Magnum Torts : TOM SELLECK IS THE CENTRAL COG AROUND WHICH CABLE FILM’S MORALITY TALE EVOLVES

It is summer on the outskirts of Vancouver and the lack of rain is making the locals a little giddy.

On the set of “Broken Trust,” TNT’s suspenseful drama about judicial ethics that premieres Sunday, a cluster of determined women are clutching scraps of paper and trying to figure out which trailer belongs to Tom Selleck. They brush their hair in the sun, check their smiles in mirrors that are smaller than the cookies on the catering table, and wait.

It’s a good thing they’re determined to stick around. “Broken Trust” features their favorite leading man in nearly every scene. As Tim Nash, a respected judge who becomes involved in a government sting operation to uncover corruption among his colleagues on the bench, Selleck’s latest role is a creative departure from the laid-back detective in “Magnum, P.I.” The offbeat TV series made him a household name in the ‘80s and ultimately earned Magnum’s trademark baseball cap a place in the Smithsonian Institution.

After eight seasons of “Magnum” and a string of features that have established him as an actor with a deft touch for everything from Westerns to light comedy, Selleck plays the central character in TNT’s sobering drama. The film also includes such accomplished veterans of the big screen as William Atherton (“Die Hard,” “Day of the Locust”) and Oscar nominees Elizabeth McGovern (“Ragtime”) and Marsha Mason (“The Goodbye Girl”).

Directed by Geoffery Sax, who shot the British miniseries “Sleepers” and “Framed,” such an abundance of star power is rare for a TV movie. But Lois Bonfiglio, who serves as “Broken Trust’s” executive producer along with Jane Fonda, attributes the celestial aura to a story she calls “as delicate and elegant as a house of cards.”

Based on William P. Wood’s novel “Court of Honor,” the screenplay was written by the husband-and-wife team of Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne. Both writers are known for their prestigious individual achievements as authors, essayists and journalists. While they have worked together on such film scripts as the groundbreaking “Panic in Needle Park” and “True Confessions,” the latter a big-screen adaptation of Dunne’s best-selling novel, “Broken Trust” is an unusual venture for television.

Bonfiglio, who nursed the project along after discovering Wood’s book, explains that she became fascinated with the ethical implications of using wiretaps and secret videotapes to test the honesty of public officials. Nash’s job, offering bribes to cash-strapped colleagues in return for influencing their verdicts, leaves his fellow judges in the dubious position of having to prove their innocence. Like Didion and Dunne, Bonfiglio couldn’t help wondering if the end justifies the means.

“I hadn’t read anything in a long time that has all the stylish components of a thriller while going a level deeper,” she says. “This is really a story about making moral choices. It raises the issue of judicial corruption. But it also shows how a government, in the hands of the wrong people, can manipulate others under the guise of public service.”

The complex nature of the script convinced Bonfiglio that an especially strong cast was required. “The story is sort of like an inverted pyramid,” she explains. “It starts out small and all the schemes, the blackmail and the drama get bigger until you reach the top. In order to avoid confusion, every character has to be memorable. So we needed the kind of actors who, by their very presence, take hold of the screen in a way that’s impossible to forget.”

The atmosphere on the set, while friendly and relaxed, has the unwavering focus of a cast and crew determined to do justice to what Bonfiglio calls “all the different emotional threads that run through the story.” As it turned out, this was just the sort of challenge that Tom Selleck was looking for.

“It’s been over two years since I’ve made a movie,” he says, chatting amicably in his trailer. “Part of that was so I could stay home with my family after making three pictures back to back. And part of it was having the security of a deal at Disney. So I had the attitude that I was going to wait until something really terrific came along.”

A great part of the appeal was the character’s multilayered development. On the surface, Selleck’s Nash is the golden boy who appears to have it all. In reality, he’s going through a difficult divorce, misses his young son and is caught up in the stress of a particularly worrisome murder trial. When approached to take part in the sting, Nash finds himself especially vulnerable.

“He needs some strokes and doesn’t really think things through,” says Selleck. “He things he’s doing the right thing, but he’s probably doing it for the wrong reasons. I like that about him. I’ve always disliked characters that are too perfect because that doesn’t allow for change. And I think change is what drama is all about.”

