The Price of Heaven is a TV movie directed by Peter Bogdanovich. It was an adaptation of Allan Gurganus's novella Blessed Assurance: A Moral Tale from the book White People.WEEKEND TV; Films From Bogdanovich, Friedkin; Remembering Elvis: [Home Edition] King, Susan. Los Angeles Times 14 Aug 1997: 48.
Plot Vesta Lotte Battle is a spinster who fixes broken china. She befriends Jerry Hill (Grant Show), a young white man who has returned from the Korean War. He works for a ruthless businessman (George Wendt) who persuades him to exploit poor blacks by selling them funeral insurance.
Cast Grant Show as Jerry Shand Cicely Tyson as Vesta Lotte Battle Lori Loughlin as Leslie George Wendt as Sam Cari Shayne as Claire Gundry Rebecca Koon as Zella Shand Allan Gurganus as Professor Title Shannon Eubanks as Mrs. Gundry
Reception The New York Times said the film was "marred by a screenplay that makes its upper-class white characters... simply stupid rather than complicatedly so. But the back-and-forth between Ms. Tyson and Mr. Show is quick and sure, and they are very good at illustrating how imperfect redemption is better than no redemption at all."Episodes From a Transitory World: [Review] Joyner, Will. New York Times 15 Aug 1997: 21.
The Los Angeles Times said "Bogdanovich is frightfully ham-fisted at times, but for the most part, he gently underscores what's going on here. Though it's never directly addressed, a civil rights awareness is blossoming in certain of these characters. Yet despite its good intentions, "The Price of Heaven" fizzles into just another tale of a handsome, promising young man who's trying to choose between his sweet longtime girlfriend (Lori Loughlin) and a rich, obnoxious bombshell (Cari Shayne)--as though, in the middle of production, everyone began acting from a discarded "Melrose Place" script."TV REVIEW; 'Heaven' Struggles Against Script in Civil Rights Drama: [Home Edition] Miller, Daryl H. Los Angeles Times 16 Aug 1997: F, 16:1.
References
External links The Price of Heaven at TCMDB The Price of Heaven at IMDb Review at Variety