SWEET LORRAINE

US, 1987, 91 minutes, Colour.
Maureen Stapleton, Lee Richardson, Trini Alvarado, Giancarlo Esposito, Edie Falco.
Directed by Steve Gomer

Sweet Lorraine is a pleasant telemovie about an old guesthouse and its decline. Maureen Stapleton stars as the genial entirely owner of the holiday house and hotel which was so popular before and after World War Two but has seen its days come to an end. Trini Alvarado is her niece who wants to continue the hotel. Lee Richardson is Sam the cook.

The film recreates the life at the holiday resorts, the attention to detail, cooking, serving meals, rooms, entertainment. It shows the life from the point of view of the workers and the attempt of the owner to hold on to the hotel. It is a pleasant character study as well as a film of nostalgia about the past.

1. Enjoyable telemovie? Characters? Situations? The passing of time and fashions?

2. The holiday resort, the countryside? The collage of details of work in the resort? Musical score?

3. The title, the reference to the hotel? The nostalgia for the past? The changes of the present?

4. The history of the hotel: pre-World War Two, people going for holidays, staying for the summer, the lavish style and dressing? The kitchen? The service? The changing of the times, after World War Two, modernisation? Possibilities for greater transport and travel? The decline of the resorts? Insurance men trying to buy out? The dilemmas for the owners?

5. Lil, her life in the hotel, a good manager? Her relationship with Sam and his support? Her staff? The debts, the decline of the hotel, the clientele? Seeing her in action? With Molly, the family connection? Molly and her offer to run the hotel? The temptation? The offer of the insurance men? The decision to leave? Leaving part of her life?

6. Molly, her family background, arriving for the summer, love for her grandmother, work in the kitchen, with the staff, hard work, friends, with Jack, the romance? Her wanting to support her grandmother? Discussions with Sam? Realisation that it was impossible?

7. Sam, his work in the kitchen, love for Lil, being with her? His work during the winter? His facing the truth?
8. The staff, summer jobs, interactions, play, work? The pressures on the staff? Jack, his place in the hotel, attraction towards Molly, dance, talk, work, the romance? A future?

9. The sketch of the guests, their expectations of the holidays? Changed styles? Meals, sport, entertainment? The Jewish background of the guests and catering for them?

10. A piece of Americana? The touch of nostalgia?