{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox television | image = | image_size = | image_alt = | caption = | genre = Drama | writer = | director = David Miller | starring = Donna Reed<br>Efrem Zimbalist Jr.<br>Mildred Dunnock | music = Henry Mancini | country = United States | language = English | producer = Ross Hunter<br>Jacques Mapes | executive_producer = Aaron Spelling<br>Leonard Goldberg | location = | editor = Richard Bracken | cinematography = Terry K. Meade | runtime = 195 min.<br>240 min. | company = Ross Hunter Productions Inc. | budget = | network = NBC | released = {{Start date|1979|05|27}} }}
'''''The Best Place to Be''''' is a 1979 American TV film produced by Ross Hunter. It marked Donna Reed's return to acting after 13 years.<ref>Donna Reed to Return to TV Los Angeles Times 3 Oct 1978: e12.</ref> Hunter planned a sequel but this did not eventuate.<ref>Donna Reed: Back Where She Wants to Be Smith, Cecil. Los Angeles Times 4 Dec 1978: f1.</ref>
==Plot== A widowed mother has an affair with a younger man.
==Cast== *Donna Reed as Sheila Callahan *Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Bill Reardan *Mildred Dunnock as Rose Price *Betty White as Sally Cantrell *John Phillip Law as Dr. Gary Mancini *Stephanie Zimbalist as Maryanne Callahan *Michael J Shannon as Patrick Callahan *Gregory Harrison as Rick Jawlosky *Timothy Hutton as Tommy Callahan *Lloyd Bochner as Bob Stockwood *Madlyn Rhue as Emily Stockwood *Rick Jason as Paul Bellinger *Alice Backes as Kitty Rawlings
==Production== Reed said of her character, "In a way, she is a child-woman. She must learn to grow up and earn her own way. It's a long, hard battle. The children get into trouble. She takes on the wrong lover, a younger man. It's really about a woman who grows up enough to know the difference between a really good, old-fashioned man and a rogue and a playboy. She learns the lesson and finally meets a man who is right for her."<ref>Donna Reed back on TV in NBC drama The Globe and Mail 8 Jan 1979: P.14.</ref>
==Reception== One review called it "a two part corpse".<ref>TV REVIEW: Any where Else Is 'Best Place to Be' Rosenberg, Howard. Los Angeles Times 26 May 1979: c2.</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb title|0078852}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20201025020238/https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/23853/the-best-place-to-be ''The Best Place to Be''] at TCMDB {{David Miller}} {{Ross Hunter}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Best Place to Be, The}} Category:1979 television films Category:1979 films Category:NBC original films Category:Films directed by David Miller Category:Films scored by Henry Mancini Category:American drama television films Category:1979 American films Category:1979 English-language films
{{1970s-US-tv-film-stub}}