Crash Stirs Memories of ‘Three Secrets’

Every woman who has had an unfeeling lout of a man in her life may empathize with characters in “Three Secrets” tonight on the CBS Tuesday movie.

Remade from the Robert Wise-directed 1950 melodrama of the same title, it looks in on a steely TV anchorwoman (ex-”Charlie’s Angel” Jaclyn Smith), a winsome bride-to-be (Nicole Forester) and a crusty ex-con (Katy Boyer) as they hear news that rescuers are racing to find a boy (Cameron Finley) who survived a plane crash somewhere in the mountains that killed his adoptive parents. It’s his eighth birthday--eight years to the day after each of the women bore a son whom she gave up for adoption.

Rooted in a simpler day, the original film’s concept now seems somewhat contrived. As the story breaks, would reporters really mob the boy’s adoption attorney (Tyne Daly)? Would a TV anchorwoman really allow herself to cover this story with such a conflict of interest?

A drawn-out airborne search intended to build suspense comes off as merely inept when equipment failures conspire to keep rescuers from locating the youngster. The production’s somewhat hurried feeling is magnified by sequences showing the rescue helicopter hovering tediously in the same cloud bank.

But this adventure has a heart. The mothers eventually find themselves bonding, recalling in flashbacks the fateful interludes--for one, a romp in a forest--that leads each to the delivery room and then to the clutches of the adoption attorney. Skulking around in glaring counterpoint to the mothers’ mutual support are the men in their lives, who at best seem insensitive and put-upon and at worst are exploitative and even criminally abusive.

As Act 3 resolves key questions of past and future parentage, Boyer bites into her role with the most zeal as an abused woman reclaiming dignity. But the characters largely seem trapped in unsatisfying, stereotypical quandaries. The target audience (see the first two words of this review) may wish to tag along, or they may join their louts in pursuit of an ice hockey game.

* “Three Secrets” airs tonight at 9 on CBS. The network has rated it TV-PG (may be unsuitable for younger children.