The Promise (1979 film)
Encyclopedia
The Promise is a 1979
film, released by was a Universal Pictures
, which starred Kathleen Quinlan
, Stephen Collins, and Beatrice Straight
. It was directed by Gilbert Cates
and produced by Fred Weintraub
and Paul Heller
. The screenplay was written by Garry Michael White
and was novelized later by Danielle Steel
.
"), college students Michael Hillyard (Collins) and Nancy McAllister (Quinlan) are in love, much to the chagrin of Hillyard's disapproving mother, Marion (Straight).
Michael and Nancy, visiting a park overlooking the Atlantic Ocean
, hide a costume jewelry necklace under a large rock, promising that they will love each other as long as it remains undisturbed (which they expect to be forever).
Marion — whose relationship with her son is so tense that Michael calls his mother by her first name — is convinced that Nancy is below Michael's class, so she tries to intervene. Michael, making it clear that he isn't going to choose her over Nancy, storms out of the matriarch's home.
Sensing the urgency of the moment and the matter, Michael calls Nancy with plans to elope.
On the way to the ceremony, with Michael's best friend Ben Avery (Michael O'Hare
) in attendance, the three are involved in a horrible car crash. All three survive, but Michael is comatose.
Marion makes a deal with Nancy, who is heavily bandaged in the hospital with severe facial damage. Marion will send her to California and pay for the best plastic surgeons to make her beautiful -- Nancy had been of average appearance before, which was achieved by use of make-up -- and finish her education (as an artist) there. The catch is that Nancy must not return to Boston or contact Michael again unless he contacts her, with the implication being that he will decide if he wants the relationship to continue after the trauma of the accident. Nancy agrees.
Marion then tells Michael, when he has come out of his coma, that Nancy died in the car wreck.
Time passes and, once healed, Michael becomes a successful architect, designing multimillion-dollar business skyscrapers. His company takes a contract to design a building in San Francisco. Seeing a photograph that he admires, he tracks down the artist to ask her to paint a mural for the building's lobby. He doesn't recognize Nancy, who has taken on the new name of Marie Adamson, but she knows him on sight.
Believing that he had discarded her, "Marie" refuses the offer. When he is persistent, she eventually gives Michael a photo and tells him to do what he likes with it. He has it put on a billboard on the side of a large truck, part of his campaign to break down her resistance.
They develop a working relationship, Michael finding himself drawn to "Marie" in a way he cannot understand. He is puzzled by her strange behavior towards him. Eventually, unable to contain her feelings of abandonment, she flees to the East Coast.
After being assaulted by "Marie's" boyfriend when he shows up at their apartment demanding to see her, Michael looks up at the wall to recognize a completed painting which Nancy had only partially finished during their romance. He finally realizes "Marie" is actually Nancy. Told that she has gone to Boston, he returns there.
In the climactic scene, Nancy reaches the rock. After a struggle, she dislodges it — to discover that the necklace is not there. While she tries to understand, Michael appears with the necklace in hand, having gotten there first. He poignantly informs her that she can't have it, because it belonged to a friend of his, whom he had been told had died in a car crash. This sets the stage for a romantic embrace.
. The theme song was written by Alan and Marilyn Bergman
, entitled "The Promise", and performed by Melissa Manchester
. The tune has been covered by several other artists, including a duet with Ogie Alcasid
and Regine Velasquez
and most recently by Barbra Streisand in 2011 (What Matters Most). Sharon Cuneta
tells audiences that she and her husband fell in love as a result of the song.
1979 in film
The year 1979 in film involved some significant events.- Major events :* March 5 - Production begins on Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.* May 25 - Alien, a landmark of the science fiction genre, is released....
film, released by was a Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
, which starred Kathleen Quinlan
Kathleen Quinlan
Kathleen Denise Quinlan is an Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominated American actress, mostly seen on television and in motion pictures.-Personal life:...
, Stephen Collins, and Beatrice Straight
Beatrice Straight
Beatrice Whitney Straight was an American theatre, film, and television actress. Hers remains the shortest acting performance in a film to win an Oscar. In her winning role in the 1976 film Network, she was on screen for five minutes and forty seconds, the shortest time ever for the winner of the...
. It was directed by Gilbert Cates
Gilbert Cates
Gilbert “Gil” Cates was an Award winning American film director and television producer, director of the Geffen Playhouse, and founding dean of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television...
and produced by Fred Weintraub
Fred Weintraub
Fred Weintraub is an American film and television producer, director and screenwriter.-Background:Weintraub is the original owner and host of The Bitter End in New York City's Greenwich Village...
and Paul Heller
Paul Heller
Paul Heller is an American film producer residing in Southern California. His best movies known include Enter the Dragon, Dirty Harry, My Left Foot, The Annihilation of Fish, Skin Games, Hot Potato, The Promise, The Barony, Black Belt Jones, and David and Lisa.-Film Production:His debut as a film...
. The screenplay was written by Garry Michael White
Garry Michael White
Garry Michael White is an American playwright and screenwriter. He wrote the screenplay for Scarecrow, which won the Palme D'Or at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival. White also co-wrote the 1976 action film Sky Riders and the romantic drama The Promise in 1979.-External links:...
and was novelized later by Danielle Steel
Danielle Steel
Danielle Fernandes Dominique Schuelein-Steel , better known as Danielle Steel, is an American romantic novelist and author of mainstream dramas....
