''Romance on the Orient Express'' is a 1985 British romantic

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark. It premiered on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

in the United States on 4 March and aired on ITV in the United Kingdom on 17 November. The film stars

Cheryl Ladd Cheryl Ladd (born Cheryl Jean Stoppelmoor; July 12, 1951) is an American actress, singer, and author best known for her role as Kris Munroe in the ABC television series '' Charlie's Angels'', whose cast she joined in its second season in 1977 ...

and Stuart Wilson, with

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud ( ; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Britis ...

Renée Asherson Dorothy Renée Ascherson (19 May 1915 – 30 October 2014), known professionally as Renée Asherson, was a British actress. Much of her theatrical career was spent in Shakespearean plays, appearing at such venues as the Old Vic, the Liverpool ...

Ralph Michael Ralph Michael (26 September 1907 – 9 November 1994) was an English actor. He was born as Ralph Champion Shotter in London. His film appearances included '' Dead of Night'', '' A Night to Remember'', '' Children of the Damned'', '' Grand Pri ...

Ruby Wax Ruby Wax (; born 19 April 1953) is an American-British actress, comedian, writer, television presenter, and mental health campaigner. A classically-trained actress, Wax co-starred on the ITV sitcom '' Girls on Top'' (1985–1986), and came t ...

, and

Julian Sands Julian Richard Morley Sands (4 January 1958 – ) was an English actor. He had his breakout role as George Emerson in '' A Room with a View'' (1985) and went on to appear in '' The Killing Fields'' (1984), '' Gothic'' (1986), '' Siesta'' (1987), ...

in supporting roles.

Plot

Lily Parker is a sophisticated American magazine editor on a business trip in Europe with her outgoing best friend Susan Lawson. Susan persuades her to travel from

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

by train, rather than by plane. They board the

Orient Express The ''Orient Express'' was a long-distance passenger luxury train service created in 1883 by the Belgian company ''Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits'' (CIWL) that operated until 2009. The train traveled the length of continental Europe, w ...

, where Susan hopes to find romance. Meanwhile, the atmosphere reminds Lily of a train trip 10 years earlier, when she was a 19-year-old college student traveling through Europe with her friend Stacey. On that trip she met Alex Woodward, an aristocratic Englishman who courted her but then disappeared completely. On the present day trip, Lily unexpectedly runs into Alex on the train, who admits that this meeting is no coincidence. Enraged over the past, she refuses to talk to him. Through flashbacks, their past story is slowly revealed. They had met on a train 10 years earlier, when they travelled together and fell deeply in love. Alex wanted to marry her, but his friend Sandy assured him that his father would never approve. After arriving in Paris, instead of meeting her one evening, Alex was summoned away by his father and never returned. In the present, Alex persuades Lily to have dinner with him, but past conflicts causes her to leave prematurely. She later returns, deciding to give him another chance. They reveal that they were both married for five years and then divorced, but only Lily's marriage produced a child, a daughter who has, Lily says, just turned three. Alex reveals that his father pressured him into marrying someone else, and that he never regretted anything more than leaving her. The conversation soon escalates into a passionate affair, but the next morning Lily makes clear that she has no desire to reignite their relationship or to see him again. They go their separate ways and Alex leaves the Orient Express, until he finds out by accident from Susan that Lily's daughter, Alexandra (Lexa), is really nine years old, which means that he must be her father. He decides to follow Lily and Susan to Paris in a dilapidated old car which he has quickly bought for the journey. Meanwhile, Lily regrets her decision of sending Alex away and for not telling him the truth about their daughter. She fears she will never love again, and decides to marry the man she had planned to meet in London at the end of this trip. Meanwhile Alex arrives in Paris by car and is frantically searching for them. On their last day in Paris, however, Alex finds Lily with Susan and Lexa at the restaurant where he had promised to meet her 10 years earlier. Alex cannot help but stare at Lexa, until Lily sees him with tears streaming down his cheeks and walks over and embraces him. As the shot pans out, we see Lexa walking over towards her parents.

Cast

as Lily Parker * Stuart Wilson as Alex Woodward *

as Theodore Woodward *

as Susan Lawson * Danielle Tylke as Lexa *

as Sandy *

Betsy Brantley Betsy Brantley is an American actress. She has appeared in numerous films, plays, and television shows since the early 1980s. Her breakout role was in the 1982 film '' Five Days One Summer'' with Sean Connery. Early life Betsy Brantley was bo ...

as Stacey *

as Beatrice *

as Harry * Barry Stokes as Flavio

Production

The film was shot on location in Italy, France and England. Shortly before its premiere,

expressed her delight in ''Romance on the Orient Express'', because the film, due to its time span of 10 years, allowed her to play two different characters."Cheryl Ladd: more than just a pretty face" by Pat Hilton, ''

The Spokesman-Review ''The Spokesman-Review'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Spokane, Washington, the city's sole remaining daily publication. It has the third-highest readership among daily newspapers in the state, with most of its readership base in ...

'', 3 March 1985. p.5

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0089932 1985 films 1985 television films 1985 romantic drama films 1980s British films 1980s English-language films British drama television films British romantic drama films Romance television films Films set on the Orient Express Films set in Paris Films set in Venice Films shot in Leeds Films shot in Paris Films shot in Venice NBC original films English-language romantic drama films