Roseland

Stars: Christopher Walken (Batman Returns, King of New York, The Deer Hunter), Geraldine Chaplin (Dr. Zhivago, Welcome to L.A.). An uneven trilogy set in NYC's famed Roseland Ballroom, this 1977 effort from the Howard's End team (writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, director James Ivory, and producer Ismail Merchant) is hampered by a dull opening story in which an aging hoofer named May (Teresa Wright) can't let go of her dead husband Eddie, and nearly loses a new opportunity with Stan (Lou Jacobi). The longer and much more assured second story stars Christopher Walken as Russell, a kept man who services the needs of the much older and much richer Pauline (Joan Copeland). When the naive Marilyn (Geraldine Chaplin) sets her sights on wooing Russell, she engages in a war of love against money--a war which reveals some of the uglier aspects of human nature. In the final episode, Rosa (Lilia Skala) and Arthur (David Thomas) are an older couple who dream of winning the Peabody dance contest. Roseland is neither a very happy nor a very well made film. Style is always subservient to story, and even the numerous dance sequences are lackluster at best. Still, there is a lot of good writing packed into that second story and Walken, Copeland, and Chaplin are all very good in their roles. Audience: The Masterpiece Theatre crowd will be drawn to this.