Promise is a 1986 made-for-television movie directed by Glenn Jordan. PLOT: Promise represented the first of several momentous TV-movie teamings of James Garner and James Woods. Garner plays an affable middle-aged salesman. When his mother dies, Garner is compelled to fulfill his long-ago promise to her: to look after his schizophrenic younger brother Woods. What begins as a fitfully painful experience for both men culminates with an unexpected, powerful climax, predicated by a memory-laden fishing trip. Piper Laurie co-stars as an old flame of Garner who finds herself a compassionate spectator to the troubled and bizarrely touching relationship between the two long-estranged brothers. Written by Richard Friedenberg, The Promise premiered December 14, 1986. Emmy awards were bestowed upon James Woods, Piper Laurie, Richard Friedenberg, director Glenn Jordan, and the film itself.

Adaptation of the novel by Norma Levinson.

After the death of her parents, Leah Lazenby, a Boston teacher of learning-impaired young people, seeks to supplement her modest income by turning the family homestead into a boarding house. She makes the parlor her living quarters and rents rooms to six tenants, who include a gentle classical cellist. Although Leah has ""a way with the wayward"" in her work, at home she's strictly a loner. Gradually, however, professional and personal crises draw her out of her shell and awaken her to the lives of her boarders.