Catherine Cookson's The Cinder Path
Catherine Cookson's The Cinder Path ★★½ The Cinder Path 1994
Coming-of-age story begins in 1913 with unassuming Charlie MacFell (Owen) forced to take over the family farm. Charlie (who needs a spine transplant) also goes along with an arranged marriage to local lovely Victoria (Zeta-Jones), a disaster since she's little more than a well-bred tart and it's her younger sister Nellie (Miles) who's really in love with Charlie anyway. As if Charlie didn't have enough to cope with, he's soon an army soldier as WWI begins and up against vindictive Ginger (Byrne), a former farmhand who resents the monied classes Charlie represents. Based on the novel by Catherine Cookson. 145m/C VHS, DVD . GB Lloyd Owen, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Maria Miles, Antony Byrne, Tom Bell; D: Simon Langton; W: Alan Seymour; M: Barrington Pheloung. TV