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directed by Richard Peter Levin
USA 1985

 

Elizabeth Montgomery (The Legend of Lizzie Borden) stars in the gripping and emotional drama about Abigail Foster, a woman who contracts a rare condition that puts her into a coma at 17. She awakens 20 years later to a world completely foreign to her. Chronologically, Abigail is a grown woman but emotionally she is still a teenager in fragile health. Now she must compress a lifetime of experiences and maturing into a few frightening months. Costarring screen legend Dorothy McGuire (The Enchanted Cottage) as Abigail’s mother and Karen Grassle (TV’s Little House on the Prairie) as her sister, Between the Darkness and the Dawn is a moving and touching film about a woman learning to live again.

***

Elizabeth Montgomery plays a woman who awakens from a 20-year coma. Her adjustment to the new world around her is made doubly difficult by the knowledge that her long-ago sweetheart has married her sister Karen Grassle. Worse still, Montgomery learns that her reawakening may be temporary, and that she could lapse back into a coma at any time. Matching Elizabeth Montgomery in the noble-suffering sweepstakes is Dorothy McGuire, cast as Montgomery's mother. Lori Birdsong plays the younger version of Montgomery in the flashback sequences. The made-for-TV Between the Darkness and the Dawn was first networkcast December 23, 1985.

***

Abigail Foster is a young man who awakens from a coma for 20 years and discovers that the world has grown up without her and that her high school boyfriend is married to her younger sister. Abigail now must try to recover her life which apparently ended when she was a teenage.

***

Elizabeth Montgomery stars in this poignant and touching telefilm about a middle-aged woman who awakens after falling into a coma just before her high school graduation 20 years earlier.

TV AD

Television Premiere: December 23rd, 1985

 

Reviews                                                               More Reviews                                                       DVD Reviews

DVD Review: Warner Home Video (Warner Archive Collection) - Region 0 - NTSC
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Distribution

Warner Home Video

Region 0 - NTSC
Runtime 1:36:09
Video

1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 6.2 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate

Audio Dolby Digital 1.0 (English)
Subtitles None
Features Release Information:
Studio: Warner Home Video

Aspect Ratio:
Original - 1.33:1

Edition Details:
• None

DVD Release Date: January 4th, 2012
Keep Case

Chapters 10

 

 

 

Comments

Yes, I am still in my Elizabeth Montgomery phase (Black Widow Murders: The Blanche Taylor Moore Story, The Legend of Lizzie Borden). She was the daughter of Robert Montgomery (Ride the Pink Horse) and best known as star of the Bewitched Television series.

Between the Darkness and the Dawn is a modern Rip van Winkle tale and without the 'based on a true story' rejoinder can tend to stretch your willing suspension of disbelief. A 17-year-old girl lapses into a coma and wakes up 20 years later. While the story is weak with some less-believable, sloppy, medical facts -  a few performances carry it, notably Montgomery and Dorothy McGuire. It is certainly interesting to see the character of Abigail Foster evolve into her maturity.

It's standard single-layered Warner MoD (Made-on-Demand) disc and progressive in the original 1.33:1 aspect ratio and looks excellent with bright true colors, strong detail and frequent depth. The visuals are clean and surprisingly tight for another better-than-average digital presentation for TV-to-SD. 

The mono sound is clean, clear and consistent. Veteran Dana Kaproff composed the film's music and he has scored close to 100 theatrical, cable, and television movies. It seems to ride the dramaturgical strains pretty well. There are no subtitles nor extras of any kind.

I accepted this was TV movie from the mid 80's and I wasn't in a particularly critical mood - so, personally, I was reasonably entertained. Others might find it far too contrived to embrace. The bare-bones disc doesn't encourage a recommendation, nor the film on its own merits, but I will reserve the endorsement for Elizabeth Montgomery fans. My latent crush continues.  

  - Gary Tooze

 


 

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DVD Box Cover

CLICK to order from:

  

Distribution

Warner Home Video

Region 0 - NTSC

 



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