Brooke, Rosie and Mercedes Star in “WIDOWS”
Billie
“WIDOWS” on ABC (8/6/02)
Mercedes Ruehl, currently starring on Broadway in the 2002 Tony Award-winning
play, “The Goat,” Brooke Shields, Rosie Perez and N’bushe Wright star in
the suspense-thriller “Widows,” a new four-hour limited series which will
premiere on TUESDAY, AUGUST 6 (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET), on the ABC Television
Network.
The series will continue in the same time slot for the following three weeks,
through Aug. 27.
“Widows” tells the story of three women whose husbands are killed in the
midst of attempting a major art heist. The men were trying to steal a priceless
Vermeer that had already been stolen ten years earlier, in the famous robbery
of Boston’s Gardner Museum.
These wildly different women - Dolly Rawlins, an upper-middle-class housewife
(Ms. Ruehl, Academy Award-winner for “The Fisher King,” Tony Award-winner
for “Lost In Yonkers”), Linda Pirelli, a used-car dealership employee (Ms.
Perez, “Fearless,” “The Road to El Dorado”), and Shirley Heller, a
low-rent actress (Ms. Shields, “Suddenly Susan”) -- join forces with Bella,
an exotic dancer (Ms. Wright, “Blade”) -- whose missing boyfriend may have
also been involved in the caper -- to find the killer and finish the job the
men botched.
Tuesday, Aug. 6 (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET) - In Part I, explosions rip through a
truck carrying four men planning to switch a fake Vermeer with the real
masterpiece locked inside Stein’s Art Gallery. As Dolly, Linda and Shirley
learn of their husbands’ horrifying demise, the police attempt to identify
the three charred bodies they found at the crime scene.
Meanwhile, a grief-stricken Dolly discovers both her home and antique store
have been ransacked. As Lt. Maynard continues his investigation of the
attempted heist, focusing on Arnold Stein and Dolly’s husband, Harry Rawlins,
Dolly makes a shocking discovery after viewing a video tape left in her safety
deposit box.
Tuesday, Aug. 13 (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET) - Dolly shares her astonishing secret
video with Linda and Shirley: It reveals the perpetrators of the infamous
Gardner Museum heist, in which a number of valuable masterpieces were stolen.
Bella recognizes detective Mike Resnick on the video as one of the criminals,
and Dolly arranges a meeting with him. She demands information from Resnick on
who killed her husband, Harry, in the busted robbery attempt -- in exchange for
the tape.
Resnick only explains that all the masterpieces from the original robbery were
destroyed, according to Harry, except for the Vermeer. Arnold Stein orders
Resnick to “silence” Dolly.
Meanwhile, a terrified Resnick must beg for his own life, and the three women
join Dolly in her plan to simultaneously avenge Harry’s death and steal the
priceless Vermeer from the Stein Gallery, returning it to the museum for the
multimillion-dollar reward.
Tuesday, Aug. 20 (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET) -- As the four women continue to plan
the heist of the Vermeer, they make a grisly discovery. Bella is attacked by a
mysterious man in Dolly’s house. Meanwhile, Dolly remakes Bella, the exotic
dancer, into an art dealer as part of their ruse to check out the Stein Gallery
surveillance system. The police, led by Lieutenant Maynard, are hot on
Dolly’s trail, determined that she knows where the museum’s stolen art is
located.
On a trial run, Bella succeeds in talking her way into the gallery’s vault
where the Vermeer is kept, but the security system proves airtight. Dolly
finally admits defeat and the women part ways.
Tuesday, Aug. 27 (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET) - In the fourth and final part of
“Widows,” Dolly uncovers the shocking truth surrounding her husband’s
murder and the long-unsolved mystery of the Gardner Museum robbery. She
develops a plan to beat the security system at Stein’s Gallery to steal the
Vermeer.
The women, empowered with their newfound sense of confidence and fueled by
revenge, take on the challenge of their lives as they risk everything to grab
the masterpiece and a new lease on life.
Cast: Mercedes Ruehl as Dolly Rawlins, Brooke Shields as Shirley Heller, Rosie
Perez as Linda Pirelli, N’bushe Wright as Bella, Nigel Bennett as Harry
Rawlins, Michael Rhoades as Jimmy Rawlins, Jay O. Sanders as Lieutenant
Maynard, Aidan Devine as Mike Resnick, Jenna Stern as Sara Sellick, Jonathan
Higgins as Sgt. Hodges, Kedar Brown as Detective Dexter, Jayne Eastwood as
Audrey, Colm Feore as Arnold Stein, Rod Wilson as Rudi Sellick, Bobby Johnston
as Terry Heller and Roman Rodhora as Joe Pirelli.
“Widows” is based on the British miniseries of the same name that became a
national phenomenon during its airing in 1983. Originally a six-parter,
“Widows” broke all ratings records in the United Kingdom and spawned two
hit sequels.
“Widows” is directed by Geoffrey Sax from the script by Lynda La Plante,
who wrote the original hit British miniseries. Ms. La Plante and Kenneth
Kaufman are the executive producers. The producer is Clara George. The movie is
from ABC-Greengrass Productions and La Plante Productions.
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**me**
7-10 years ago..............
Billie wrote in message <20020715185343...@mb-fp.aol.com>...
Steven Capsuto
> Another series the Yanks want to copy from the Brits, this was done about
> 7-10 years ago..............
Closer to 20 years ago. High time for a remake. They've had the
sense to go with the original screenwriter, at least according to the
entry in the Internet Movie Database.
--
Steven Capsuto, Philadelphia, PA
http://www.stevecap.com