CRIME OF PASSION, A (TV)
Summary
This made-for-television drama depicts the fallout from a lonely widower's whirlwind romance with a mysterious younger woman. The story begins as Dr. Ben Pierce bids farewell to his daughters, med student Alyssa and teenage Natalie, and meets up with an old friend from college, though he is uncomfortable when Carl takes him to a seedy strip club, the Brink. Carl unsuccessfully flirts with one of the women, and when Ben leaves, he is mugged in the parking lot by a gun-wielding assailant. The stripper from earlier, Marci, hurries to his rescue, though when she returns to her home, it is revealed that the thief is her ex-boyfriend. The next day, Alyssa chats with Natalie's school guidance counselor, Blair, and invites her to the house for dinner, while elsewhere Marci finds Ben and returns his empty wallet, claiming that she found it near the club. Ben and Marci soon agree to an official date, and Alyssa is annoyed to find that her father, unaware of her invitation to Blair, has made other plans.
Marci and Ben's relationship quickly deepens, with Ben confiding in her about his loneliness since his wife's death and Marci sharing her dreams of one day visiting Paris. Though she worries that she is his inferior, he assures her that his feelings are genuine and invites her over to meet his daughters. Natalie seems charmed by Marci, though Alyssa has doubts, particularly when Marci reveals that she had a long career as an exotic dancer, and she is stunned when Ben announces that he intends to marry Marci. Two months later, Alyssa has unofficially moved out of her father's home, resentful of his quickie marriage and her new young stepmother, though her boyfriend Matt reminds her that Ben is no longer lonely. Ben admits that he enjoys feeling "needed" by Marci, and Alyssa, overwhelmed by her classwork, grudgingly agrees to assist Marci in planning the belated wedding reception. At the party, Marci tries to impress her husband's upper-class friends, including his insurance agent, Len Klaffter, and golf pro Eddie Meredith, though she overhears women in the bathroom gossiping snidely about her former job.
Alyssa's grades begin to slip further and Marci tries to accompany Ben to a medical conference in Detroit, though he gently turns her down. Disappointed, she visits her old friends at the Brink, enduring another stripper's jealous taunts about her new husband, but when Ben returns home, he reveals that Alyssa told him of her late-night outing and voices his disapproval of her returning to her former place of work. Upset, Marci confronts Alyssa and informs her that she is "here to stay" despite her meddling. Alyssa's professor advises her to take time off and reevaluate her true interests, and after drowning her sorrows at a party, she is arrested for a DUI and is rescued by Marci, who promises not to tell Ben of her actions. Later, while out shopping with her stepdaughters, Marci is flustered when she runs into her mugger ex, and she soon begins to fear that she is losing Ben's affections. She catches Ben having a casual lunch with Blair and grows suspicious, though Ben is angered to learn of her spying, and the two begin to argue. Marci heads back to the Brink, where she shares several drinks and an impulsive kiss with Eddie, but Ben finds out about her dalliance and angrily questions her about her past, expressing his regret about their impulsive wedding. Marci returns to Eddie and begs him to take her with him when he departs for Florida, though he admits that he is involved with "a wealthy widow."
Marci returns from her evening with Eddie, and Ben coldly informs her that he has already begun making plans for their divorce. Distressed, Marci pays Len a visit, while elsewhere Alyssa resolves to tell her father about her decision to leave medical school. As Marci takes Natalie out for the evening, Alyssa arrives at the family home, and she is shocked to encounter a masked gunman and find her father mortally wounded from a gunshot. Marci and Natalie arrive home and learn of the tragedy, and the police wonder if the crime was a burglary gone wrong or perhaps something more. The family later learns that Alyssa has inherited everything, including custody of Natalie, though Marci stands to receive a $1 million life insurance payout, raising Alyssa's suspicions. Len denies meeting with Marci, but Natalie overhears Alyssa voicing her concerns about Marci to Detective Lipton and confides in her stepmother, who assures her that Alyssa is simply "mixed up" and envious of their relationship. Alyssa is outraged to find that Marci intends to take Natalie on a trip and tries to throw her from the house, and Lipton soon returns, telling Alyssa that they have uncovered some "troubling inconsistencies" in her story about the night of her father's death. Alyssa, shocked to realize that both Len and Marci have lied in order to implicate her in the murder, denies any wrongdoing, though Lipton brings up the DUI and notes that Marci's record is clean.
Determined to solve the mystery, Alyssa tracks down the "sleazy guy" from the mall and finds her father's stolen credit card in the man's apartment, though she barely escapes when he returns and catches her in the act. Natalie hears Marci on the phone with her co-conspirator and realizes her true treachery, though Marci then hears her desperate call to Alyssa. Eddie finds Alyssa and declares that Marci hired a hitman after Ben decided to divorce her and leave her with nothing, but when he offers to help her rescue Natalie, she realizes too late that he is in fact the hitman and is in league with Marci, his lover. Eddie, impatient for the insurance money, prepares to kill both Alyssa and Natalie to cover up the scheme, but Marci has a change of heart and fights him off, eventually killing him when he tumbles over a balcony. Later, Marci is arrested for her part in the murder, though she swears to Alyssa and Natalie that she never intended to harm them, having acted out of a desperate fear of being left alone again. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: December 15, 1999 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:30:09
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:83817
- GENRE: Drama, mystery/suspense
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, mystery/suspense; Fathers and daughters; Infidelity; Murder
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV, 1999
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Ronnie D. Clemmer … Executive Producer
- Bill Pace … Executive Producer
- Sharon Cicero … Executive Producer
- Richard P. Kughn … Executive Producer
- Dan Witt … Producer
- David C. Thomas … Producer
- Marla A. White … Co-Producer
- Bill L. Norton … Director
- Bill Wells … Writer
- Mimi Rothman Schapiro … Writer
- Bruce Hanifan … Music by
- Tracey Gold … Cast, Alyssa Pierce
- Powers Boothe … Cast, Dr. Ben Pierce
- Kelly Rowan … Cast, Marci Elias
- David Chokachi … Cast, Eddie Meredith
- Rod Rowland … Cast, Marci's Ex-Boyfriend
- Kerrie Keane … Cast, Blair Worrall
- Robert Gossett … Cast, Det. Peter Lipton
- Jessie Gold … Cast, Natalie
- Julia Schultz … Cast, Caroline
- Andrew Stone … Cast, Matt
- Jeff Olson … Cast, Jim
- Anne Sward … Cast, Thea
- Jim Christian … Cast, Carl
- Tony Larimar … Cast, Professor Glassner
- Melissa Pace … Cast, Dancer #1
- Donré Sampson … Cast, Bartender
- Melinda Clarkson Haynes … Cast, Ben's Secretary
- Rachel Kim Collins … Cast, Kathy
- Scott Wilkinson … Cast, Chris Prince
- Geoff Hansen … Cast, Len Klaffter
- Loren Menkin … Cast, Receptionist
- Jerry North … Cast, Manager
- Nancy Roth … Cast, Samantha
- Shannon Engemann … Cast, Woman #1
- Anita Rice … Cast, Woman #2
- Chuck Manuele … Cast, Uniformed Cop