Movie Review: Morning Glory (1993) starring Christopher Reeve and Deborah Raffin

January 17th, 2010 | 1.5 Stars, Bastard, Cowboy, Criminal, Foster/Orphan/Adopted, Historic America, Marriage of Convenience, Movie Reviews, Pregnant, United States of America, Widow or Widower

I remember watching this a long time ago. Now I know why I haven’t seen it since. Four people make this movie: Christopher Reeve (Will Parker), Helen Shaver (Lula Peak), and the two kids who play Baby Thomas and Donald Wade.

Nina Foch (Miss Beasley) could have been utilized better and would have been great but her part wasn’t fleshed out in the movie like it was in the book.

Deborah Raffin’s (Crazy Elly Dinsmore) performance was too brusque and strident for a role which has always read to me as concerned, soft, and maternal.

The settings and filming were great, I thought. I really liked the house, her farm, the town. I liked the style of filming for the most part. About the only thing truly cheesy in the film is the love scene montage between Will and Elly.

My two favorite parts of the movie were the egg hurling and gift giving scenes. Reeve is amazing and Raffin is at her best. It’s these scenes that really carry the whole film. They’re precious and very sweet.

The book spans two years (1941-1943). The movie ten months. This change basically stripped Will Parker of his military career and the character development that occurred because of it. It also means that Elly and Will had sex together two months after the marriage started and one month before his arrest for the murder of Lula Peak.

The first half of the movie was like a condensed version of the novel. It made a lot of the scenes too harsh or too flat. The romance between Will and Elly was going along just fine until right after the egg throwing scene. After the hurled eggs, the movie takes a turn for the worst. First, both characters rushed too fast and unbelievably into love especially compared to the slow pacing at the beginning. Second, the storylines in the second half of the novel are changed completely to suit an hour and a half television movie.

For instance, the whole Lula Peak plot was ripped asunder and rewritten shoddily. Motivations that made sense in the book make no sense in the movie. Reese Goodlow (who is a decent man in the book) is a shitty small town cop. Will is on parole in the movie and Reese keeps badgering him. Reese is also the one cheating on his wife Mae with Lula instead of Harley Overmire, the superintendent at the local sawmill. This and the time crunch completely screw up the trial.

Really, the trial is a laugh. It makes no sense whatsoever. Reese is not the murderer, Harley still is. Reese in the movie should know without a doubt that Will has not had relations with Lula because if he had, Lula would drop Reese like yesterday’s old news. The evidence and witnesses are a bunch of baloney.

Another thing to upset me is the scene where Lula sneaks up on Will in the library. He actually lets her kiss him. That doesn’t happen in the book! It is totally against Will’s character. He is less of a hero because of it.

Conclusion: read the book instead, you’ll like it more.

Rating: 1.5 Stars

Buy: Morning Glory [VHS]