By Erin Free
In this regular column, we drag forgotten made-for-TV movies out of the vault and into the light. This week: the 1984 cautionary drama The Seduction Of Gina, starring Valerie Bertinelli, Michael Brandon, Fredric Lehne and Ed Lauter.
In our review of the exemplary 1979 coming-of-age drama Young Love, First Love, we spoke at length about the singular charms of that telemovie’s star, Valerie Bertinelli. The teen breakout of the long running TV sitcom One Day At A Time (1975-1984) eventually became a bona fide telemovie queen through the 1980s and 1990s, and boasts several small screen classics – The Princess And The Cabbie (1981), Shattered Vows (1984), Silent Witness (1985), Ordinary Heroes (1986), Pancho Barnes (1988) and more – on her very busy resume.
One of Bertinelli’s best, however, is unquestionably 1984’s dark cautionary tale The Seduction Of Gina, which boasts a highly focused, compelling narrative and especially strong talent across the board. The director is Unsung Auteur Jerrold Freeman (a telemovie master who also helmed the 1972 Raquel Welch roller derby classic Kansas City Bomber), the screenwriter is Judith Parker (who penned 1978’s classic telemovie Are You In The House Alone? and the excellent 1977 Jaclyn Smith and Michael Parks vehicle Escape From Bogen County), the cinematographer is the legendary Tak Fujimoto (The Silence Of The Lambs, The Sixth Sense), the score is by veteran composer Thomas Newman (Skyfall, Finding Dory), and as a huge bonus, Valerie Bertinelli’s then-husband and virtuoso musician Eddie Van Halen provides some heavy synth and guitar-laden “special musical sequences.”
Though in some ways a classic example of the issues-based, female-centric, just-don’t-do-it telemovie (and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that), The Seduction Of Gina has an intensity and authenticity that sets it apart. Director Jerrold Freeman uses many real, “live” locations – largely on the, ahem, streets of San Francisco – which gives the film a sense of energy and realism lacking in many studio-bound telemovies. Judith Parker’s script, meanwhile, is subtle and wonderfully in tune with its leading female character, who Valerie Bertinelli embodies with her requisite vulnerability and emotional honesty, and succeeds in making likeable and sympathetic despite her rather reprehensible behaviour.
Bertinelli is Gina Bresley (not Breslin, as listed on IMDB!), a laidback, slightly aimless art student married to David (Fredric Lehne), a busy med student and hospital resident with little time for his beautiful, exuberant wife. In response, Gina frets a little and drifts around a lot, desperately trying to find a purpose in life. She eventually finds it – in the worst possible way – after being cajoled into placing a bet at a local bar. An easy win gives Gina a quick taste, and after a coincidental, unfortunate trip to a casino in Lake Tahoe, she’s hooked. Slowly but surely, Gina is sucked in by the allure of gambling, and becomes a regular at the blackjack table, smoking and drinking into the early, windowless hours.
As the viewer of any telemovie will know, this gambling jones will not end well for Gina. Pretty soon, the previous good-girl is selling her household appliances, jacking her trust fund, lying to her husband and family, and offloading her convertible Mustang (no!) to fund her growing addiction. Even worse, Gina finds herself romantically involved with the casino’s smarmy attorney Keith Sindell (extremely well played by TV vet Michael Brandon), whose motives remain unclear at all times, except for the fact that he wants to sleep with the beautiful, considerably younger art student. Just how rock-bottom Gina actually goes, however, still comes as something of a well-modulated shock.
The Seduction Of Gina is gripping from its first scenes, but the film really takes off when Gina hits the tables. Filming in a real casino, with real punters and staff obviously filling in as extras, director Freedman never makes the mistake of glamorising the gambling house, but he does make its excitement and sense of risk palpable as Gina is courted by its bright lights and colourful energy. Working his camera through the crowds and shooting the blackjack tables from above, Freedman gives this telemovie a surprisingly strong sense of verisimilitude, which makes Gina’s grim journey all the more believable and immediate.
Judith Parker’s script also has a fascinatingly feminist bent. Gina’s descent into gambling addiction is shown largely as the result of her constant infantilisation by both her family (veteran character actor Ed Lauter gives an especially bruising performance as her angry, almost aggressively non-supportive father) and her casually self-centred husband, who often conspire against Gina and mock her immaturity, particularly around her understanding of money. The casino is presented as the only part of Gina’s life that is truly hers, and under her control. The irony, of course, of how it eventually strips her of all sense of control is piercingly pointed, and rates as one of the telemovie’s biggest strengths.
First broadcast on major US network CBS on January 17, 1984, The Seduction Of Gina showcases telemovie titan Valerie Bertinelli at her absolute best, and offers a tough, telling story that pulls few punches in its depiction of the cruel desperation of gambling addiction. We’d tell you to bet on this one, but that would probably be belying the message of this excellent telemovie.
Availability: The Seduction Of Gina is available to stream in a slick, crystal clear presentation on Tubi.
If you enjoyed this review, check out our other vintage telemovies Blue Murder, The Brotherhood Of Justice, The Wave, The California Kid, The Cracker Factory, Night Terror, Inmates: A Love Story, The Shadow Riders, CHiPs: Roller Disco, Dawn: Portrait Of A Teenage Runaway, Young Love, First Love, Escape From Bogen County, The Death Squad, Hit Lady, Brian’s Song, The Defiant Ones, A Cry For Help, Trilogy Of Terror, Policewoman Centerfold, Smash-Up On Interstate 5, Something Evil, Savage, A Step Out Of Line, The Boy In The Plastic Bubble, The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission, A Very Brady Christmas, The Gladiator, Elvis, The Rat Pack, Silent Victory: The Kitty O’Neil Story, Terror Among Us, The Hanged Man, Hardcase, Charlie’s Angels: Angels In Vegas, Vanishing Point, To Heal A Nation, Fugitive Among Us, To Kill A Cop, Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, Police Story: A Chance To Live, Murder On Flight 502, Moon Of The Wolf, The Secret Night Caller, Cotton Candy, And The Band Played On, Gargoyles, Death Car On The Freeway, Short Walk To Daylight, Trapped, Hotline, Killdozer, The Jericho Mile, Mongo’s Back In Town and Tribes.
