If Tomorrow Comes (miniseries)

For other uses, see If Tomorrow Comes (disambiguation).

Sidney Sheldon's If Tomorrow Comes is a 1986 American television miniseries based on the 1985 novel of the same name by Sidney Sheldon, starring Madolyn Smith, Tom Berenger and David Keith.^[1][2] It was directed by Jerry London and the screenplay was written by Carmen Culver.

If Tomorrow Comes
Also known as	Sidney Sheldon's If Tomorrow Comes
Genre	Crime Drama Mystery
Based on	If Tomorrow Comes by Sidney Sheldon
Screenplay by	Carmen Culver
Story by	Sidney Sheldon
Directed by	Jerry London
Starring	Madolyn Smith Tom Berenger David Keith
Theme music composer	Nick Bicât
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of episodes	3
Production
Executive producer	Bob Markell
Producers	Carmen Culver Nick Gillott
Production locations	Fondation Ephrussie de Rothschild, Villa Ile-de-Frances, Cap Ferrat, Alpes-Maritimes, France Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes, France Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands Ahmanson Mansion - 401 South Hudson Place, Hancock Park, Los Angeles, California PTC carousel, Pacific Ocean Park, Santa Monica, California Spring Street Towers - 650 S. Spring Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California Lee International Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England London New Orleans
Cinematography	Dennis C. Lewiston Paul Lohmann
Editors	Dick Darling Bernard Gribble George W. Brooks
Running time	314 minutes
Production company	CBS Entertainment Production
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	March 16 (1986-03-16) – March 18, 1986 (1986-03-18)

Plot summary

Trying to get justice for her wronged mother, financial expert Tracy Whitney is instead framed by a gangster for bank fraud and sent to prison for fifteen years by a corrupt judge and a crooked attorney. At first a victim, Tracy makes alliances, learns valuable skills from her fellow inmates, and plots her escape. She abandons her plan in order to save the warden's young daughter from drowning, earning herself a pardon.

After exacting revenge on the men responsible for her sentence, Whitney accepts an offer from the brutal Gunther Hartog to become his apprentice; under his tutelage, she becomes a master con artist and disguise expert. While plotting her biggest score, she crosses paths with another veteran con artist, Jeff Stevens, to whom she is attracted but is not sure she can trust. Trailing behind them is the unstable insurance investigator Daniel Cooper.

Cast

• Madolyn Smith as Tracy Whitney
• Tom Berenger as Jeff Stevens
• David Keith as Daniel Cooper
• Jack Weston as Uncle Willie
• Richard Kiley as Gunther Hartog
• Liam Neeson as Inspector André Trignant
• Barry Jenner as Zeller
• Lane Smith as Warden Brannigan
• CCH Pounder as Ernestine Littlechap
• Maryam d'Abo as Solange

Production and broadcast

To play Tracy Whitney, Smith used sixteen different costumes, including a scene where she dons a latex mask, black hood, and wig to pose as an elderly woman. She called the miniseries "a very classy soap opera" that is "fun and adventuresome".^[2] The seven-hour miniseries was broadcast on CBS in three parts on March 16, 17 and 18, 1986.^[2] It drew a respectable audience and placed as the top 15th show in the Nielsen ratings.^[3]

Home media

If Tomorrow Comes was released on VHS by Anchor Bay on September 30, 1997 (318 minutes), and in a two-disc DVD set from Image Entertainment on March 1, 2011 (313 minutes).