Mistress (1987 film)

Mistress is a 1987 made-for-TV movie starring Victoria Principal as Rae Colton, a beautiful woman in her middle thirties who is having an affair with a rich, married man named Wyn Brooks (Don Murray). Rae had originally came to Hollywood to be an actress, but her career never took off. She has been seeing Wyn for nine years, and while he takes care of her financially, she hopes that one day they can marry and possibly have a child. Rae fills her time with acting lessons and her friend Margo (Kerrie Keane), another aspiring actress. Their friend Stephanie (Joanna Kerns) did make it as an actress and even has her own television show. Rae's world is shattered when Wyn dies of a heart attack in his sleep while on a trip to the Bahamas with her. Rae finds out that Wyn's wife has taken over his company and she has no deed to her home or title to her car. She has little money and moves into a home that is listed for sale by Margo's friend. Rae goes back home to Utah to visit her mother (Grace Zabriskie) and begins a relationship with Burke Johnson (Guy Boyd) a former high school classmate who has always been in love with her. Rae's mother is deeply disappointed in her for seeing Burke and tells her to go back to Hollywood and make it as an actress. Rae pleads with her mother to understand that she will never make it big in Hollywood. Rae returns to Los Angeles and takes Stephanie up on her offer to stay in Stephanie's guest house. Rae calls Burke and asks him to meet her in Las Vegas. He reluctantly agrees, but then doesn't show up. Rae returns to Los Angeles, lonelier than before. She begins drinking more and more to ease the pain of her life. She tries working in a department store with little success. Rae meets two German businessmen in a club when she is out with Margo and, having too much to drink, sleeps with one of them. She is shocked and hurt when he mistakes her for a whore. Rae realizes she has to survive somehow, and asks Margo if she can introduce her to any available men. She meets Ben Wasburn (Alan Rachins) and makes an agreement to become his mistress. She beats him in a game of pool and he sends her a black mink coat as a present. As the movie ends, Rae and Margo are admiring the coat in the mirror and Rae recounts a time when she was young and driving in the woods in Utah with her father. She tells Margo that the two of them came across a deer that had gotten trapped in barbed wire and had died, Rae's father explaining that deer have an ability when trapped to just die, their hearts just explode. Rae's last line is "You know what I wish? I wish I was a deer."

External Links

• Mistress at IMDb