Queenie

The pace was lethargic, the acting stilted and because there were some excellent actors involved, I can only assume it was the fault of the director.If you are committed to a 4 hour TV serial, it must take a lot of skill to maintain the tension. The ending was also false and typical American/Hollywood hypocrisy. Nevertheless, it told an interesting story and most certainly was not total garbage. What I do dislike, however, is "faction", when you are never sure how much you are being told, in this case about Merle Oberon, is true. Was there actually a suspicious death in India? Was her mother her servant at any time? Was she ever involved in making a film in India? If all this was fiction, as I suspect it was, then why drag Merle Oberon's name into it anyway?

is it Merle Oberon portrait ? maybe. but the feelings is than it is far accuracy, scene for silhouette of American dream, melodramatic and nice. it has a lead virtue - the cast. Mia Sara does a splendid work in a role who remains clone of so many fragile characters. Joss Ackland is perfect bad guy and Kirk Douglas creates an interesting drawing of providential man. but, behind atmosphere, fight of ambitious young woman, it seems be not exactly a portrait but a mask. one of Hallmark films style, slices of pink novels, it is beautiful and touching first for a special public. window out of dusty reality, it is a large isle of fiction as diaphanous curtain for a dancer.

"Queenie" stars Mia Sara as a half-caste young girl in India who leaves her homeland, goes to England to be discovered, and becomes a movie star. This was inspired by the life of actress Merle Oberon, who was half-caste, and in fact, the book this was based was written by her stepson Michael Korda. I have mixed feelings about that, as his book was what is called a roman a clef, a fictional book whose main character is a real person. Her plight was the basis from which all things fictional happen in the book and therefore the movie. I feel like he profited by her private life, though none of the dramatics here really happened. Not knowing or considering the real actress, the movie is a good fast-moving and involving film with Kirk Douglas as the producer who makes her a star and Claire Bloom as her mother with very soap opera-ish melodramatics. Is that redundant? I would recommend this to anyone who didn't know about the life and career of Merle Oberon, but for those who do, it may feel a bit disrespectful of her memory to indulge in Korda's imagination and fantasy.

Based on Michael Korda's bestselling interpretation of the life of legendary movie star (and his aunt) Merle Oberon, this 1987 mini-series chronicles the life of a young Eurasian woman (Mia Sara) who flees India to England, where she hides the truth of her past (including her role in the accidental death of an important British official back in India) to become a famous movie star. The script for "Queenie" is extremely melodramatic, and the time frame doesn't seem quite accurate (in part II, Queenie returns to India to make a movie that one character describes as "more expensive than Gone with the Wind"--meaning she and a large British-American entourage are trapsing across the globe to make a movie at the height of World War II!!!), but the show is quite lavish and, thanks to an energetic cast--especially the lovely Miss Sara--quite entertaining. There's also a fine score by Georges Delarue. Worth seeing if you come across it on television--I'd love to have it on DVD.

i have always been a big fan of these long location driven films.

the cast of characters were very interesting and expressive. the story in itself was more then enough to hold one's interest, focusing on a likable main character that you became emotionally involved with. the locations were beautifully filmed, and i felt the scenery was spectacular and lush. the film also had a wonderful international cast, that seemed to be perfectly cast in each part. i felt that kirk Douglas was excellent in the part of David konig, and played his part to perfection! the biggest surprise of the film was Mia Sara, who, in only her third film, was very believable as Queenie, and looked just beautiful. this film shows her to be a better talent then she is given credit for!