The Best Place to Be

The Best Place to Be is a 1979 American TV film produced by Ross Hunter. It marked Donna Reed's return to acting after 13 years.^[1]

American TV series or program

The Best Place to Be
Genre	Drama
Directed by	David Miller
Starring	Donna Reed Efrem Zimbalist Jr. Mildred Dunnock
Music by	Henry Mancini
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producers	Aaron Spelling Leonard Goldberg
Producers	Ross Hunter Jacques Mapes Marvin Miller (associate producer)
Cinematography	Terry K. Meade
Editor	Richard Bracken
Running time	195 min. 240 min.
Production company	Ross Hunter Productions Inc.
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	May 27, 1979 (1979-05-27)

Hunter planned a sequel but this did not eventuate.^[2]

Plot

A widowed mother has an affair with a younger man.

Cast

Donna Reed as Sheila Callahan
Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Bill Reardan
Mildred Dunnock as Rose Price
Betty White as Sally Cantrell
John Phillip Law as Dr. Gary Mancini
Stephanie Zimbalist as Maryanne Callahan
Michael J Shannon as Patrick Callahan
Gregory Harrison as Rick Jawlosky
Timothy Hutton as Tommy Callahan
Lloyd Bochner as Bob Stockwood
Madlyn Rhue as Emily Stockwood
Rick Jason as Paul Bellinger
Alice Backes as Kitty Rawlings

Production

Reed said of her character, "In a way, she is a child-woman. She must learn to grow up and earn her own way. It's a long, hard battle. The children get into trouble. She takes on the wrong lover, a younger man. It's really about a woman who grows up enough to know the difference between a really good, old-fashioned man and a rogue and a playboy. She learns the lesson and finally meets a man who is right for her."^[3]

Reception

One review called it "a two part corpse".^[4]

References

^ Donna Reed to Return to TV Los Angeles Times 3 Oct 1978: e12.
^ Donna Reed: Back Where She Wants to Be Smith, Cecil. Los Angeles Times 4 Dec 1978: f1.
^ Donna Reed back on TV in NBC drama The Globe and Mail 8 Jan 1979: P.14.
^ TV REVIEW: Any where Else Is 'Best Place to Be' Rosenberg, Howard. Los Angeles Times 26 May 1979: c2.

External links

The Best Place to Be at IMDb
The Best Place to Be at TCMDB

Films directed by David Miller

Penny Wisdom (1937)
The Great Heart (1938)
Drunk Driving (1939)
More About Nostradamus (1941)
Billy the Kid (1941)
Sunday Punch (1942)
Flying Tigers (1942)
Top o' the Morning (1949)
Love Happy (1949)
Our Very Own (1950)
Saturday's Hero (1951)
Sudden Fear (1952)
Twist of Fate (1954)
Diane (1956)
The Opposite Sex (1956)
The Story of Esther Costello (1957)
Happy Anniversary (1959)
Midnight Lace (1960)
Back Street (1961)
Lonely Are the Brave (1962)
Captain Newman, M.D. (1963)
Hammerhead (1968)
Hail, Hero! (1969)
Executive Action (1973)
Bittersweet Love (1976)
The Best Place to Be (1979)

v t e Films produced by Ross Hunter
Take Me to Town (1953) All I Desire (1953) Tumbleweed (1953) Taza, Son of Cochise (1954) Naked Alibi (1954) Magnificent Obsession (1954) The Yellow Mountain (1954) All That Heaven Allows (1955) The Spoilers (1955) Captain Lightfoot (1955) One Desire (1955) There's Always Tomorrow (1956) Battle Hymn (1957) My Man Godfrey (1957) Tammy and the Bachelor (1957) Interlude (1957) The Restless Years (1958) Imitation of Life (1959) This Happy Feeling (1959) A Stranger in My Arms (1959) Pillow Talk (1959) Midnight Lace (1960) Portrait in Black (1960) Back Street (1961) Tammy Tell Me True (1961) Flower Drum Song (1961) If a Man Answers (1962) Tammy and the Doctor (1963) The Thrill of It All (1963) The Chalk Garden (1964) I'd Rather Be Rich (1964) The Art of Love (1965) Madame X (1966) The Pad and How to Use It (1966) Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967) Rosie! (1967) Airport (1970) Lost Horizon (1973) The Lives of Jenny Dolan (1975) A Family Upside Down (1978) Suddenly, Love (1978) The Best Place to Be (1979)

Films produced by Ross Hunter