I mean seriously, Dr. John Robert Hill seemed addicted to marriage didn't he? I am not going to dispute whether this account is true in all of its points, or that some points are a matter of record, some points are conjecture, and some points are complete hooey. However, let me just state that this film is based entirely on the book of Ann Kurth, second wife of Dr. John Robert Hill, and that it does not line up with everything that was known by 1981, when this film was made. But it makes a better film than the other more objective book on the subject, "Blood and Money".
As for the film: Joan Robinson Hill (Farrah Fawcett) is a socialite and skilled equestrian, unhappily married to plastic surgeon Dr. John Robert Hill (Sam Elliott). She seems to love him, but his love has grown cold. Maybe it is because he seems as married to Joan's dad Ash Robinson (Andy Griffith) as Joan, as Ash is always inserting himself into every situation, and John did not sign up for a trio. Ash is a self made oil man and a man with a straightforward rough manner.
Dr. Hill falls in love with divorcee Ann Kurth (Katherine Ross), has an affair with her, and wants to marry her. But Ash says there will be a nasty court battle if that happens, that the doctor will wind up with none of the Robinson money, and that Ash will involve Kurth in the case and have Hill ostracized from Houston society meaning his practice will dry up too. So Doctor John stays with Joan, and tells Ann to wait.
But then Joan falls suddenly ill with a stomach flu after practically being hand fed French pastry by her husband, and over a period of a few days grows gravely ill and dies in a hospital that was not the closest, plus it did not have an ICU - a hospital to which her husband decided to take her knowing of the better option. After the shortest possible respectable waiting period, Doctor John marries Ann and moves her into his big mansion, the former home of the doc and Joan. How convenient for the doctor, the sudden death of the unwanted wife.
Ash is sure that his ex son in law killed his daughter, and goes about trying to get the law to investigate. But meanwhile weird things are happening inside the Hill mansion and inside the new Hill marriage. What weird things? Watch and find out.
Everybody played their parts with excellence. Farrah Fawcett finally got some credit for some range as the spoiled daddy's girl who is used to him getting her all that she wants, but dad can't get her husband to love her. If you only thought of Andy Griffith as affable sheriff Andy Taylor in 1981, he shows a meaner more determined side here. Special honors have to go to Sam Elliott here. This is maybe the best role of his career. In spite of that genuine Texas sounding twang, he is just a creepy scary guy throughout the film, always playing his cards close to his vest.
Part of my love for this film is for how genuinely Texan it is. For example, an old fashioned evangelical Hell and Brimstone preaching church sits in the shadows of the glass and steel high rises of Houston, people can eat outside in cafes at Christmastime because it is 70 degrees, and a man can name his son "Boot" and yet hold his head up.
