Category: Films

The King's Speech

Colin Firth will be playing King George VI in a new film called The King’s Speech. Set to open in November, Geoffrey Rush plays royal speech therapist Lionel Logue, while Helena Bonham Carter will play the Queen Mum.
The King’s Speech tells the story of the man who would become King George VI, the father of the current Queen, Elizabeth II. After his brother abdicates, George ‘Bertie’ VI (Firth) reluctantly assumes the throne. Plagued by a dreaded nervous stammer and considered unfit to be King, Bertie engages the help of an unorthodox speech therapist named Lionel Logue (Rush). Through a set of unexpected techniques, and as a result of an unlikely friendship, Bertie is able to find his voice and boldly lead the country into war.

A handsome and rather shy younger son, George VI came to the throne after his brother, Edward VIII, abdicated the throne of England in order to marry Mrs. Simpson. George and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon were married in 1923 and had two daughters, Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret. The Queen Consort never forgave Edward VIII for his selfish action in abdicating, thus throwing the responsibility for the country upon her husband, whose health had never been the best. Within three years of his accession, King George VI found himself at the head of a country at war with Nazi Germany. Choosing to stay at Buckingham Palace in London through the worst of the bombing, the King and Queen garnered themselves legion of loyal subjects who praised them for their courage and for their selflessness in helping at air raid shelters and bomb sites and by standing fast through the blitz.

Charles, Prince of Wales, recently hosted a reception at Clarence House, his London home, to celebrate the work of the country’s only national stammering centre, The Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children in Islington, north London. Speaking about George VI the Prince told his guests ”His stammer cut him off I think in so many ways from his parents and his brothers and sisters and drove him into himself as I suspect so many stammerers will understand. I think above all he experienced that awful fear of feeling different from others.”

The Prince joked with the audience about how the Monarch’s speech problem would be dealt with in the forthcoming film about his grandfather: “My grandfather was fortunate enough to receive speech therapist services which enabled him to overcome the condition.”

The Palin Centre was founded in 1993 and the comic actor and travel presenter agreed to the institution being named after him following his role as a stammering character called Ken in the hit movie A Fish Called Wanda.

You can watch an interview with Mr. Firth about his upcoming role here.

Like a Fine Wine

Like a fine wine, actor Ian McShane continues to age beautifully, stepping into the limelight at intervals in order to remind us just how delicious he is – especially when playing the bad boy. Villianous roles, it seems, suit McShane right down to the ground and at age sixty-eight, they keep coming his way.

Born in Blackburn, England, McShane is the son of professional soccer player Harry McShane, who played  for Manchester United, and Irene McShane. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. Having starred in more than thirty films, McShane made his debut in 1962’s The Wild and the Willing that led to other roles in The Battle of Britain, The Last of Sheila (at right), Villain (co-starring Richard Burton), Exposed, and Agent Cody Banks.

His TV resumé includes any number of TV-movies and miniseries: he played Judas in the internationally produced Jesus of Nazareth (1977) and was seen as the title character in the British miniseries Disraeli (1979). In America, he was a regular on the 1989-90 season of Dallas, playing Don Lockwood.
                                                              

McShane gained an international fan following as a result of his starring role in the widely-distributed TV series The Lovejoy Mysteries, originally filmed in 1986, then brought back by popular demand in 1990. In the late 80’s the actor formed McShane Productions, which produced the much-adored Lovejoy for the BBC and A&E. The series, based on the books by Jonathan Gash, features antique dealer/detective Lovejoy, a “divvie” who has an uncanny ability to recognise exceptional items as well as for distinguishing fakes or forgeries from genuine antiques.

McShane earned the coveted Golden Globe Award for “Best Actor in a Television Drama” for his versatile performance as Al Swearengen on HBO’s hit series Deadwood. His charismatic portrayal of Swearengen also led him to a nomination for the 2005 Emmy and a 2005 and 2006 SAG nomination for Lead Actor, as well as being voted by People Magazine in 2005, “TV’s Sexiest Villain.” McShane’s performance gained him a wave of critical acclaim which earned him the Television Critics Association’s annual award for “Individual Achievement in Drama,” and being selected as one of GQ’s “Men of the Year.” They described the character of Swearengen as “infectious” and “darkly irresistible.” The New York Times dubbed him as “One of the Most Interesting Villains on Television,” and Rolling Stone Magazine bestowed the title of “Hot Barkeep” and described the character as “played to perfection.”

