I watched parts of this television mini-series long ago.
I did like Lesley Ann Warren's role as Marja, later as Madame Marianne. Lesley Ann Warren is in fact the real one main character throughout the tv mini-series.
The part I remember most is of Marianne as a young woman trying to make it on her own during the Great Depression. Jobs and opportunities for women are scant. Despite her best efforts, Marianne will find herself on the long road to becoming an escort agency madam.
In the early days, Marianne takes up with a couple, the husband being the manager and his wife a burlesque dancer. For a while Marianne and the wife make a living doing burlesque dance shows as a team, from place to place. One day the couple suggest to Marianne that they make the burlesque dance routine more risqué which Marianne rejects. The morning after one of their nightly burlesque dance shows, Marianne awakes in their shared downtown hotel room to find that her partners have quietly deserted her, taking everything, including her clothing. All that's left is the red, cotton robe Marianne slept in and the unpaid hotel bill.
The hotel manager shows up at the hotel room door to inform Marianne that her partners departed, leaving the room bill unpaid. Worse, Marianne learns that her male partner had lied about pre-paying the room bill. Marianne informs him of her misfortune and lack of money. The hotel manager, to his credit or maybe not, remains calm and cool, doesn't threaten her and doesn't force anything on Marianne, clearly she's broke and calling the police won't help anything. But Marianne is a beautiful shapely woman so the dodgy hotel manager offers her a deal. He'll overlook the unpaid hotel room bill and even give $20 to Marianne for sex. It takes Marianne but few seconds to understand her predicament has only one way out. She drops her red bath robe (she's naked underneath) and tells him, "You're the boss." The dodgy hotel manager rushes forward and hugs Marianne, kissing her on the side of the neck, as Marianne struggles to restrain her repulsion and humiliation. You may find yourself grossed out watching that scene. But I felt pity for the Marianne character. She had no other options and it was the only one she could take. It solves her predicament and in the next scene she's back home visiting her ailing mother. The $20 - a lot of money for the 1930 - allowed her to purchase a decent dress to wear.
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jeffyoung111 March 2018
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mark.waltz19 August 2021Whether wearing rags and glass slippers, a blonde curly wig while screeching or being a blackmailing prostitute, Lesley Ann Warren has had a fantastic career even if she doesn't have the name value of lookalike Susan Sarandon. Resembling also British actress Sheila White (Messalina in "I Claudius"), Warren has a versatility that makes her stand out, and in this three-part miniseries based on Harold Robbins' controversial novel, she takes the character of the Lower East Side poor girl through many aspects of her life, from cheap dance hall hostess to high-class prostitute and finally to a real life madam.
Along the way, there are her struggling family, dying mother Barbara Barrie, and sleazy step-father Albert Salmi, love interests Marc Singer and David Dukes, confidante Polly Bergen (sensational as a Polly Adler type madam), mob involved Michael Constantine as Singer's nasty father, and memorable supporting characters played by Jack Weston, John Saxon and even Peter Marshall. Warren takes the audience through each of the steps of our heroine's life, desperate to get out but trapped.
The nearly six hour saga is mesmerizing yet frightening due to the violence Warren faces, trying to kill attempted rapist step-father Salmi (and unfortunately not succeeding), as well as from the men in her life who seem desperate to control her. The world of prostitution, whether organized or street based, is a frightening world, and while the life here is glamorized, that fact is not hidden. It's trash with class, and a lot of fun, but certainly no award winner even if Warren and perhaps Bergen are worthy of Emmy nominations. -
sharonkaymarin1 February 2005I loved this mini-series and in my opinion it ranks right up there with the Thornbirds. I think it would be a hit if it came out on DVD. Lesley Ann Warren was superb as Marja. With her beauty and high class demeanor she adds another dimension to the character. Marc Singer was also great casting as Ross. He brought a sense of vulnerability and passion to the role of the gangster. And what better choice for Mike than David Dukes who conveyed the qualities of integrity and idealism. The characters played off one another beautifully and created an nostalgic atmosphere of real romance and heartfelt love. In this era of graphic sexuality I find it ironic that I would find a movie about a prostitute to be such a sensational love story but I do.
