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Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Brilliant and touching

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

I remember reading the book Jewels a long time ago. I was going through a Danielle Steel faze and fell in love with this book. So I was thrilled when they made a movie about it. I have to admit, I loved the first part of the movie best. The romance between Sarah and William was my favorite part in the book and in the movie.My other favorite aspect of the movie was Anthony Andrews as William. I love this actor, ever since I saw him as a kid in two movies I loved, Ivanhoe and The Scarlett Pimpernel. Casting him in the role of William Whitfield lent the TV melodrama a real sense of legitimacy. He is a great actor, and the perfect choice to play the Duke. Not only is he devastatingly handsome, he has a great sense of humor. You first saw it in The Scarlet Pimpernel, and was very important for this movie.I say that hesitantly though because I have to say that I was very disappointed that almost all of the humor shared between William and Sarah was taken out of the movie. I remember when I read the book, I had tears rolling down my cheeks because I was laughing so hard. And I was horrified to hear only one or two lines from the book shared between both characters.While I loved Anthony Andrews as William, I was not as certain about the actress playing Sarah. I like Annette O'Toole, I really do, but I didn't in this movie. I felt her acting was too over the top in some scenes and she was described much differently in the book and maybe I was too influenced by that description to really enjoy the performance. I found Annette's shaking her head from side to side to be too distracting.Like the book, I lost interest during the Nazi invasion, and there was another major change. In the book, the character of Philip actually loved the character of Joachim Von Mannheim, the Nazi who had taken over the château during the war, but in the movie, he hated him.The rest of the story involving the children interested me even less. With the exception of the brothers all being cute, the last part of the movie was very boring. Typical spoiled brats all making huge mistakes, hurting their mother.Spoiler:The ending was the dumbest I have ever seen for a miniseries. The idea that Julian would associate not only with his brother, but his ex-wife, who left Julian for Philip, and gave him their son, without caring a thing about it was ludicrous. There was the whole family, at a christening, including Philip and Julian's ex-wife, standing next to her son, and everyone is happily smiling at one another. Please!This ending did not happen in the book, and I was very disappointed by it.This is really the Jewel in the crown of all Danielle Steel novels made into a TV movie. But for anyone who read the book and loved it like me, there are some big disappointments.Still a good watch, very romantic in many places.

I was a kid when I saw this film and I thought it was wonderful. What little girl wouldn't enjoy watching a movie about fancy rocks and racy family members? I certainly did. My mother and I would watch this movie practically every weekend. Now that I am an adult, I realize that I have been deceived. How is it that most mini-series initially come out to be really great, but then a few years down the road, they turn out kind of crummy?!Character's actions. Some of the characters were just not believable. I thought that Sarah (Annette O'Toole) had the tinniest laugh when she meets William (Anthony Andrews) for the first time. At least he was a perfect gentleman and didn't say anything to her about it. O'Toole has a superficiality throughout the entire movie that I just wanted to squish. Then their child Philip. What an ungracious, spoiled brat! I'm sorry, but if I were in her shoes and escaping from the Nazi's, I'd say, "Take my child, not me" I have to say I enjoyed the château immensely and I don't blame the bad guys for moving into it and making it their headquarters. I have to say the only really good actors were William and the adult Phillip. They seemed to be the most enjoyable actors throughout the whole movie. I particularly enjoyed William while he was in his wheelchair and having all of those heart attacks. Then Phillip, he could run a harem the way he was running around town with that French Floozy. They should change the title of this film to "William and Phillip" as they kept me entertained.

I had seen the film many times and thought Miss O'Toole had a great performance. In the movie, the children grew to be snobbish and selfish. I felt that their mother was showing her devotion by bailing them out of every mess they got into. She sacrificed her wishes and desires for their well being and security. I feel that she was brave in war time and true to her Husband in his illness.

I enjoyed the movie very much but I am prone to devour saga-type books/movies. Characters are believable except for the role of Phillip as a child. Too bratty.