One Special Night (1999) (TV)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Roger Young

Writers (WGA):

Jan Hartman (play)
Nancey Silvers (teleplay)

Release Date:

28 November 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Builder Robert is visiting his ailing wife in a nursing home and is having problems getting a taxi home due to an intense snow storm...

Plot Keywords:

Snow | Cabin | Stranded | Blizzard | Friendship

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

James Garner	...	Robert Woodward
Julie Andrews	...	Catherine
Patricia Charbonneau	...	Lori
Stacy Grant	...	Jaclyn Woodward
Stewart Bick	...	Jeff
Daniel Magder	...	Michael
Sheena Larkin	...	Marybeth Woodward
Kim Roberts	...	Nurse Sara
Gary Plaxton	...	Dr. Michaels
Belinda Hum	...	New Hospice Nurse
Kerrilyn Keith	...	O.R. Nurse (as Kerilyn Keith)
Sasha Wentges	...	Nursery Nurse
Annabelle Torsein	...	Young Hospice Nurse
Frank Cavallero	...	TV Reporter
Sam Stone	...	Murray

Also Known As:

A Winter Visitor (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild language and thematic elements.

Runtime:

92 min | Germany:85 min | Spain:87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Company:

Green/Epstein Productions

Quotes:

Robert: Merry Christmas Millie.
[Catherine smiles]
Catherine: Merry Christmas Howard.
[they both smile, and kiss]

Movie Connections:

References Psycho (1960)

A film with ascending human values

I have always admired a film based on a story with steadily ascending human values. Like "An Affair to Remember", the story in "One Special Night" begins with a negative relationship between Garner and Andrews but, as they become better acquainted, their antagonism goes into neutral. When they are finally forced to take refuge in a deserted house to shelter from the heavy snowstorm and they eventually discover that they both possess that sublime quality of positive human values, their affection for one another gradually develops into a beautiful kind of love superbly suited to their advanced age. The dialogue between Andrews and Garner is admirably sober, witty, and often deeply touching. One feels compelled to offer congratulations also to writers Hartman and Silvers, and director Roger Young for a truly heart-warming story. One would wish to be witnessing a reversal of the sleazy trend so frequently adopted by the movie makers of the last quarter of the twentieth century. I gave this story a score of 9, and I added another point for the fact that the film was produced well after what I've always considered to be the golden age of Hollywood movies (1930-70) in this age when films are being made in abundance but rarely with any depth of meaning.