McShane has also voiced several characters for films – Captain Hook in Shrek the Third and the voice of Mr. Bobinski, in the film Coraline and has had a long stage career. In 2000 McShane returned to the West End in London to make his musical debut starring in Cameron Mackintosh’s successful musical The Witches of Eastwick as Darryl Van Horne. His varied stage career has included roles as Hal in the original cast of Loot, the title role of The Admirable C
richton at the Chichester Festival, Tom in The Glass Menagerie, and Charlie in The Big Knife. He co-starred with Judi Dench and Ian McKellen in Promise, which successfully played London and debuted on Broadway. In Los Angeles he starred in three productions at The Matrix Theatre, including the world premiere of Larry Atlas’ Yield of the Long Bond and two others for which he received the Los Angeles Drama Critics’ Circle Award, Inadmissible Evidence and Betrayal.
A current villainous role is his appearance as the crafty bishop of Shiring, Waleran Bigod, in the TV production of Ken Follett’s novel Pillars of the Earth. He is duplicious, a liar, and changes sides in the war between Stephen and Maud with alacrity.  But you can’t help admiring his acting!
Ian McShane plays the fearsome pirate Blackbeard in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the fourth installment of the Disney movie series directed by Rob Marshall scheduled to open May 20, 2011. McShane will play legendary pirate–real name was Edward Teach– who piloted the ship Queen Anne’s Revenge. Read McShane’s latest interview in the Independent here, in which we learn a few details about his colourful love life, that he likes oysters and that he’s not personally fond of antiques.  You can watch an interview with Ian about his upcoming role here. And another interview about his stage work with Charlie Rose here.  Drink up.

Upstairs, Downstairs – The Remake

PBS and BBC will be offering what PBS is calling a “new production” of “Upstairs Downstairs” for debut in 2011 as part of the 40th anniversary season of “Masterpiece Theatre.” Winning seven Emmys, the 1970’s series was a landmark event that defined excellence in dramatic story telling on television. Dame Eileen Atkins (at right in a scene from Cranford), one of the creators of the orginal version, will star this time around, along with Jean Marsh, who will be reprising her role as Rose, the parlor maid/now housekeeper, in the new series. Marsh won an Emmy as best actress for her work in the original version. The new series will again be set in the house at 165 Eaton Place, this time in 1936 on the eve of World War II and will follow a different family, the Hollands, now living in the house. The house has been inherited by the wealthy Sir Hallam Holland, a young and well-connected diplomat, ­following the unexpected death of his Baronet father.

Holland is played by 35-year-old Ed Stoppard, the son of playwright Sir Tom, and takes up residence with his wife and his imposing mother Lady Maud, a free-thinking intellectual played by Dame Eileen who keeps a pet monkey called Solomon.

The series will see two new 90 minute scripts penned by writer Heidi Thomas (Cranford, Madame Bovary, Ballet Shoes). Actress Keeley Hawes will play Lady Agnes Holland and you can follow her blog here. Actress Claire Foy will appear as her temptress sister, Lady Persie.

Art Malik, Anne Reid, Ed Stoppard, Adrian Scarborough, Ellie Kendrick and Nico Mirallegro are also part of the cast. BBC is planning to screen the drama as early as autumn and it will be broadcast on Masterpiece in the US shortly after it makes its British debut. They hope to find similar success to the original, which was broadcast in more than 70 countries to an audience of more than a billion.

Writer Heidi Thomas, who also scripted the successful BBC’s drama Cranford, said: ‘The series will be shot through with sensuality. This is a drama very much about warm-blooded human beings. In a house like Eaton Place, there is a limit to what you can keep behind closed doors. The place is a pressure cooker and the tensions continue to rise and rise until they boil over. Whether the characters are upstairs or downstairs they are ­living in close proximity to each other and these are the dramas that will engage viewers.’

Oh, joy!

By the way, the setting for Upstairs, Downstairs, 165 Eaton Place, is in actuality the house standing at 65 Eaton Place (above). For the new series, a full-scale replica of Eaton Place has been built at studios in Cardiff, where filming began in August.

Do You Need a London fix?

Victoria here. Unexpectedly the other night, without any Netflix on hand, I found myself looking through the tv listings — 700 channels and nothing to watch — but WAIT!!!  What  about a good evening in London?

There it was — Notting Hill. I saw it long ago (released in 1999), and was disappointed because Julia was SO beautifully Julia and Hugh was SO stutteringly Hugh. But this time, expecting nothing but watching London on my screen, I really enjoyed it. The reverse Cinderella story I guess. But I’d rather run a bookshop on Portobello Road than be an actress!

