Producer David L. Wolper, who gave the world the popular miniseries “Roots” in 1977, came up with another big hit in the same genre in 1983 called “The Thorn Birds.” Adequate direction by Daryl Duke (“The President’s Plane is Missing” 1973) and teleplay writing by Carmen Culver and Lee Stanley did not prevent this nearly eight hour series from being a bit tedious and soap operatic in the worst sense of the word.
The story was adapted from the 1977 novel of the same name by Colleen McCullough. It tells the story of a Roman Catholic priest who goes against the rules when he becomes romantically involved with a woman, which includes fathering her child.
There are good performances from Richard Chamberlain, Rachel Ward, Barbara Stanwyck, Jean Simmons, Christopher Plummer, Bryan Brown, Piper Laurie, Richard Kiley, Mare Winningham, Ken Howard, Earl Holliman, Barry Corbin, and John de Lancie, who went on to fame as the enigmatic “Q” of “Star Trek” fame.
“The Thorn Birds” was nominated for twelve Emmy Awards, winning six for Stanwyck, Kiley, Simmons, Art Direction, Make-up, Editing. The theme music was composed by Henry Mancini. It was originally aired on the ABC televsion network March 27-30, 1983.
The Thorn Birds (1983)
cinema
My Review
Producer David L. Wolper, who gave the world the popular miniseries “Roots” in 1977, came up with another big hit in the same genre in 1983 called “The Thorn Birds.” Adequate direction by Daryl Duke (“The President’s Plane is Missing” 1973) and teleplay writing by Carmen Culver and Lee Stanley did not prevent this nearly eight hour series from being a bit tedious and soap operatic in the worst sense of the word.
The story was adapted from the 1977 novel of the same name by Colleen McCullough. It tells the story of a Roman Catholic priest who goes against the rules when he becomes romantically involved with a woman, which includes fathering her child.
There are good performances from Richard Chamberlain, Rachel Ward, Barbara Stanwyck, Jean Simmons, Christopher Plummer, Bryan Brown, Piper Laurie, Richard Kiley, Mare Winningham, Ken Howard, Earl Holliman, Barry Corbin, and John de Lancie, who went on to fame as the enigmatic “Q” of “Star Trek” fame.
“The Thorn Birds” was nominated for twelve Emmy Awards, winning six for Stanwyck, Kiley, Simmons, Art Direction, Make-up, Editing. The theme music was composed by Henry Mancini. It was originally aired on the ABC televsion network March 27-30, 1983.