While Selleck has tackled serious subjects before, most notably in 1989’s “An Innocent Man,” he’s aware that his television audience may perceive “Broken Trust” as a radical change from the boyish charm of Thomas Magnum. He points out, however, that the series dealt with such relevant subject matter as Vietnam vets and may not be as different from “Broken Trust” as some would imagine.

“If you looked at ‘TV Guide’ ads in the ‘80s, ‘Magnum’ was a show about me holding a gun or driving a fast car,” he says. “But it really wasn’t about hardware at all. It was a character show that dealt with people-oriented problems. That kind of approach leads to a kind of timelessness. And I think it’s why a whole new generation has discovered the show, which has been really thrilling for me.”

Characteristically warm and open, Selleck does confess to some initial reservations about his latest project. “Maybe it’s just when I get anxious about parts and things,” he smiles. “But somewhere in the back of my head, part of me still thinks I’m 17. I’m covering it up now because I’m older. But my first thought was: ‘He’s a judge! I can’t play a judge!”’

Selleck laughs, adding: “As soon as I said that to myself I thought, ‘You should make yourself do this because you’re getting afraid of it for the wrong reasons.’ ”

Why did Selleck ultimately choose to play the part? “It humanizes a walk of life that we don’t see brought down to Earth very often,” he explains. “Usually, the judges you see in a movie are sitting behind a bench and they’re a supporting player to somebody else.”

“This is a movie about judges,” he continues. “But it isn’t a courtroom drama. It’s about what their home lives are like, what their failings are as people. The script deals with ethics and character, which has always interested me. But, in themselves, those things are abstractions. What the story does is take those abstractions and, without preaching, show how they affect our lives.”

Selleck, who wasn’t planning a return to TV in any form, explains that the elements behind “Broken Trust” are simply all too rare in any medium. “Actors have their prices,” he grins. “But I’m working at my special discount rate. I’ll bet you nobody else is working for their usual price either. They just saw a chance to do good work. Everybody who’s in this movie really wanted to be here.”

Marsha Mason agrees. She plays Judge Ruth Frenkel, a pistol-packing loner who’s not nearly as tough as she seems. “I don’t remember seeing anybody like Ruth in a script before,” she says. “The writing is always the bottom line, and I think the material has played a part in bringing us together. We’ve all become very good friends. It’s partly because everyone sees this story as a terrific opportunity. You can’t help but feel really good about the whole experience.”

As Janice Dillon, a prosecutor on the sting operation who becomes personally involved with Nash, Elizabeth McGovern also was attracted to the script’s integrity.

“It’s a story that knows there are many shades to being ethical,” she observes. “It doesn’t try to portray life as black and white. For example, my character is exposing corruption. And while she knows eliminating corruption will make the world a better place, she’s also deeply troubled about ruining the lives of people who do a lot of good.”

William Atherton portrays Neil Roemer, the ambitious head of the sting operation who’ll stop at nothing to bring down a judge. The actor, who has worked with everyone from Joseph Papp to Arthur Miller, likens his character to Iago in pin-stripes.

“The story is very dense,” he explains. “You can’t take anything for granted because one level is sort of piled on top of another. It’s like trying to assemble this gigantic jigsaw puzzle. The great thing is that you’re working with a very classy group of people. All of whom are having a wonderful time putting the pieces together.”

Bonfiglio watches as Selleck greets the women who’ve been waiting outside his trailer for an autograph. Despite a heavy schedule, Selleck lingers. He signs their scraps of paper, and swaps a few stories, savoring a few moments of summer before heading back to work.

As the sun streams down, Bonfiglio runs a hand trough a mass of auburn hair. “Being the producer of a film is a long journey,” she says. “Before those other 130 people start making your movie, you have to let go. You just cross your fingers and hope that the original thing that inspired you to being on the project is still present.”

And then she smiles. “You know something? I think all of us made exactly the right choice.”

“Broken Trust” airs Sunday at 5, 7 and 9 p.m. on TNT.