CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · Arts & Letters

Heartbeat (1993 film)

1993 television film

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 8, 2026
Entity authorityQ5692553 ↗
Source-derived summary

Heartbeat, also known as Danielle Steel's Heartbeat, is a 1993 American made-for-television romantic comedy-drama film directed by Michael Miller and written by Jan Worthington based upon the 1991 novel of the same name by Danielle Steel for NBC. The film tells of a man who was abused as a child and, as a result, has no interest in having children of his own. When Adrian reveals to her husband that she is pregnant, her husband pressures her to have an abortion. Adrian rebuffs her husband's orders and he neglects her. The showrunner and Adrian's boss for the soap opera she writes and produces becomes romantically involved with her, eventually marrying her and helping Adrian raise her baby. John Ritter stars as the television producer, Polly Draper as Adrian, and Kevin Kilner portrays Adrian's husband.

According to Hal Erickson, of Rovi, "the film was heavily criticized by time of its release, often called a 'yuppie love story.' " It also received an Emmy Award nomination in 1993 for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Costuming for a Mini Series or a Special.

Plot

Bill Grant is a successful television producer working on the soap opera A Life Worth Living. He is a recently divorced man who does not see his sons very often. Unbeknownst to him, he constantly crosses paths with Adrian Towers, a career woman working as a writer for the news. She is married to Steven, a man who had an abusive childhood and therefore has no desire of having children.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Heartbeat (1993 film)” as 1993 television film. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1993, 1991—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1993-01-01. The account is most persuasive where Heartbeat, film and television can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1993 television film. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5692553. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1993 and 1991.

Critical limits

Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Heartbeat (1993 film)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Heartbeat (1993 film) primary sources, Heartbeat (1993 film) archive and Heartbeat research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Heartbeat (1993 film)”?
  2. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
  3. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Heartbeat (1993 film)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.