‘What Love Sees’ Tells Poignant Tale

Love conquers all in “What Love Sees,” a TV movie about a blind couple who overcome all obstacles to make a life together. It should be a shameless weeper, but graceful performances by Richard Thomas and Annabeth Gish, and a pervading sense of sincerity, imbue the film with genuine, watchable sweetness.

Based on a true story, the romance begins on the eve of World War II, in the privileged Connecticut home of Jean Treadway (Gish), where the young blind woman’s protective parents (Edward Herrman and Kathleen Noone) have given their daughter everything but self-reliance and freedom.

A pen-pal relationship with Gordon (Thomas), a blind cattle rancher in California, soon gives Jean the independence she has yearned for--the pair marry and find themselves faced with innumerable challenges. Throughout their triumphs and tribulations, determination and commitment keep the couple going as they build a life together and raise a family.

Thomas offers a nice mix of stubbornness and warmth as a man who refuses to consider himself handicapped. Gish believably balances vulnerability and strength; her anguish at not being able to see her newborn son is wrenching.

The supporting cast--including Herrman, Noone, Romy Rosemont as Jean’s sympathetic sister and August Schellenberg as Gordon’s friend--are a class act, too.

Michael Switzer directed with admirable restraint; Robert L. Freedman wrote the gentle teleplay, based on the book by Susan Vreeland.

* “What Love Sees” airs at 9 p.m. Sunday on CBS (Channel 2).