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shielaruhom9 February 2006I first watched the mini-series back in 1977/1978 and bought the book to read straight after. Needless to say I couldn't put it down even though I should have been revising for my school exams! The T.V. adaptation was absolutely brilliant.The choice of the three major characters was outstanding.Lesley Ann Warren has a " je ne sais quoi" you don't find in many actresses today, t.v.or movie. David Dukes and Marc Singer were just superb. The translation of a story about vice and prostitution into a story of long lasting love and devotion was just breathtaking, for want of a better word. I would also be VERY interested in a DVD version, if there is one out there?
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It's been three decades since I saw this mini series, but recall how much I loved it at the time. The story is set back in the 1930's Depression Era and revolves around a poor New York tenement girl named Marja, accused of murdering her drunken step father who had in fact raped her. Through circumstance, she is forced into teenage prostitution and eventually becomes a famous, high priced Park Avenue madam, now know as Marianne. She is also a mob mistress, involved with a gangster named Ross, a Las Vegas high roller.
Lesley Ann Warren is absolutely wonderful, both as the lovely young, abused Marja and later the gorgeous, elegant, sophisticated high class madam, Marianne. I note that she, quite deservedly, won a Golden Globe Award for her role. However, my favorite character and the one that has remained with me through these many years is Mike, the idealistic man of integrity and the cop who loves her. I fell a little in love with him myself back then! Mike is compellingly portrayed here by actor David Dukes. I don't recall much about Ross's role, I was so besotted with Mike, though seem to remember him as a fairly sympathetic character.
It's been a long time, and I never read Harold Robbins' book, so have forgotten most of the details but I highly recommend this mini series about enduring love in the New York underworld of vice and prostitution. Personally, I would dearly love to see it again myself. -
Braunstonite18 June 2006I saw this movie over twenty years ago and enjoyed it so much, it boasts a great cast Lesly Ann Warren was superb as was David Dukes and Marc Singer. There have been many mini series made since this one but none of them has been better than 79 Park Avenue, its very rare these days to see a movie that you can understand from beginning to end and that's what makes this one so unique and unforgettable, because love flows without boundaries and this movie lets you believe in love and for those who don't believe will,which is why I would very much like to see this movie again so if anyone out there knows where it's available I would appreciate them letting me know.
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dmf156730 January 2007I watched 79 Park Avenue years and years ago and absolutely loved it! Lesley Ann Warren is so talented and I think she was so believable in this role as a high class prostitute/madam. If I remember correctly, Lesley won an award for her role in this mini series, didn't she? Does anybody out there have any idea on how to get a copy of this movie, either in VHS or DVD? I sure wish they would show this movie again or at least make it available to purchase. It's unbelievable that there are so many reruns of every other TV sitcom and movie (sometimes showing the same movie over and over again in the same week) that it makes one wonder why they don't bring back some of those fantastic mini series on one of the cable channels.
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MrDeWinter31 August 2021Over the top dated soap. Sex as currency, sex sells. The usual cheap story seen in a lot of TV productions of that era.
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nadinetony23 March 2011Please,please,please if anyone knows how or where to purchase this movie I would greatly appreciate it if you will pass that information along so I can purchase it.It can be either DVD or VHS it doesn't matter to me because I absolutely love this movie as well as the book but I haven't seen the movie since I was a young girl and yet I still have not forgotten about this movie.I tell my children about it every time we happen to see Ann Margaret on television and I would like for them to see the movie that made me fall in love with Ann Margaret as a actress and rate her as one of the best actresses ever.Even to this day I rate her the same all due to 79 Park Avenue even tho I love everything she plays in.
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triad-214 December 200879 Park Avenue is a skillful if romanticized version of a Prostitute with a Heart of Gold. Leslie Ann Warren was great casting as was the rest of the other actors, in particular a young 18 year old actress Maria Grimm who plays the role of the one who initiates Marja into stripping. My father was an extra in the audience when they taped that sequence and though Leslie Anne had years of Broadway training as a hoofer, it was Miss Grimm's intense, rhythmically mesmerizing yet innocent 'Strip' that took his, and all our breaths away. It's a good thing we never met her as we might have fought over her. She is HOT and SWEET. Miss Grimm, more than anyone in the series, captured the essence of what a 'Woman-Child' should be, someone who could fit in your heart's pocket but send you to the Moon with her sweet Sass. I'd like to see the entire series, not the cut up version currently occasionally seen on T.V. as the Series is timeless, and the story compelling, and the acting wonderful.