Greenfield Recorder, July 3,1982
Days of Wine and Rises for 'Falcon Crest
By CHARLES WITBECK HOLLYWOOD— Unlike the rich bouquet of a fine Napa Valley pinot noir, "Falcon Crest," the CBS Friday night soap opera on life in the California wine country, usually tasted like cheap muscatel last winter. One sip and you wanted to spit it out. Inheriting the zesty, madcap "Dallas"as a lead-in could be considered both lucky and unlucky for the new soaper. It spelled survival for "Falcon Crest," - and disappointment for audiences because any comparison was so obvious. The Napa Valley show stumbled along, lacking wit, style or shape as matriarch Jane Wyman called the shots, barking at sullen relatives.
Then, four weeks before the season ended, something happened. Grandson Lance Cumson (Lorenzo Lamas) married pregnant Melissa (Ann Alicia). The show jumped to No. 8 in the ratings. Without the benefit of publicity or network pro-. motion, viewers nevertheless tuned in to catch the marriage between a pair of brats.
The show had found a spark, a chink of light, and it didn't emanate from the august Miss Wyman, but rather from movie actor Fernando Lamas' son Lorenzo and a pretty young Mexican law student, unknown Ana Alicia. When "Falcon Crest" resumes production this week for the fall, the kids — Lamas and Alicia — will be forernost. Fernando's boy, Lorenzo, with Arlene Dahl for a mother, is no surprise, having learned his trade over the past few seasons in various TV spots. Lorenzo drew fan mail from the very start.
But Ana Alicia, born in Mexico, raised in El Paso, Texas, a student on a scholarship at Wellesley College, a waitress, bartender, realtor. is the surprise. Last January, Ana was hired for one show after giving a racy reading with a stand in for Lorenzo's character,- Lance Cumson. Producers Earl ("The Waltons) Hamner and Michael Filerman were mesmerized. Four days later Ana signed a series contract. In her series debut, Ana's Melissa seduces two boys to set the tone, a far cry from the sweet, sensitive types usually offered the youngster.
Anna giggles over the scene. The censors cut out all the moans, so we were forced to add dialogue in a looping session, my first. A good Catholic girl Ana almost rejected the role because it was "overtly sensual." Would she offend viewer sensibilities? Mulling it over, Ana consulted a priest, who found a way out, saying "The better you play evil, the more good will out." Worried about family reaction, especially from her grandmother. Ana called home to ease fears. "It's all pretend," she said. "Don't take it seriously. I'm just playing a role."
The role of bride Melissa Cumson, pregnant by another man, not her groom Lance, calls for a spoiled witch-brat," says Ana. "She learns from her father that land, Napa Valley land, is power, and she is determined to grab Falcon Crest from matriarch Angie (Jane Wyman)
Ana approves of the show powerplays by women father than by the men. It's old stuff-to Ana, even in Mexico. "It's not overt, but women run things," says Ana. "Power is not a male prerogative." Up to this point, neither power or material things hold much interest for Ana. She is too busy testing real estate, and vows she will finish her law studies. But right now it's discovering her acting talents, using them to the limit. "Unless you test yourself, you never know what the possibilities are,"she says. • "I don't want anyone saying '.What was Ana Alicia?' This isn't a dress rehearsal. No fooling around. This is it."
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Paul Raven ·
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