Under The Biltmore Clock

Sean Young sparkles as a wily husband-hunter whose applecart gets a rude toppling in this clever adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story "Myra Meets His Family". As Myra, Young is shown in brief vignettes spanning five years in the 1920's, during which she goes from innocent teenager to jaded 21-year old gold digger. Enter Knowleton Whitney (Lenny Von Dohlen), who, needless to say, is swept off his feet by Myra's carefully orchestrated charms. With marriage looming in the wings, someone spills the beans to Knowleton: Myra is a chippie from the word go. Together with an actor friend (the inimitable Bernard Hughes), Knowleton and a cast of zanies concoct an elaborate family-meeting charade--which is designed to send Myra packing in short order. Except Myra really has fallen in love with Knowleton and she does her game best to overlook the insults and eccentricities of his 'family'. (In one memorable scene, family friends take the stage to perform dull magic tricks, off-key singing, stupor-producing dramatic readings, etc. At the close of each awful act, the crowd--including Myra-- claps boisterously. When Myra is asked to perform, she belts out a crazy song and dances her heart out--at the end of which, no one lifts a hand.) Under the Biltmore Clock is a wonderfully funny dissection of humans and their endless machinations in the pursuit of that Holy Grail of the soul we call Love. Highly recommended for larger public and junior and senior high school libraries. (See ANY FRIEND OF NICHOLAS NICKLEBY IS A FRIEND OF MINE for availability.)