Today’s movie is a drama with a scene set on June 8. Watch it tonight and enjoy.
NOBLE HOUSE
Ian Dunross arrives at the headquarters of Struans in Hong Kong just before midnight on June 8, 1986 to be sworn in as Tai-pan, or supreme leader of the company. [2:20 to 5:15] He learns about 4 coins that the company’s founder, Dirk Struan broke in half and gave half to others, promising to grant any favor when presented with a half coin. The company is in a lot of financial trouble when he takes over. Three years later Dunross announces a deal with Par-Con from California which will provide the cash he needs to pay a lot of debt. The president of Par-Con, Lincoln Bartlett arrives with his VP K.C. Tcholok “Casey” and John Chen, son of Philip Chen, Struan’s compradore or intermediary with the Chinese community. John Chen steals the half-coin his father has then immediately gets kidnapped. The next day Casey makes a tentative deal where Struans will get $40 million cash, while Bartlett meets with Quillan Gornt, who is Dunross’s enemy, and ‘accidentally’ meets Orlando Ramos. (Gornt’s former mistress). Everyone learns John Chen has been kidnapped. Philip Chen learns John was working for Par-Con and passing them Struans’ financial documents, as well as the fact that the half-coin is gone. Dunross asks Four Fingers Wu, a smuggler to help find John Chen, and he agrees but because he knows about the coin and wants it for himself. At a party at Dunross’s house he and Bartlett close the deal. Gornt and Jason Plumm, another Hong Kong business tycoon plot against Struans and Gornt starts a run on the Ho-pak bank. The run starts and one of the kidnappers puts pressure on an old amah (nurse) so she pays him off and points out other people for him to put the squeeze on in return for a cut. John Chen is killed. The next day Bartlett tells Gornt he has inside financial info on Struans and suggests he sell Struans stock short, causing the price to go down and he will cover all losses. Gornt agrees. The stock price plummets and Dunross has to pledge to buy shares back for $18 million. He doesn’t have that much so he tries to get it from Four Fingers Wu and Lando Mata, who controls the gambling in Macau. Philip Chen pays the ransom for John Chen and Four Fingers Wu’s men trail the kidnappers back to their hideout. At a party on a floating restaurant, Casey learns Orlanda was Gornt’s mistress. There is a fire and Bartlett, Casey, Orlanda, Dunross and Gornt have to jump into the water to escape. Four Fingers Wu’s men find the half coin. The next day the body of John Chen is found. Bartlett goes to see Orlanda and they start a sexual relationship. The police visit the amah and find photos that show that Brian Kwok, a police detective is a communist Chinese spy. He’s arrested. Paul Choy, Four Fingers Wu’s son is forced to throw the kidnapper they took the coin from overboard, wrapped in chains. He doesn’t like doing this. Four Fingers Wu makes a drug pickup and then presents the half coin to Dunross. The favor he wants is for Struans ships to smuggle drugs for him. The next day Dunross asks for help from Red China. Dunross learns that Philip Chen had had the half coin and was keeping records about Struans and he’s not happy about this. Dunross tells Philip to get $40 million by Monday or he’s fired. Dunross and Casey go to Macau, where they have a sexual encounter. It starts to rain. The next day Brian Kwok is subjected to intense psychological interrogation. At the races Dunross challenges the Superfoods takeover of Hong Kong General Stores using Casey and Bartlett’s money. The Victoria Bank proposes to bailout the Ho-pak, which has gone belly up due to the run, guaranteeing the depositors and the chairman getting a seat on the Victoria’s board if the chairman votes how the CEO of the Victoria wants him to. He agrees. The Victoria plan to cut Struans off and get back the shares of the Victoria that Struans owns. In the last race Dunross’s jockey is killed in an ‘accident’ arranged by Gornt. Dunross is invited to make a secret trip to Beijing. Casey is annoyed with him since he won’t tell her where he’s going. The next day in Beijing Chu Yan, a childhood friend of Dunross and now head of a Chinese Trust Company says he will provide a $300 million line of credit if Dunross can get Brian Kwok released. Casey goes yachting with Gornt and he put the moves on her, which she doesn’t like.At a party Dunross announces Struans stock will not trade on Monday and on Tuesday will open at 30, which will ruin Gornt. There is a landslide. Bartlett was in Orlanda’s apartment. The building collapses. Bartlett is trapped and dies. Four Fingers Wu also dies in the landslide and Paul Choy gets the half-coin off his body. The next day Paul Choy presents the coin to Dunross and asks favors for himself, which are granted. Brian Kwok is deported to communist China, so Dunross gets his $300 million, saving the day. The next day Dunross agrees to let Gornt buy back in at a price that will hurt him, but not destroy him. Casey leaves, but promises to return in 30 days to renew her relationship with Dunross.
One of my favorite novels. As long and complicated as that summary was several plotlines that were in the novel were dropped or who knows how long this miniseries would have been. Good, but complicated. Helpful to read the novel first.
Date given in film at 2:34 as Sunday, June 8
Producer - Eric Bercovici
Director - Gary Nelson
Awards - The film was nominated for the Outstanding Art Direction for a Miniseries or a Special Emmy.
Screenplay - Eric Bercovici
Running time - 6 hours 16 minutes
Released - February 21, 1988
Starring -
Pierce Brosnan as Ian Dunross
Deborah Raffin as Casey Tcholok
Ben Masters as Lincoln Bartlett
John Rhys-Davies as Quillian Gornt
Burt Kwouk as Phillip Chen
Gordon Jackson as Supt. Armstrong
Khigh Dheigh as Four Finger Wu
Julia Nickson-Soul as Orlanda Ramos
Richard Durden as Paul Havergill
David Henry as Bruce “Johnjohn”
Edward Petherbridge as Jason Plumm
Tia Carrere as Venus Poon
John Houseman as Sir Geoffrey Allison
Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2015
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