Bermuda Grace.

Many Bermudians yesterday disagreed with the Hon. John Stubbs who described the film as "an abomination.'' And former United Bermuda Party senator Wendell Hollis was shocked by Dr.

Stubbs' comments.

Mr. Hollis was particularly upset by the MP's scathing comment that Bermudians who helped with Bermuda Grace should "hang their heads in shame''.

"I feel very strongly about this. I disagree vehemently with Dr. Stubbs' comments.

"To some extent I look at his remarks as a personal insult to me because my house was included in the film. I co-operated with the film company and I am proud of the fact.'' Mr. Hollis' home was used during a search scene and for the closing kiss between stars Bill Sadler and Serena Scott Thomas.

"I thought the movie was good,'' he added, "and I take strong exception to any remarks that it will have a bad effect on Bermuda's tourism, as Dr. Stubbs said.

"It shows the natural beauty of the Island and shows it to be a lot more exciting than many people think. That is one of our problems, people see the Island as a little boring but this was exciting and extraordinary.'' Mr. Hollis said he felt that Dr. Stubbs had missed the point of the story when he said it would make people fear Bermuda was a place for guns and fast cars.

"He clearly missed the storyline which was that this whole thing was out of character for Bermuda. It is not as though this kind of thing happens every day in Bermuda.'' The former senator added that he was not a big fan of "this type of show'' but thought this was at the better end of the scale. He added: "I am proposing to call all my friends in the United States tonight to tell them to watch Bermuda Grace.

"It will have an effect on people living in Michigan with five inches of snow, when they see sunny Bermuda. It will do good things.'' One person who might have had some concerns was Commissioner of Police Lennett (Lennie) Edwards because of the way some Bermudian officers were portrayed.

But Mr. Edwards said he had enjoyed the movie. "I am not a movie critic but I found it amusing. The scenery was especially beautiful and I hope it brings tourists to the country.

"I did not expect it to show the Bermuda Police as it goes about its normal business on a daily basis.'' However, Mr. Edwards added that if the film was successful and spawned a series the makers should try to look at aspects of Bermudian life and Police work a little more closely.

"For example the Commissioner of Police would not have dealt with some of the situations. They would have been passed on to a superintendent or an assistant commissioner,'' he said.

A comment in the film that "the Coast Guard'' took time off for lunch annoyed Harbour Radio. A spokesman said: "I was disappointed at the depiction of Harbour Radio and the Police. I thought they were both represented poorly.

"If they are going to take the trouble of making a film here they should make a reasonable show of it. They were trying to scrape in box office ratings at the expense of Bermuda's good name and using a lot of licence.'' He also pointed out that there were no Bermudian speaking parts and "little Bermudian contribution''.

The movie received mixed reaction from members of the public interviewed in Hamilton yesterday (see Page 2). Some thought it was good, others said they turned it off and a few were angry. But all agreed that the Island looked beautiful.

The film is to show on American TV tonight and will then be shown in the United Kingdom.