I remember seeing "Passion and Paradise" on TV when I was much younger and liking it very much. Recently I revisited the mini-series and I found that it's quite entertaining.
Armand Assante plays the unfortunate son-in-law of one Sir Harry Oakes (the always towering Rod Steiger) who gets blamed for his murder. Having married Sir Oakes's daughter and believed to be after her fortunes, Assante's defense team has a mountain to climb making the case for his innocence.
Now this is based on the true story of Sir Harry Oakes's murder but I do not know any specifics about his death or the investigation that followed.
Spoiler:
Real life characters such as gangster Lucky Luciano and others are figured in here and a subplot about Oakes's disdain of bringing casinos to the Bahamas may have figured in his untimely demise. It wasn't known (in 1988 at least) who killed Sir Harry Oakes but the film speculates about his death and to me it's as good a speculation as any.
Spoiler end.
This glossy mini-series is entertaining in it's own right. Characters are pretty shallow and despite a three hour running time the proceedings seem very rushed, especially the trial. The cast is good with a very powerful Rod Steiger playing Sir Harry Oakes in his usual forceful manner. Armand Assante is good as his son-in-law and Mariette Hartley is very good as Sir Harry Oakes's wife. Wayne Rogers is fun to watch as the gumshoe who helps out with the case but Catherine Mary Stewart is pretty uneven as Assante's wife and Sir Harry Oakes's daughter.
The scenery in the Bahamas is very beautiful to look at and overall the production values here are decent.
As far as mini-series go, "Passion and Paradise" is a good way to spend an evening.
Armand Assante plays the unfortunate son-in-law of one Sir Harry Oakes (the always towering Rod Steiger) who gets blamed for his murder. Having married Sir Oakes's daughter and believed to be after her fortunes, Assante's defense team has a mountain to climb making the case for his innocence.
Now this is based on the true story of Sir Harry Oakes's murder but I do not know any specifics about his death or the investigation that followed.
Spoiler:
Real life characters such as gangster Lucky Luciano and others are figured in here and a subplot about Oakes's disdain of bringing casinos to the Bahamas may have figured in his untimely demise. It wasn't known (in 1988 at least) who killed Sir Harry Oakes but the film speculates about his death and to me it's as good a speculation as any.
Spoiler end.
This glossy mini-series is entertaining in it's own right. Characters are pretty shallow and despite a three hour running time the proceedings seem very rushed, especially the trial. The cast is good with a very powerful Rod Steiger playing Sir Harry Oakes in his usual forceful manner. Armand Assante is good as his son-in-law and Mariette Hartley is very good as Sir Harry Oakes's wife. Wayne Rogers is fun to watch as the gumshoe who helps out with the case but Catherine Mary Stewart is pretty uneven as Assante's wife and Sir Harry Oakes's daughter.
The scenery in the Bahamas is very beautiful to look at and overall the production values here are decent.
As far as mini-series go, "Passion and Paradise" is a good way to spend an evening.