Picture Windows

Season

1994

USA

7.1

Famous paintings come to life to tell a story by renowned authors, directed by world class directors.

Episode List

S1 • E1

Lightning

Brian Keith's last performance on film. This mining story of the Ol'West brings to life the extraordinary lithographs of Frederick Remington. In a classic struck it rich story gone bad. Tappan buys a quick-witted mule from a not too spry Henry Smith, playing an assayer, also in one of his last performances. The mule, Lightning, is a craft devil, who innocently travels with the aging miner as he desperately seeks out his final strike. His luck is good initially, but when two ne're-do-well town folk watch him amble off the desert toward the assay office, they figure there's money to be made. The joke is on them though, as the mule seems to have everyone's number at day's end. Ron Perlman and Kathleen Quinlan are featured. Joe Dante Directs this tragic Zane Grey Western.

S1 • E2

Soir Bleu

Painting: Soir Bleu by Edward Hopper. Edward Hopper's painting of the forlorn circus clown is brought brilliantly to life by director Norman Jewison in "Soir Bleu," a tragic tale of love and murder. The story of Tully, the sad clown and his love for trapeze artist Lola, "Soir Bleu" chronicles events on the touring company's fateful last performances. In love with Lola, the beautiful and abused wife of the circus manager, Tully gets embroiled in a fateful love triangle. A bitter-sweet study in contrasts, "Soir Bleu" juxtaposes the story of the sad clown's anguish against the dazzling color and childlike joys of the circus.

S1 • E3

Two Nudes Bathing

An anonymous painting from the Fontainebleau School hangs in the Louvre. The mysterious pose whereby two young women sit in a bath, one holding the nipple of the other between finger and thumb, has baffled all the experts.

S1 • E4

Language of the Heart

Painting: The Rehearsal by Edward Degas Framed by a spiral staircase, a tableau of ballerinas captured in frozen arabesques under the watchful eye of a ballet master is the focus of Edgar Degas' "The Rehearsal." A single pair of legs steps onto the rehearsal hall floor as the painting comes to life. Descending the stairs is Anna, a beautiful young ballerina, the newest member of the 'corps de ballet' and the object of the Maestro's amorous intentions. Anna however, has an eye for a young street musician -the violinist, Mischa. In a vivid love story set against the backdrop of the ballet world of the 1920s, "Language of the Heart" tells the story of Anna and Mischa's true love and the achievement of their dreams at the Maestro's premiere.

S1 • E5

Song of Songs

Painting: La Primavera by Sandro Botticelli Botticelli's "Primavera" is the inspiration behind Peter Bogdanovich's "Song of Songs," a love story. When Blossom, the proprietor of the "Saucy Secrets" lingerie shop opens her new store in a quiet suburban neighborhood, Ted Varnas, owner of the local bakery, takes particular offense. His offense however turns to a crumbling defense when confronted with Blossom's passionate advances. For the first time in his faithful 21-year marriage to Angle, Ted falls in love with Blossom and asks Angle for a divorce. In a twist of fate, "Song of Songs" unravels the riddle of a true romance played out in the midst of a mid-life crisis.

S1 • E6

Armed Response

Inspired by David Hockney's "Pool with Two Figures," this episode chronicles the events in the life of its main character. Merce Sugarwater, a successful lawyer, and his art dealer wife live in the luxury afforded them by their combined careers content with the lifestyle reflective of the American dream. Dreams turn to nightmares however when the attempted murder of Merce and his wife is revealed to have been planned by their children Murray and Paula. The would-be assassin is released and exonerated by Merce himself when the children blackmail him with the shocking secrets of the Sugarwater household.