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CRITICA EN EL PERIODICO "ABC DE MADRID" (16-5-1975)
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Natalie Wood & Robert Wagner Were Magic !
Over the years I missed this TV Film and was completely surprised by the great performance of Natalie Wood,(Courtney Patterson),"Meteor",'79, a cripple who was taken advantage of by Robert Wagner (Marcus Simon),"El Padrino,'03. Marcus Simon fell madly in love with Courtney and drove Courtney crazy until she finally paid attention to him and went to bed with him. Marcus should never have started a romance with Courtney, because he was only going to Break Her Heart. The acting between Marcus & Courtney was fantastic and at times made you very angry at Marcus for having started this entire "AFFAIR". Bruce Davison,(Jamie Patterson), Courtney's brother tells her, "At least someone loved you in this world" and it was good you got to see what the REAL WORLD IS ALL ABOUT" ! Natlie Wood & Robert Wagner were married for the second time during this film and they were really a match made in Heaven! Natlie is greatly missed!
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The Affair
The Affair is a made-for-TV movie that is about as interesting as watching water boil. Made in 1973, it is one of the few films in which Natalie Wood sings, and it is one of the few times that Wood and her real-life husband Robert Wagner appeared in the same production. Wood and Wagner may have had tremendous chemistry together in person, but it doesn't translate that well to the screen -- at least not in this movie.
In fact, there really isn't much in the way of “chemistry” in this movie, either between Wagner and Wood or among any of the other characters. This may have been reflective of the true state of their marriage. At the time of Wood’s death in an alleged boating accident, there has been an aura of suspicion surrounding husband Wagner with some tabloid TV shows even insinuating that he murdered his wife. Certainly, his behavior after his wife’s death helped to fuel suspicions, as Wagner seemed almost hell-bent on engaging in public romances with practically every unmarried actress he could get his hands on.
In The Affair, Wagner comes across as a stalker type to Wood’s fluffy singer/songwriter character, practically forcing himself into her life. Wood’s character, whose legs are paralyzed from childhood polio, finally gives in to his advances, and before you know it, he's proclaiming his love for her.
The progression of their relationship is erratically presented and this, coupled with choppy editing, leads the viewer to be less than assured as to what is transpiring, with character motivation being almost completely ignored in the writing. You never understand just why Wagner’s character is attracted to Wood or what she sees in him. One gets the impression that the producer, Aaron Spelling, assumed the audience already knew Wagner and Wood were married in real life, and thus, there was no real need to actually portray a romance between their characters. Just simply going through the motions was good enough for Spelling, but not for the demands of making a good movie.
The poor plot development is not the only problem with this movie. The quality of the direction is very poor, even by made-for-TV movie standards. The plot is weak, and the characters are grossly underdeveloped. This movie has all sorts of 1970’s fashions, including bell bottoms, shag carpeting, and Elton John glasses. Wood is supposed to use crutches due to her medical condition, but every once in a while, we see her standing up and/or walking without crutches, and then in the same scene, the crutches magically reappear. Evidently, while filming, someone would notice that Wood was without her crutches and she would then be outfitted with them and the shooting would continue. Apparently, the producer thought the viewers would be too stupid to notice. Either that or he was too cheap to bother redoing the crutchless scenes.
Speaking of the flick’s budget, you can tell that it was really tight. Too tight to afford a decent script writer. The Affair is loaded with all sorts of abstract, unbelievable, and unnatural dialogue.
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.The made-for-TV movie The Affair (working title: Love Song) marked the return to television of Natalie Wood after an 18-year absence (her last regular small-screen work was on the 1954 sitcom The Pride of the Family). Wood plays a crippled 32-year-old songwriter whose handicap has made her cynical and suspicious of the kindnesses of strangers. Robert Wagner (the real-life husband of Natalie Wood) co-stars as a compassionate lawyer who falls in love with her. By the time she has warmed up to her new beau, she finds that her family opposes the relationship. Written by Barbara Turner, The Affair first aired November 20, 1973.
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