Mistral's Daughter

Produced in 1984 and clearly the product of another era, this epoch-spanning, eight-part miniseries based on the 1982 bestselling novel by Judith Krantz was made for American television but filmed in France, where it opens with Jewish orphan Maggy (Hart to Hart's Stefanie Powers with an unsteady accent) traveling from Provence to Paris to work as an artist's model. First she moves in with Paula (Stéphane Audran); then she teams up with self-absorbed painter Julien Mistral (Stacy Keach), which puts her in competition with Yankee heiress Kate (Lee Remick), who takes a special interest in the painter, introducing him to art dealer Mr. Avigdor (Ian Richardson). When Mistral leaves Maggy for Kate, Maggy falls for married banker Perry (Timothy Dalton, who also struggles with his accent); but after a move to New York, he exits in time for her to take up with publisher Jason (Robert Urich) and to avoid the fate of countless other French Jews during the war. In the following years, Maggy's daughter, Teddy (Stephanie Dunnam), who was fathered by Perry, also falls for Mistral's charms, and the series concludes by following the fortunes of the couple's daughter, Fauve (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu). Mistral's Daughter makes for entertaining, if occasionally squirm-inducing viewing (seducing Maggy, Julien declares, “You know, you have very beautiful feet”). Miscast as a waif of the 1920s, Powers is more believable as a postwar working mother; Keach, on the other hand, suffers an array of ridiculous outfits but gives a more consistent performance. DVD extras include an interview with Keach and an introduction by Krantz, who says that of all her books, “Mistral's Daughter is my personal favorite.” Recommended. (K. Fennessy)