A live-theater production in which Elizabeth Taylor stars as Emily Loomis, a professor of ancient history at a small California college, who reluctantly agrees to rent a room in her house to one of the new students, named Stewart Anderson. Both happen to be loners (she with a secret past) and although they initially get on each other's nerves, they eventually realize the rapport to help one another emerge from their emotional shells.
Acting
Taylor's brittle vulnerability—she's doing A LOT with very little.
Production
Shot-on-stage intimacy that feels accidentally cinematic.
Director
Joseph Hardy
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Taylor's only TV movie in the 1970s—she reportedly took it for the short shoot so she could return to Richard Burton's side.
The 'loner professor' trope peaked here before 1980s cinema turned all academics into either heroes or villains.
US
