Widow (1976)

Widow was a made-for-TV movie that was based on the best-selling book of the same name. It was written by Lynn Caine, a publicist who lost her husband to cancer at the age of 44. The book was published in May 1974 and detailed Caine's struggles to raise her two small children while trying to cope with the loss of her husband. The movie aired on NBC on January 22, 1976, and starred Michael Learned in the title role. Farley Granger played her husband Martin Caine.

Widow was produced by Philip Capice and Lee Rich, who later went on to be the executive producers of Dallas, the hugely-successful primetime soap opera. It was directed by J. Lee Thompson who directed numerous feature films, including The Guns of Navarone and Cape Fear, both starring Gregory Peck.

The movie is not available on either VHS or DVD, and, unfortunately, I do not have a copy of it in my personal collection.

CAST:

Michael Learned... Lynn Caine

Bradford Dillman... Richard

Farley Granger... Martin Caine

Carol Eve Rossen... Vivian Brown

Louise Sorel... Vivian

Robert Lansing... Harold

Eric Olson... Jon Caine

Michelle Stacy... Buffy Caine

Carmen Matthews... Carmen

Katherine Woodville... Paula

Amzie Strickland... Matty

Nicholas Pryor... Mack

Harvey Jason... Aaron

Britt Leach

Edward Bell

Jane Elliott

Judy Lewis

Heidi Vaughn

Wayne Hefley

Mae Mercer

PRODUCTION:

Produced by... Philip Capice and Lee Rich; John Furia

Directed by... J. Lee Thompson

Teleplay by... Barbara Turner (based on Lynn Caine's book)

Original Music... Billy Goldenberg

Cinematography... Richard L. Rawlings

Film Editing... Bill Mosher

Art Direction... Ed Graves

NOTES:

--Michael Learned is best-known for her role as Olivia Walton on the long-running series The Waltons.

--Farley Granger was one of the two leads in Alfred Hitchcock's classic movie Strangers on a Train. He also appeared in another Hitchcock film Rope.

--Lynn Caine became a frequent and noted lecturer on grief and loss and wrote two more books on the subject before dying of cancer in 1987.