TV… The Two Worlds of Jennie Logan (1979)

#1970s #AllPosts

 

A door to the past…

 

Unhappily married, Jennie Logan goes back in time, falls in love and must solve her lover’s murder before it happens… as time runs out.

 

Lindsay Wagner

Linda Gray and Marc Singer

The Two Worlds of Jennie Logan (Lindsay Wagner CBS TV Movie), Rewatch Classic TV, and photos © Paramount Television

 

I jumped at the chance of watching The Two Worlds of Jennie Logan (1979) again, as it’s one of my favourite TV Movies. Possibly as it has more connections to Dallas (1978-91) than most. As you know I am a tad obsessed with this TV show even basing my first blogathon on it. This was the first Darling Dallaser‘s one – which I ran to celebrate what would have been Larry Hagman’s 85th birthday last year. Eagle eyes will know, I also mention the show whenever I happen to review anything from a cameo to a leading role from any of the cast.

So how does this TV film connect with the Big D, its six degrees of Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing to the uninformed, aka J.R.’s long-suffering on-off wife)? Firstly and obviously, the lovely Linda Gray stars in it. Secondly, the main billing goes to her one time niece from Linda’s previous marriage. This actress was Lindsay Wagner who played The Bionic Woman (1976-78).

This TV series is the spin-off of The Six Million Dollar Man (1974-78) with Lee Majors. Bizarrely this leads to coincidence no 3, Majors was  – as I still haven’t seen the new series yet – Sue Ellen’s love interest in the reboot series, a fact that a Majors fan told me.

Another coincidence is the presence of Constance McCashin, who plays Wagner’s friend and confidante in this TV movie and starred in the Dallas spin-off Knots Landing (1979-93). Finally, the leading man in The Two Worlds of Jennie Logan is Marc Singer who you guessed it also appeared in Dallas. Albeit in that dream season.

So what’s this TV Movie about? The Two Worlds of Jennie Logan starts with some rather hip 1970s font credits and some spooky romantically themed music and a painting of a house. A couple, Michael (Alan Feinstein) and his wife Jennie (Wagner) Logan are looking at a house with a view to buying it.

She loves it and heads the way as they look around the house, almost like she’s seeing it again. He’s only interested in making her happy as it’s hinted at they’ve had marital problems. She goes to open the door to the loft but is dissuaded from doing so by the owner…  cue door close up.. and more of the spooky romantically themed music.

So they buy the house, which Jennie wants to restore to its former glory. It’s revealed Michael was a bit of a cad, as Jennie caught him in bed with another young lady, through a wee flashback and her conversation with BFF,  Beverly (McCashin).  Jennie investigates the loft which has an old dress in it from approx 1899 (80 years previous to the film’s present day of 1979), Jennie tries it on and it fits. She then gets a headache from which she passes out, seeing a glimpse of the house in its former state.

Back in the present day, Michael is upset as she’s not responding to his advances. After trying on the dress more Jennie returns to the past, hearing strange voices shouting Pamela. On a further revisit to 1899, she sees the voice’s owner, David Reynolds (Singer)  who shouts Pamela and chases her in his horse and cart. But Wagner outruns him – well, she was the Bionic Woman – and returns back to 1979.

In the present day, Jennie finds more about the house through the local museum’s curator, Mrs Bates and later, Aunt Betty one of the town’s older inhabitants. Bates tells how its previous owner, David was an artist. His wife Pamela died and how he saw her ghost at times, and then he met someone new.

However, he was shot in suspicious circumstances at the turn of the century. Jennie is shown one of his paintings which spookily – cue that music again – looks like Jennie!! So she goes back in time and talks to David, and they fall in love.

But he’s fighting off the affections of his sister-in-law, Elizabeth (Linda Gray) and having threats to his life through his former father-in-law. David speaks in ye olde turn of the 20th Century imagined talk with ye olde moustache and haircut. And the Harrington family invite themselves into the house. As ye do.

After her present-day, hubby tries to win her over with a locket,  Jennie continues to return to the past and she and David fall in love. Michael believes she’s become unwell…  so she sees a therapist. Jennie meanwhile is aware of David’s fate…and resolves to stop his untimely death… So tune into this movie to see how things turn out…

I do love this movie as one of my most well-remembered of those 1970s TV movies, that I enjoyed at the time. A bit like The Asylum movies now they usually had one star you recognised then and much more now. The star I recognised then was obviously Linda Gray. Another example is The Horror at 37,000 Feet (1973) TV Movie which I watched more recently with Darlin Husband and was recently also reviewed here.

On reading more, I found Jennie’s husband was played by Alan Feinstein a fact I’d not known previously. I’d at my first viewing of this time – as a teenager – thought it was a permed Captain Kirk (William Shatner). I also recognised Singer from his Dallas connection with Darlin Husband remembering him from V (1983) and The Beastmaster (1982) movies from this time.

My only criticism would be that there was not enough of Linda Gray in it. My last (I promise) Dallas related note, instead of that ill-conceived dream season, Pam could have had a time travel storyline, returning to her clutching  Bobby’s apparently dying body. But then resolved to stop his hit and run by confronting the culprit, Katherine Wentworth before it happened. Now, this would be a series 9 of Dallas, worth going back in time for…

 

Weeper Rating: 😦😦 😦 😦 😦 :-(/10

Handsqueeze Rating:  🙂 🙂  🙂🙂 🙂 🙂  🙂 /10

Hulk Rating: ‎ ‎     ‎/10

 

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The Movie of the Week Blogathon 2017, No 5

This film was reviewed for the Classic Film and TV Cafe‘s Movie of the Week Blogathon. Linda Gray was also featured in my Dallas, Darling Dallasers Blogathon and Leading Ladies and their Toyboys reviews. Marc Singer also starred in Dallas. Lindsay Wagner in my Bionic Woman review. Constance McCashin in Knots Landing. Alan Feinstein in The Love Boat and The Fall Guy.

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