Search for Grace is a 1994 American fantasy thriller television film directed by Sam Pillsbury and written by Alex Ayres. It was produced by CBS Entertainment Productions and stars Lisa Hartman Black and Ken Wahl. The film tells the story of Ivy (played by Hartman Black), a landscaper who leaves her long-time boyfriend to be with the mysterious Johnny (Wahl). Ivy begins experiencing flashbacks to the life of a long-dead woman named Grace (also played by Hartman Black), whose life in 1927, including her doomed relationship with the gangster Jake (Wahl), mirrors her own.
Billed as being "inspired by an actual case history", Ayres got the idea for the story from an account of a woman who had purportedly described a past unsolved murder while under hypnosis. The film was shot in Wilmington, North Carolina, from March to April 1994. Search for Grace premiered on CBS on May 17, 1994, earning a Nielsen rating of 10.5 to become the 36th highest-rated prime time broadcast for its respective week. Reviewers generally found the plot absurd and the acting mediocre, with some criticizing the film as contrived and poorly-executed, and others giving it credit for originality and imaginative storytelling.
Plot
In contemporary Wilmington, North Carolina, Ivy, a 30-year-old landscaper, receives a marriage proposal from her long-time boyfriend Dave. The proposal unsettles Ivy who has doubts if Dave is truly her soulmate. She also begins suffering from fainting spells which are accompanied by visions of a woman being strangled to death. After a chance meeting, Ivy finds herself drawn to a stranger claiming to be the notorious playboy Johnny Danielli. Ivy breaks up with Dave and begins dating Johnny.
Meanwhile, Ivy's visions trigger memories of someone named Sarah, and her physician suggests psychological help. She starts seeing a psychologist, Dr. Randolph, who suspects her visions may be repressed memories and helps her uncover them using hypnosis. Under hypnosis, Ivy claims to be Grace, a 31-year-old housewife from Buffalo, New York, who was killed in 1927. Over several hypnosis sessions, Ivy learns that Grace was stuck in an unhappy marriage with Sam, with whom she had a daughter named Sarah. Grace was also having an affair with a dangerous gangster named Jake. On the night she died, Grace had decided to leave Sam to be with Jake. Ivy suspects that she was Grace in her past life, with Jake similarly being the past incarnation of Johnny.
Johnny initially showers Ivy with romantic gestures and expensive gifts. Over time, however, he becomes increasingly controlling and violent. Ivy ends their relationship after he becomes physically violent with her during an argument. She also finds out that Johnny is a con man who has been lying about his real identity. Dave is concerned when he finds out about Johnny's abusive behavior, but Ivy insists she can handle her own problems. Meanwhile, Johnny refuses to leave Ivy alone and threatens her in her home. Ivy realizes Johnny has stolen her money and steals his expensive car in return, driving to Buffalo to investigate her past life as Grace. In the local library, Ivy finds old newspaper articles confirming Grace's existence and death, and her memories of Grace resurface. Ivy realizes that it was Jake who killed Grace after she changed her mind about running away with him, dumping her body in the Niagara Falls.
Meanwhile, Johnny has secretly followed Ivy to Buffalo and confronts her in her motel room. He forces her into his car and drives her to a secluded spot by the Niagara Falls, where he attempts to kill her, mirroring Jake's actions on the night he killed Grace. However, unbeknownst to them, Dave has also been following Johnny. With Dave's help, Ivy manages to escape from Johnny, who ends up drowning during their struggle. Reunited with Dave, Ivy visits Grace's grave to say goodbye and meets Sarah, Grace's daughter, now in her old age.
Cast
Production
Search for Grace was directed by Sam Pillsbury and written by Alex Ayres. It was produced by CBS Entertainment Productions, with Cynthia Whitcomb serving as executive producer, and Vanessa Greene and Susan Jeter serving as producers. The creative team also included cinematographer Eric Van Haren Noman, editor Pam Malouf-Cundy, and composer Michael Hoenig.