It's hardly possible to believe that this seething cauldron of emotions and intrigues did not originally come from the pen of Harold Robbins, supreme merchant of schlock tales such as this. In fact, it's based on a novel by the similarly prolific Sidney Sheldon, a Hollywood writer director in the Fifties before creating modern bestsellers such as Rage of Angels and Bloodline. The three-hour story spreads itself over eight years and features a plucky performance by French actress Marie-France Pisier as the Marseilles waif determined to carve her way to wealth and luxury. It's the kind of role in which Joan Crawford used to revel and the traditional Hollywood trappings of such merchandise are all here: lush photography (by Fred Koenekamp), sweepingly tasteful music (by Michel Legrand), elegant costumes (by Irene Sharaff) and lavish, vulgar sets (by John DeCuir).

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