Where Love Has Gone

I must thank my Goodreads friend Damon Evans for inspiring this post! It's an oldie but a goodie originally posted back in May of 2021.

It's said that truth is stranger than fiction. So perhaps that translates to a fictional work becoming a sensational bestseller, or a movie becoming a spectacular box office smash, when based on a true story. 

I've posted previously about the scandalous account of mobster Johnny Stompanato's death. He was the abusive boyfriend of Lana Turner, who ended up dying at the hands of her fourteen year old daughter, Cheryl Crane.

That murder transpired in 1958.  By 1962, Harold Robbins had penned the novel, Where Love Has Gone, loosely based on the Turner /Stompanato scandal. By 1964, a feature film was released under the same title, starring grand dame Bette Davis, tempestuous Susan Hayward and sultry Joey Heatherton.

The plot is a little more involved than the scandal it's actually based on, but you have to have something to fill up the pages of a book, or the time on the big screen! I haven't seen Where Love Has Gone, but it is now on my to watch list!

Courtesy of Wikipedia, here's the plot:

The film begins with headlines stating that 15-year-old Danielle Miller (Joey Heatherton) has murdered a man, Rick Lazich, who was the latest lover of her mother Valerie Hayden (Susan Hayward). Dani's father, Luke Miller (Mike Connors) describes the events that led to the tragedy.

Near the end of World War II, Army Air Forces hero Miller is in San Francisco for a parade in his honor, and meets Valerie Hayden at an art show where one of her works is being exhibited. He is invited to dinner by Valerie's mother, Mrs. Gerald Hayden (Bette Davis), who offers him a job and dowry as an enticement for him to marry Valerie. He storms from the house but is followed by Valerie who says she is unable to go against her mother's wishes but that she admires him for having refused her. A relationship develops and the two marry, although a former suitor, Sam Corwin (DeForest Kelley) predicts that the marriage will fail.

As time passes, Luke Miller becomes a successful architect and refuses another offer of employment from his mother-in-law, however the influential and vindictive Mrs. Hayden uses her contacts in the banking industry to ensure that Miller is refused loans to help him build his business. He relents and accepts a position in Mrs. Hayden's company. 

Their daughter, Dani, is born but the relationship of the couple begins to deteriorate with Miller declining into alcoholism, and Valerie indulging in a promiscuous lifestyle. The marriage ends when Miller actually finds her having sex with another man and Mrs. Hayden insists she divorce him. Years pass and Dani eventually becomes her mother's rival for the same man.

Back in the present, Dani claims that she was defending Valerie against attack, and when the case is brought to court, a verdict of justifiable homicide is ruled. An investigation into where to place Dani begins, but neither investigator Marian Spicer (Jane Greer) nor psychiatrist Dr. Jennings (Anne Seymour) can persuade Dani to open up about her feelings. When Mrs. Hayden petitions for custody of Dani and she still refuses to reveal herself, Valerie reveals that Dani was trying to kill her, and that Rick was only killed when he tried to defend Valerie. Valerie returns home and commits suicide, and after her death Luke Miller tries to help Dani rebuild her life.

I'm looking forward to watching! Are you?

Thanks for visiting and have a great week!