Reviews
The Patricia Neal Story (1981)
In 1965, well-known Hollywood actress of the time Patricia Neil suffered a series of life-threatening strokes that left her in a coma for weeks while pregnant with her fifth child. When she came finally to, she had lost her essential functions like movement and speech. She needed a miracle to get her life back. The TV movie The Patricia Neal Story (1981) presents the inspirational and empowering story of that very miracle.
Directed by Anthony Harvey and Anthony Page, the movie features Neal’s challenging journey to stand back on her feet and reclaim her ability to speak while coping depression resulting from the disabilities and their impact on her familiar relationships. Through this ordeal, she finds her husband Roald Dahl by her side and holding the bridge against fate. Dahl, a British writer, committed to care for Neal, the children, and the house while also seeing to the social and media interactions of the family. In the many overwhelming moments when Neal was about to give up and wish she had died, Dahl would be there to instill a new dose of life into her spirit. It was the miracle of this relationship that eventually returned Neal to life.
Screenshot @ YouTube
Acclaimed British movie stars Glenda Jackson and Dirk Bogarde have delivered moving performances as Patricia Neal and Roald Dahl. The movie’s editing deserves as much if not more credit for featuring key moments in Neal’s life during the challenging years, capturing her emotions as well as those of Dahl. Her 1967 speech at the Academy Awards comes as an empowering moment in the spirit of recovery.
The Patricia Neal Story has immense inspirational value. It’s a story that touches and wins the heart.
One can only wonder how unfortunate turns life takes even as the miracles of love and care bring a nearly-dead person back to life. In 1983, two years after The Patricia Neal Story was aired on TV, Neal and Dahl divorced in real life. Perhaps, this turn of separation is a reminder of how fragile a marital relationship is despite all its strength and resilience.
IMDb page: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082887/
