The Promise is a 1979 film, released by was a Universal Pictures, which starred Kathleen Quinlan, Stephen Collins, and Beatrice Straight. It was directed by Gilbert Cates and produced by Fred Weintraub and Paul Heller. The screenplay was written by Garry Michael White and was novelized later by Danielle Steel.
Synopsis
The film tells the rich-boy/poor-girl story (along the lines of "Love Story") of Michael Hillyard (Collins) and Nancy McAllister (Quinlan), two college students very much in love with one another, much to the chagrin of Hillyard's disapproving mother, Marion (Straight). Marion -- whose relationship with her son is so tense that Michael calls his mother by her first name -- is convinced that Nancy is below Michael's class, so she tries to intervene. Michael makes it clear that he isn't going to choose her over Nancy, and storms out of the matriarch's home. Sensing the urgency of the moment and the matter, Michael calls Nancy with plans to elope. On the way to the ceremony, with Michael's best friend Ben Avery (Michael O'Hare} in attendance, the three are involved in a horrible car crash. Michael survives, but is comatose; Ben Avery survives as well. Marion first tells Michael that Nancy is dead, then arranges for Nancy, who has been disfigured, to fly to California for treatment all at her expense. There is one catch, though -- for her payment, Nancy must agree never to see Michael again. The film features a haunting music score by David Shire, with a theme song written by Alan and Marilyn Bergman entitled "The Promise" and performed by Melissa Manchester.
