`Ultimate Betrayal' Script Lacks Cohesion Throughout

---------------------------------------------- "Ultimate Betrayal," "CBS Sunday Night Movie," 9 p.m., Channel 7. ----------------------------------------------

TV docudramas about child abuse, both physical and sexual, are nothing new to TV but this film arrives with a certain cachet: The trial upon which the film is based was also instrumental in the creation of a bill before Congress, The Child Abuse Accountability Act of 1993, which states conditions under which victims can sue to claim the abusive parent's retirement annuity or pension.

The case, in which a Denver jury found for two adult sisters claiming years of physical and sexual abuse by their father, also set a precedent. Previously courts had stuck with the legal tradition of statutes of limitations which require charges be filed within a certain time after the crime, and for young incest victims the time is measured from when they reach 18.

The case also made news because the plaintiffs, Sharon Simone and Susan Hammond, were suing their father, Edward J. Rodgers, Jr., who had not only been a former FBI agent but was also a well-known child-abuse expert.

Given these aspects, it was inevitable that the Rodgers sisters' story would become a TV movie. This one, with a script by Gregory Goodell, tells the story mainly from the point of view of Sharon Rodgers Simone, played by Marlo Thomas. As the oldest of the Rodgers children - four girls, two boys - she had long put the childhood traumas from her mind, or so she thought. But when her younger sister, Susan, played by Mel Harris, decides to bring suit against her father, old memories are awakened in Sharon who eventually is forced to recall things that happened to her, as well.

As "Ultimate Betrayal" begins, it's readily apparent that all four of the Rodgers sisters - Ally Sheedy and Kathryn Dowling play the other two - are in deep psychological doo-doo, their lives and relationships more or less a mess, no matter how much they deny it.

As the trial progresses, all four draw closer as they exchange experiences from their childhood, things they had repressed.

The father, played by Henry Czerny, denied the charges, admitting only that he may have been a stern taskmaster for his children, while the sisters' two brothers, who seem to have suffered only physical abuse, not only disagree with their sisters' actions but will have nothing to do with them after they bring charges.

Thus while the sisters feel vindicated when the court finds in their favor, it cannot be assumed that the film has anything resembling a happy ending. The family is still in shreds, the money awarded the sisters has never been paid, and the best that can be said is that confession has lifted some weight from their hearts and minds.

Performances are satisfactory, under Donald Wrye's sensitive direction, but Goodell's script jumps about a great deal, not only from past to present, but from sister to sister, and it fails to give us much of a sense of what Edward J. Rodgers, Jr., was really like. How could a man who was considered a child-abuse expert behave in this manner - and get away with it? That is the real drama of this story and it is never explored.

Don't miss this

------------------------------------ Vladimir Horowitz: A Reminiscence," 8 p.m. Sunday, Channel 9. ------------------------------------

This film is really part of a Horowitz "double feature," being offered as a highlight of PBS' spring fund-raising effort, because it is followed, at 9:20 tonight, by a repeat of "Horowitz in Moscow," the memorable CBS documentary, narrated and hosted by Charles Kuralt, of the, great pianist's return in 1986 to the land of his birth, 61 years after he left and three years before his death in 1989 at age 85.

This new film is a potpourri of scenes and performances from a wide variety of sources and all of it to be treasured by Horowitz fans. Some of the film has never been seen before and was found in the basement of Horowitz's townhouse after his death.

There are black-and-white films and photographs of the man when he was quite young, some excerpts from telecasts, including one in Vienna that has never aired in the U.S., and numerous scenes shot in the Horowitz home for various interview programs.

There are also some scenes from the Moscow concert, including the breathtakingly beautiful moment when he plays Schumann's "Traumerei" with stunning simplicity and clarity. And, just for contrast, there is also a dynamic performance of Scriabin's "Vers la flamme," a wild 1912 piece that still sounds somewhat revolutionary. Imagine what it sounded like in 1912!

There are also tantalizing scraps of Chopin, Clementi, Rachmaninov, Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Beethoven that either bridge the scenes or are heard accompanying still photography. Then, as the piece de resistance, there are wonderful scenes with and comments by his widow, Wanda Toscanini Horowitz, that tell us a great deal about the great man in the most economical terms.

Taken together, these two films portray, in loving detail, one of the great musical personalities of the 20th century, and, as such, are invaluable souvenirs.

Powerful viewing

-------------------------------- "Against the Wall," HBO movie, 8 p.m. Saturday, HBO. --------------------------------

John Frankenheimer has definitely not lost it. The director of such film classics as "The Manchurian Candidate," "The Train," and "Seven Days in May" puts all of his filmmaking expertise to good use in "Against the Wall," a powerful docudrama about the 1971 prison riot at Attica that premieres Saturday.

The film, which was shot in Tennessee and not at the actual prison site, is based on the story of Michael Smith, a young novice guard who was taken hostage during the Attica uprising, and was among those who were injured but survived. Twenty-nine inmates and 10 guards were killed when government forces took back the prison.

Smith is portrayed as a decent young man, a newcomer who didn't fully understand or approve of the inmates' treatment by old-line guards, under the direction of Lt. Weisbad, played to perfection by Frederic Forrest.

While Ron Hutchinson's script attempts to focus on the mutual respect between Smith, played by Kyle MacLachlan, and Jamaal, a Muslim leader of the uprising, played by Samuel L. Jackson, where the film is most successful is in its broad canvas.

In depicting the chaos and in pinpointing the several approaches to dealing with it - the warden who insists action must be taken quickly, the Department of Corrections commissioner who doesn't quite grasp the danger of the situation (splendidly played by Philip Bosco), to the leaders of different factions within the prison, some of whom looked upon it as mainly a chance for revenge, others who hoped to improve prison conditions through the riots, and those who quickly realized the violence of the event had ruined all chances of a peaceful, intelligent settlement - the film rushes toward its inevitable conclusion.

It's in pulling all of these emotions together and playing them out against the frighteningly real enactment of the violence of the rebellion that Frankenheimer excels. As in "Seven Days in May," there is an inexorable, inevitable atmosphere in "Against the Wall" that seems to be a presence the moment the film starts.

All of the performances are fine but this is truly a director's picture - and one you won't quickly forget.