Now I am looking forward to some other movies set in London that are fun to watch just because of the scenery.  How about Last Chance Harvey (2008)? That one was a little below par too, but just to see them walking along the Thames — well, this time I’d probably love it.

A movie I’ve seen several times and would again any evening is A Fish Called Wanda.  What a cast! What a setting!! I want that apartment on the river. I always laugh until I ache.
Now that I think about it, there are quite a few relatively recent movies that give a nice London fix: Love Actually, the Bridget Jones movies…what are your favorites when you want to pretend you are right there approaching Trafalgar Square?

I also love the WWII movies — Mrs. Miniver, etc. and the Judi Dench film, Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005) which goes through the war. Though it isn’t London, The Enchanted Cottage (1945) is a terrific tear-jerker set in England. As is Brief Encounter (1945),  with the wonderful Rachmaninoff concerto.

Or, to cap it off, how about a rousing chorus from My Fair Lady? I know that Emma Thompson wants to do it all over again — and I do think ET is a stellar actress, producer and writer.  Yet I love that technicolor version with Audrey Hepburn, from 1964.  Sorry, Emma.


Or, for a lovely evening at least partially set in London, how about 84 Charing Cross Road (1987)?  Another winner.

Good viewing!!

Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot

Victoria here.  Kristine did a post on the wonderful actress Margaret Rutherford on August 17, 2010, and it got me thinking. Which actress is my favorite Miss Marple?  And which is my favorite Hercule Poirot.

Here is a link to a blog post from a Marple fan, in the Birdie’s Nest.

I saw the Margaret Rutherford films at an impressionable age, I suppose. She looked nothing like I had imagined Jane Marple from the novels, but she was a delight.  All four of the films made by MGM between 1961 and 1964 were black and white, which means they probably don’t get as much attention as they deserve.  My favorite is the first one, Murder, She Said, based on the Christie’s novel 4:50 from Paddington.  It was a wonderful vehicle for Rutherford, a blend of commedy and suspense (if I recall it correctly).

Joan Hickson

 Geraldine McEwan
Julia McKenzie
Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple

Some of the more recent Miss Marples have looked the part more than Rutherford, but I wasn’t entranced with any of them above the others.  Each one — Hickson, McEwan, McKenzie — had some positive attributes, but I was always afraid Hickson would collapse in her fragility, McEwen to me was still Mapp and Lucia, and McKenzie was too sacchrine. Was it just me, or did she lack the edge?? Or maybe it was the  poor quality of some of the scripts. I think they were often far from Christie’s style in the latest episodes.

I was surprised at how many actors have played Hercule Poirot, including Tony Randall (1920-2004) in The Alphabet Murders (1964).  For the last few years, the role has been magnificently filled by David Suchet.  Occasionally I see him in some other part and it shocks me to see him without the well-waxed mustache.
David Suchet as M. Hercule Poirot
However there were two more of my faves who played the little Belgian detective with the big ego. In 1974, Albert Finney starred in Murder on the Orient Express, and he was terrific.

Albert Finney as M. Hercule Poirot

This production had an all-star cast, with many of the leading lights of British stage and screen. I think I have watched it at least ten times.

And I am sure none of us could ever forget Peter Ustinov’s (1921-2004) performance in 1978’s Death on the Nile.  Ustinov is one of my favorite actors ever.  I think of him as Nero in Quo Vadis? or as the Prince Regent in Beau Brummell (1954).
Peter Ustinov and Stewart Granger in Beau Brummell
 Death on the Nile was a bravura performance for Ustinov, who had many great roles in his career.  Playing Prinny wasn’t one of them. The movie was dreadful — twisted history, indeed, But I must say I thought Ustinov probably nailed the character of the spoiled and self-obsessed Prince.  And Stewart Granger is extemely decorative.
David Suchet

I am sure that all of us, however, think mostly of David Suchet when we think of Hercule Poirot, since he has done more than sixty films and television programs.  And though he has had a distinguished stage and screen career, playing such diverse figures as Sigmund Freud, Edward Teller, Robert Maxwell, Baron Stockmar, and Cardinal Wolsey, his legacy will no doubt be as his alter ego, Hercule Poirot.

I admit I love the Christie’s films and tv programs, probably more than I do reading the novels.  Aaarrggh!  What an admission for a person like me who can hardly bear most of the Jane Austen productions (except for the Colin Firth Pride and Prejudice and the Emma Thompson Sense and Sensibility). I would almost always rather read a book than see a film or tv, but perhaps mysteries are an exception, especially the ones by Agatha Christie. So bring ’em on!