Madame Emilie (Sarah Miles) is an old courtesan woman , changing her weary life , she takes her orphaned niece Mistral (Lysette Anthony) from a convent . Both of them undergo a new life in the cosmopolitan Montecarlo along with the maid (Samantha Eggar). The courtesan becomes the countess of Secret . They are the talk of the high class from Montecarlo . Mistral encounters herself surrounded by suitors , as Lord Roberts (Marcus Gilbert) and prince Nicholas , son of the Grand Duke (Christopher Plummer) . But some (Gareth Hunt) knows the secrets and threatens to Emilie and an admirer Rajah (Oliver Reed) has less than honorable intentions over Mistral . Meanwhile , the aunt hiding a number of secrets is plotting a long-awaited vengeance in a twisted finale . Naturally , there's a happy ending like happens on all stories by Barbara Cartland.
This is a romance-drama with tragedy , murder, passion , love , twisted plot and incredible ending . It's an entertaining film and regency romance fans will appreciate the attention to period detail . Based on the romance novel with the same title by Barbara Cartland . In fact , belongs to quatrain of pictures directed by John Hough , such as : ¨Duel of hearts (Alison Doody, Michael York), ¨Hazard of hearts¨(Helena Bonham Carter, Gilbert), and the best , ¨The lady and the highwayman¨(Hugh Grant, Lysette Anthony) . All realized by the same director , producer (Albert Fennell, Sir Lew Grade), musician (Laurie Johnson : The avengers) , author (Cartland) and similar players (Lysette Anthony , Marcus Gilbert , Neal Dickson , Fiona Fullerton , Christopher Plummer , among others) . This TV picture was well directed by John Hough . He has an eclectic and long filmmaker career , beginning in television series (Avengers, Protectors) , making Hammer film (Twins of evil), classic terror (legend of hell house) , average horror movies (Howling IV, American Gothic) , adventures (Island of treasure, Black arrow) until wholesome Disney family fare (Return and escape to witch mountain) . The flick will appeal to romantic drama buffs.
