfect in allowing the relationships to develop without becoming saccharine, and her dialogue is sharp and avoids pungent melodrama; that precision enables Sargent to direct the young cast, with Raines giving one of her best performances in her first major role. The bulk of the songs performed by De Young, Mumy, and Fischer were composed by John Denver, and their rotating iteration is used to deepen the peaks & valleys of the Haydens\u2019 uneven marriage, and sometimes function as counterpoint to the montages of Kate undergoing x-rays and tests \u2013 gentle, delicate sounds playing over the sterile hospital environment, and counter-scoring Kate\u2019s solemnity before the gravity of her condition is revealed.<\/p>\n

The lack of any score adds to the teleplay\u2019s docu-drama tone, and the songs are rarely heard in complete form; it\u2019s a smart ploy to avoid heavy repetition, but use the lyrics of Denver\u2019s \u201cMy Sweet Lady\u201d form an the iron link between the couple, especially when their marriage becomes strained. Early on Sam admits he\u2019s not able to handle losing Kate, but he\u2019s willing to stay by her side, but her decision to stop chemotherapy and heavy medication forces a separation. Sobieski\u2019s handling of Kate\u2019s arguments to live a shorter life than a slightly extended, miserable, less coherent state is elegantly articulated in an exchange that captures the fire, intelligence, and reasoning of the young woman whose will deserves to be respected.<\/p>\n

That extended marital break-up may feel a little protracted \u2013 it forms the teleplay\u2019s hefty midsection \u2013 but it allows Sobieski to add further scenes with Dr. Gillman, and the positive effects (and quality of life) that emerges as Kate finds her groove in recounting eclectic details of life through her lens into the mic a tape recorder. Vaccaro\u2019s subdued performance becomes vital when Kate faces the first x-ray that confirms the cancer has spread to her lungs, and near the end, when Gillman\u2019s the only person entrusted with Kate\u2019s final moments.<\/p>\n

Raines\u2019 natural acting and De Young\u2019s music background add to the actors\u2019 solid rapport. A scene in which Sam drags a reluctant and very weak Kate to the local bar so he can serenade her with Denver\u2019s \u201cMy Sweet Lady\u201d is especially touching because Sargent allows the gentle rapproachement to occur in a real bar with cutaways to assorted patrons and staff while Kate is locked onto Sam\u2019s soft & sweet voice.<\/p>\n

The weakest element in the film is the contrived aggravated relationship between Sam and fellow guitarist Weaver \u2013 the latter\u2019s ire towards Kate feels phony, and Mumy isn\u2019t given much of a pathway to make Weaver\u2019s disliking of Kate wholly believable. (The verbal spat that has him ousted from the Hayden apartment is pretty ridiculous.)<\/p>\n

\u2018Free spirit\u2019 Nora (Meg Foster) appears in the opening scattering scene and doesn\u2019t re-emerge until the midpoint until the Haydens move into their apartment and meet their new basement neighbour. Nora\u2019s a handy babysitter and helper, and perhaps it\u2019s inevitable she becomes a slight rival to Kate, when Sam needs extra emotional and physical support as Kate is fully engrossed in recording her thoughts to tape during every waking moment.<\/p>\n

Foster\u2019s often been cast as mysterious or demure characters with monotone delivery, but Sunshine<\/strong> provided a rare role in which she\u2019s giddy and approachable, but Sargent rarely affords any close shots until the very end: she\u2019s given one close-up when she tells Kate of her brief affair with Sam. Sargent may have held back on a close-up for more practical reasons: Foster\u2019s radiant greenish-blue eyes might have distracted from Raines\u2019 performance in their handful of scenes, and by saving the close-up to the end, Foster\u2019s brilliant eyes add to Nora\u2019s genuine contrition, and compliment Kate\u2019s forgiveness. (In later roles, Foster\u2019s eyes were used by directors to render her into an eerie, emotionally sterile figure, as in the daft Leviathan<\/strong>, playing a cold-blooded CEO.)<\/p>\n

Shot largely on location in Vancouver, B.C., Bill Butler\u2019s cinematography is quite poetic, with delicate framing, gentle movements, and soft colours beautifully preserved in Redwind’s 4K transfer. Denver\u2019s songs as performed by De Young are quite lovely, and often affecting.<\/p>\n

\"\"Sunshine<\/strong> was reportedly a ratings hit, and a soundtrack album was released featuring De Young\u2019s vocal performances buffered by short diary extracts by Raines \u2013 but the teleplay seemed to slide below the Emmy radar, missing out on any nominations in 1973.<\/p>\n

Director Sargent, however, was in peak form, having made the intelligent sci-fi drama Colossus: The Forbin Project<\/strong> (1970), the Burt Reynolds drama White Lightning<\/strong> (1973), and the suspense classic The Taking of Pelham One Two Three<\/a><\/strong> (1974). His last feature film was the laughable Jaws: The Revenge<\/strong> (1987), but he strode forward with a mass of TV movies and mini-series, including the Emmy Award winning World War II: When Lions Roared<\/strong> (1994), the first production shot in Sony HDC-500 format<\/a>, an early HDTV format. Sargent\u2019s last film was the 2008 teleplay Sweet Nothing in My Ear<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Although Christina Raines is best known for numerous TV work (Centennial<\/strong>, Flamingo Road<\/strong>), her films include Nashville<\/strong> (1975), Ridley Scott\u2019s debut The Duellists<\/strong><\/a> (1977), and the horror films The Sentinel <\/strong>(1977) and Nightmares<\/strong> (1983), the latter directed by Sargent. Cliff De Young’s work similarly favours TV productions, including the mini-series Captains and the Kings<\/strong> (1976), King<\/a><\/strong> (1978), and Centennial<\/strong> (1978-1979).<\/p>\n

Sam\u2019s final scenes in Sunshine<\/strong> don\u2019t exactly endear the character, but the teleplay’s success enticed CBS to greenlight a TV series in 1975, reuniting De Young with Foster, Mumy, and Fischer reprising their roles. The 13-episode series\u00a0focused on widower Sam living in Vancouver, B.C., juggling work and caring for 5 year old Jill (Elizabeth Cheshire). The cast reunited one last time for Sunshine Christmas<\/strong> (1977), in which Sam takes Jill to his hometown in Texas, and meets an old flame. Neither the series nor TV movie are available on home video.<\/p>\n

Sobieski scripted the teleplay, and an episode of the TV series. Her other credits include the classic soap opera Peyton Place<\/strong> (1967-1968), The Bourne Identity<\/strong> (1988), and the schmaltzfest and ratings hit Sarah, Plain and Tall<\/strong> (1991). Film credits include Honeysuckle Rose<\/strong> (1980), Annie<\/strong> (1980), Winter People <\/strong>(1989), Fried Green Tomatoes <\/strong>(1991), and Money for Nothing<\/strong> (1993).<\/p>\n

Finally, a small extract from Jacquelyn (Lyn) Helton’s book\u00a0Dying is Beautiful<\/strong> is available in the May 1972 issue of The Rotarian,\u00a0via Google Books<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2019 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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