''Isabel's Choice'' is a 1981 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by Guy Green, starring

Jean Stapleton Jean Stapleton (born Jeanne Murray; January 19, 1923 – May 31, 2013) was an American character actress of stage, television and film. Stapleton was best known for playing Edith Bunker, the perpetually optimistic and devoted wife of Ar ...

Richard Kiley Richard Paul Kiley (March 31, 1922 – March 5, 1999) was an American stage, film and television actor and singer. He is best known for his distinguished theatrical career in which he twice won the Tony Award for Best Actor In A Musical. Kiley ...

Peter Coyote Peter Coyote (born Robert Peter Cohon; October 10, 1941) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, author and narrator of films, theatre, television, and audiobooks. He worked on films such as ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (1982), '' Cro ...

and

Betsy Palmer Betsy Palmer (born Patricia Betsy Hrunek; November 1, 1926 – May 29, 2015) was an American actress, who was known as a regular supporting film and Broadway actress and television guest star, as a panelist on the game show '' I've Got a Secret' ...

. It was broadcast on CBS as ''The CBS Wednesday Night Movie'' on December 16, 1981.

Synopsis

Isabel Cooper (Jean Stapleton) is a widow who prides herself on her years of devotion and loyalty as secretary to Lyman James (Richard Kiley), a top executive in a large corporation. Lyman retires when a dynamic young executive, Wynn Thomas (Peter Coyote) is hired to assume the presidency Lyman thought would be his. Under Thomas' presidency, Isabel is promoted to an executive position that she had worked towards for several years. Lyman later seeks comfort in Isabel when his wife is killed suddenly in a plane crash. As Lyman and Isabel's relationship progresses, he plans to propose and assumes that she will end her career to stay home with him. Isabel is forced to choose between the executive life she worked so hard to establish and the comforts of marriage that Lyman is willing to offer.''Isabel's Choice''
at ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', retrieved April 26, 2016.

Cast

as Isabel Cooper *

as Lyman Jones *

as Wynn Thomas *

as Ellie Fineman *

Mildred Dunnock Mildred Dorothy Dunnock (January 25, 1901 – July 5, 1991) was an American stage and screen actress. She was twice nominated for an Academy Award: first ''Death of a Salesman'' in 1951, then '' Baby Doll'' in 1956. Early life Born in Baltimor ...

as Helen *Sally Kemp as Miss Hamilton *

Irene Tedrow Irene Tedrow (August 3, 1907 – March 10, 1995) was an American character actress in stage, film, television and radio. Among her most notable roles are as Janet Archer in the radio series ''Meet Corliss Archer'', Mrs. Lucy Elkins on the TV sit ...

as Mrs. Harper *Douglas Robinson as Supervisor *

Howard Morton Howard Leroy Morton (May 15, 1925 – May 11, 1997) was an American actor. Career Morton was best known for playing dim-witted police officer Ralph Waldo Simpson on ''Gimme a Break!'' for five seasons (1981–86). He appeared in many TV support ...

as Miles

Home media release

The film was released on VHS in 1989 by Bridgestone Multimedia Group and has long been out of print. To date, it has not been released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

References

External links

* * * 1981 television films 1981 films 1981 drama films CBS network films Films directed by Guy Green American drama television films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films {{US-tv-drama-film-stub