Promises in the Dark

Posted by Aldo Pusey on Saturday, January 20, 2024

Producer-director Jerome Hellman has admirably attempted to focus attention on the death of a young cancer victim. Major problem remains not the promises physician Marcia Mason makes to her terminally-ill patient (Kathleen Beller) but the premise itself. No matter how well acted (and thesping here is superior) or mounted, a story that spends two hours watching a pretty young girl expire is just not most people's idea of a good time.

Producer-director Jerome Hellman has admirably attempted to focus attention on the death of a young cancer victim. Major problem remains not the promises physician Marcia Mason makes to her terminally-ill patient (Kathleen Beller) but the premise itself. No matter how well acted (and thesping here is superior) or mounted, a story that spends two hours watching a pretty young girl expire is just not most people’s idea of a good time.

Screenplay pulls no punches, and medical realism is heightened to an extent that damages the film more than it helps. Beller injures her leg in the pic’s opening sequence, and after that, it’s an endless array of emergency rooms, surgery theatres and bed-ridden shots as the cancer spreads throughout her body.

Set up as counterpoint to the distress Beller, boyfriend Paul clemens, and parents Ned Beatty and Susan Clark undergo is the courtship of divorced Mason by radiologist Michael Brandon. Mason, who is given the central focus by Helman’s serivative direction, never really allows the audience to share in her conflicting emotions.

Popular on Variety

Rest of cast is first-rate, particularly Beller (whose ‘why me’ speech is heart-wrenching). Hellman’s direction seems to have been inspired by two colleagues he’s frequently worked with, Hal Ashby and John Schlesinger.

Jump to Comments

Promises in the Dark

  • Production: Orion. Director Jerome Hellman; Producer Jerome Hellman; Screenplay Lorin Mandel; Camera Adam Holender; Editor Bob Wyman; Music Leonard Rosenman; Art Director Walter Scott Herndon
  • Crew: (Color) Available on VHS. Extract of a review from 1979. Running time: 115 MIN.
  • With: Marsha Mason Kathleen Beller Ned Beatty Susan Clark Michael Brandon Paul Clemens

More from Variety

Most Popular

Must Read

Sign Up for Variety Newsletters

By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. // This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Variety Confidential

A Variety and iHeartRadio Podcast

ncG1vNJzZmiukae2psDYZ5qopV9mhniEjp%2BgpaVfp7K3tcSwqmiooqS6qr%2FErGSipl2ptaZ5w5qppGVhZ31xgJFta21qXw%3D%3D

CATALOG
    FEATURED TAGS