Life of the Party: The Pamela Harriman Story

TV Movie
1998
TV-PG
1h 36m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Ann-Margret in Life of the Party: The Pamela Harriman Story (1998)

Told mostly in flashbacks, the film tells the story of Pamela Digby Churchill Hayward Harriman, one of the greatest and probably most famous courtesans of the twentieth century. While not sh... Read allTold mostly in flashbacks, the film tells the story of Pamela Digby Churchill Hayward Harriman, one of the greatest and probably most famous courtesans of the twentieth century. While not showing her childhood, first marriage to Winston Churchill's son, or most of her affairs, we... Read allTold mostly in flashbacks, the film tells the story of Pamela Digby Churchill Hayward Harriman, one of the greatest and probably most famous courtesans of the twentieth century. While not showing her childhood, first marriage to Winston Churchill's son, or most of her affairs, we do get to see her affair and eventual marriage to Broadway producer Leland Hayward, and t... Read all

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.7/10

YOUR RATING

1User review

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy
- 3 nominations total

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User reviews1

6.786

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Mentor-2

While Ann-Margret's portrayal is uncannily accurate, only a four hour mini-series could begin to do Pamela Harriman's story justice.

This is a good film which could have been much better if it had been longer. The sets are sumptuous, the costumes accurate. Ann-Margret is uncanny in her portrayal of Pamela Harriman.

Why was there no mention of her childhood, where she was fat and unloved? Why no depiction of her close friendship with Winston Churchill Sr., playing cards with him all night to raise his spirits? Why no mention of Gianni Agnelli's rejection of her? Her service as a Rothschild mistress in Paris?

Many viewers will need more background to understand who the Whitneys are, who James Roosevelt was, why he was such a close parallel to Winston Churchill Jr., what role the "blackamoor" pin played in Pamela's relationship with Leland Hayward's daughter, and so on.

The first half of this film will confuse even those who know her story. Stick with it. The second half shows her happy and successful marriage to Averill Harriman about as well as can be done.

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Trivia
Adam James, who plays the heroine's son Winston Churchill, later played his more famous grandfather, the wartime prime minister, in Churchill's First World War (2013).