.
Synopsis
In a rich-boy/poor-girl story (along the lines of "Love StoryLove Story (1970 film)
Love Story is a 1970 romantic drama film written by Erich Segal and based on his novel Love Story. It was directed by Arthur Hiller. The film, well known as a tragedy, is considered one of the most romantic of all time by the American Film Institute , and was followed by a sequel, Oliver's Story...
"), college students Michael Hillyard (Collins) and Nancy McAllister (Quinlan) are in love, much to the chagrin of Hillyard's disapproving mother, Marion (Straight).
Michael and Nancy, visiting a park overlooking the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
, hide a costume jewelry necklace under a large rock, promising that they will love each other as long as it remains undisturbed (which they expect to be forever).
Marion — whose relationship with her son is so tense that Michael calls his mother by her first name — is convinced that Nancy is below Michael's class, so she tries to intervene. Michael, making it clear that he isn't going to choose her over Nancy, storms out of the matriarch's home.
Sensing the urgency of the moment and the matter, Michael calls Nancy with plans to elope.
On the way to the ceremony, with Michael's best friend Ben Avery (Michael O'Hare
Michael O'Hare
Michael O'Hare is an American actor, best known for playing Jeffrey Sinclair in the science fiction television series Babylon 5.-Biography:Michael O'Hare was born in Chicago, Illinois...
) in attendance, the three are involved in a horrible car crash. All three survive, but Michael is comatose.
Marion makes a deal with Nancy, who is heavily bandaged in the hospital with severe facial damage. Marion will send her to California and pay for the best plastic surgeons to make her beautiful -- Nancy had been of average appearance before, which was achieved by use of make-up -- and finish her education (as an artist) there. The catch is that Nancy must not return to Boston or contact Michael again unless he contacts her, with the implication being that he will decide if he wants the relationship to continue after the trauma of the accident. Nancy agrees.
Marion then tells Michael, when he has come out of his coma, that Nancy died in the car wreck.
Time passes and, once healed, Michael becomes a successful architect, designing multimillion-dollar business skyscrapers. His company takes a contract to design a building in San Francisco. Seeing a photograph that he admires, he tracks down the artist to ask her to paint a mural for the building's lobby. He doesn't recognize Nancy, who has taken on the new name of Marie Adamson, but she knows him on sight.
Believing that he had discarded her, "Marie" refuses the offer. When he is persistent, she eventually gives Michael a photo and tells him to do what he likes with it. He has it put on a billboard on the side of a large truck, part of his campaign to break down her resistance.
They develop a working relationship, Michael finding himself drawn to "Marie" in a way he cannot understand. He is puzzled by her strange behavior towards him. Eventually, unable to contain her feelings of abandonment, she flees to the East Coast.
After being assaulted by "Marie's" boyfriend when he shows up at their apartment demanding to see her, Michael looks up at the wall to recognize a completed painting which Nancy had only partially finished during their romance. He finally realizes "Marie" is actually Nancy. Told that she has gone to Boston, he returns there.
In the climactic scene, Nancy reaches the rock. After a struggle, she dislodges it — to discover that the necklace is not there. While she tries to understand, Michael appears with the necklace in hand, having gotten there first. He poignantly informs her that she can't have it, because it belonged to a friend of his, whom he had been told had died in a car crash. This sets the stage for a romantic embrace.
Musical score
The film features a haunting music score by David ShireDavid Shire
David Lee Shire is an American songwriter and the composer of stage musicals, film and television scores. The soundtrack to the movie The Taking of Pelham 123 and parts of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack such as Night on Disco Mountain, an adaptation of Modest Mussorgsky's Night on Bald...
. The theme song was written by Alan and Marilyn Bergman
Marilyn Bergman
Marilyn Bergman is a composer, songwriter and author.She was born Marilyn Keith in Brooklyn, New York and studied psychology and English at New York University...
, entitled "The Promise", and performed by Melissa Manchester
Melissa Manchester
Melissa Manchester is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Beginning in the 1970s, she has recorded generally in the adult contemporary genre. She has also appeared as an actress on television, in films, and on stage....
. The tune has been covered by several other artists, including a duet with Ogie Alcasid
Ogie Alcasid
Herminio Jhay Alcasid, Jr., more popularly known as Ogie "Eric Ordoñez" Alcasid , is a Filipino singer, songwriter, composer, television presenter, comedian, parodist, actor, and entrepreneur.-Recording career:...
and Regine Velasquez
Regine Velasquez
Regina Encarnacion Ansong Velasquez , better known as Asia's Songbird, Regine Velasquez, is a Filipino singer, actress, record producer and TV host...
and most recently by Barbra Streisand in 2011 (What Matters Most). Sharon Cuneta
Sharon Cuneta
Sharon Cuneta-Pangilinan, better known as Sharon Cuneta, is a popular and multi-awarded Filipino singer, actress and TV host dubbed as Megastar of Philippine Entertainment, fondly called Mega by fans and people from the entertainment industry....
tells audiences that she and her husband fell in love as a result of the song.