LITTLE GLORIA . . . HAPPY AT LAST {PART 1 OF 2} (TV)
Summary
This two-part dramatic miniseries, based on the book by Barbara Goldsmith, tells the true story of the scandalous custody fight over young heiress Gloria Vanderbilt. The first part of the program opens in New York City in 1922, where 17-year-old Gloria Morgan meets the wealthy and eligible 40-something Reggie Vanderbilt at a party celebrating her twin sister Thelma's recent marriage. Gloria regales Reggie with tales of her eccentric family, including her mother Laura's extravagant lies about their "royal blood," and society columnist Maury Paul urges Gloria to pursue a relationship with Reggie, though admits that he drinks heavily and often gambles. Gloria happily tells Laura all about Reggie, and the two soon head off to the Vanderbilt estate in Newport, Connecticut, where they meet Reggie's mother Alice Vanderbilt and married sister Gertrude Whitney. Laura shares her beliefs in the usefulness of arranged marriages for preserving upper-class wealth, and Gertrude reveals her interest in sculpture, adding that she someday intends to establish an art museum.
Reggie dismisses his mother's concerns about Gloria's "character and reputation," though admits to his almost-fiancée that Alice considers her a "scarlet woman." Offended, Gloria undergoes a medical examination that "proves" her virginity, and Alice changes her position and welcomes Gloria to the family, even giving her a string of her own pearls. Reggie confesses that he is nearly broke, having gambled away most of his fortune, and tells Gloria that his father's $5 million trust will, upon his death, presumably go entirely to his adult daughter Cathleen, as he is unlikely to father any more children. Gloria assures him that she loves him regardless of money, and their wedding makes headlines, as does the birth of their daughter "Little Gloria" less than a year later. Little Gloria is christened in Reggie's Episcopalian faith against the wishes of Laura and their new nurse Emma "Dodo" Kieslich, and the family enjoys scarcely 18 months of happiness before Gloria is summoned to her maternal grandmother's deathbed in Chile – and returns home to find that her husband has died of an internal hemorrhage, related to his years of heavy drinking.
Lawyer Thomas Gilchrist awkwardly explains that Reggie died insolvent and that the $5 million trust will now be split between his two daughters, and Gloria, still technically underage at 20, receives a $4,000 monthly "allowance" to maintain her lifestyle. Little Gloria is soon re-baptized as a Catholic, and the family heads off to join Thelma in Europe, though Gilchrist warns Gloria that her allowance may be reduced if she does not raise the child in America. Gloria protests that she has no friends or family left in the U.S. and that Thelma, divorced from her first husband, will soon marry an English lord, Marmaduke Furness, 1st Viscount Furness, making her a lady. Some time later, Gilchrist visits the family and finds that Thelma has now entered into an affair with Edward, the Prince of Wales and future king, and that Little Gloria spends most of her time apart from her hard-partying mother.
Little Gloria celebrates her eighth birthday at Thelma's English castle, and an angered Dodo encourages her to write despondent letters to Laura detailing her lonely life in Europe and frequent alienation from her mother. Outraged, Laura shows the letters to Gilchrist, who in turn reports back to Judge James Aloycious Foley. Gloria decides to bring her daughter back to America for a tonsillectomy, arriving right in the midst of the Great Depression and the scandal of the Lindbergh baby abduction. Sent to live with Gertrude on Long Island, Little Gloria begins suffering from "intense fear" and night terrors about her personal safety, exacerbated by Dodo's dire warnings and the eventual discovery of the Lindbergh baby's murder. She is examined by a flurry of physicians, and Dr. St. Lawrence prescribes extensive rest and a careful diet, and she begins to flourish at the prestigious Greenvale School.
Laura and Gertrude soon conclude that Gloria greatly prefers her "carefree" party-girl lifestyle to her role as a mother, and Gloria, in Paris, receives a letter from Gilchrist with stern warnings about her financial future. She returns to the U.S. and learns that her monthly allowance will be slashed to $750 if she is not actually living with her daughter, whom Laura and Gertrude insists should remain in "the country." Gloria visits a lawyer, Nathan Burkan, noting that the Prince of Wales cannot, of course, marry her commoner sister – though has taken up with another American, Wallis Simpson – and describes the unusual situation with her daughter. Burkan explains that Gloria, now of age, must be appointed her daughter's legal guardian in order to control her finances and her lifestyle – but in court, Gloria is horrified to learn that her own mother has formally accused her of being an "unfit" mother, a dire accusation akin to that of prostitution. Continues on B:80099. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: October 24, 1982 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:35:47
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:80097
- GENRE: Drama, historical
- SUBJECT HEADING: Women's Collection - Drama; Drama, historical; Biography; Families; Custody of children
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV, 1982
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Edgar J. Scherick … Executive Producer
- Scott Rudin … Executive Producer
- David A. Nicksay … Producer
- Justine Heroux … Producer
- Donna Smith … Associate Producer
- Waris Hussein … Director
- William Hanley … Writer
- Barbara Goldsmith … Based on the book by
- Berthold Carrière … Music by
- Angela Lansbury … Cast, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney
- Christopher Plummer … Cast, Reggie Vanderbilt
- Maureen Stapleton … Cast, Nurse Emma "Dodo" Kieslich
- Martin Balsam … Cast, Nathan Burkan
- Glynis Johns … Cast, Laura Fitzpatrick Morgan
- John Hillerman … Cast, Maury Paul
- Michael Gross … Cast, Thomas Gilchrist
- Lucy Gutteridge … Cast, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt
- Bette Davis … Cast, Alice Gwynne Vanderbilt
- Jennifer Dundas … Cast, Gloria Laura "Little Gloria" Vanderbilt
- Rosalyn Landor … Cast, Thelma Morgan
- Leueen Willoughby … Cast, Consuela Morgan
- Kenneth Pogue … Cast, Judge James Aloycious Foley
- Jan Rubes … Cast
- Cec Linder … Cast
- Lawrence Dane … Cast
- Phillip Craig … Cast
- Kirsten Bishopric … Cast
- Robin McCulloch … Cast
- Charles Palmer … Cast
- Dana Ivey … Cast
- Booth Savage … Cast
- J.T. Walsh … Cast