Cold Comfort Farm 1995

I caught the film Cold Comfort Farm on cable yesterday and now want to read the book. Always a successful adaptation I think if it makes me go searching for the book!

The film of Cold Comfort Farm is an adaptation of the Stella Gibbons novel from 1932, a parody of the doom and gloom novels of the period (DH Lawrence, Thomas Hardy, Mary Webb and even further back, the Bronte sisters). Gibbons was obviously a fan of Jane Austen, as Flora Poste is an Emma Woodhouse type through and through, and Flora even has a line:

"Well, when I am fifty-three or so I would like to write a novel as good as Persuasion, but with a modern setting of course. For the next thirty years or so I will be collecting material for it. If anyone asks me what I work at, I shall say, 'Collecting material'. No one can object to that. Besides, I shall be."

Starring Kate Beckinsale as Flora Poste (I know...no coincidence that the BBC cast her as Emma in 1996) and an all star supporting cast of Rufus Sewell, Joanna Lumley, Ian McKellen, Eileen Atkins, Stephen Fry, Miriam Margolyes and even an impossibly young looking Rupert Penry-Jones!

Flora is a well-to-do twenty year old London girl who finds herself orphaned and with only a hundred pounds a year to live on. She decides to impose on distant relatives who live on a badly run Sussex farm and who all seem to have deep rooted emotional issues which would have sent me running for the hills! Flora, in her best Emma style, sees the potential in not only the farm, but in each of the inhabitants and proceeds to drag them into the twentieth century all cleaned and polished!

So just make sure you are in the mood for some rather tongue in cheek parody as otherwise the OTT style of this might put you off. And I am a little undecided as to whether I should recommend the book or the film first. I leave it to my readers to decide. In any case enjoy. And watch out for "something nasty in the woodshed"!

I am off to order the book now!

Cheers!

Upstairs Downstairs Season 2

Upstairs Downstairs Season 2

Upstairs Downstairs Season 2 has just started on PBS, depending on your local station. My local station WNED in Buffalo is rerunning the first series and then starts the second series on October 28th, so CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS. In any case, if you need to catch up and live in the USA, you can watch on www.PBS.org.

Set in 1938, just before WWII begins, we get a big history lesson with each episode. Don't expect Downton Abbey here, as UpDown has always been more serious, and lacks the huge budget of Downton Abbey. And yet, if you can endure the ping-ponging between story lines and a bit of hilariously soapy expositional dialogue, there is quite a watchable series here.

Alex Kingston in Upstairs, Downstairs

After the death of Sir Hallam's mother Maude (a plot point to explain Eileen Atkins refusal to join the second season), her sister comes to stay at 165 Eaton Place. Alex Kingston is a welcome addition to season 2 as Sir Hallam's bluestocking aunt, Dr. Blanche Mottershead. She gives the series a bit of life and has some interesting secrets in her closet.

Blanche and the Duke of Kent (Blake Ritson)

If there is one reason to watch this series, let it be the gorgeous Blake Ritson as the Duke of Kent.

"I must ask you to furnish me with a cigarette. Forthwith." 

If you have the foresight to record this (or go and watch online at PBS.org) I dare you not to rewind a few of the scenes involving the Duke of Kent. And pause them. And then watch them again. Damn, this man is underused in period drama. (Note to self- watch Mansfield Park 2007 and Emma 2009 again)

Oh, and an honourable mention goes to Adrian Scarborough as the Butler Mr. Pritchard for pure entertainment value. Keep an eye on his character and enjoy.

So, remember, keep your expectations low and you may really enjoy this series. Just maybe keep IMDb and/or Wikipedia handy to sort out the characters. 

Let me know what you think. I have a feeling you will either love this one or hate it. I was happy to watch it but I wouldn't purchase it on DVD.

What A Girl Wants 2003

What A Girl Wants is one of my guilty pleasures. I know it is not a "great" film, but it doesn't purport to be Oscar-worthy. It is just trying to be a fun, light chick flick and it succeeds at that in abundance.  I kind of love it actually.

Amanda Bynes and Colin Firth as father and daughter in What a Girl Wants

A remake of the 1958 film The Reluctant Debutante with Sandra Dee and Rex Harrison, it is another twist on a classic story. The daughter who reestablishes a connection with her long lost father (in this case, he never knew about her), the evil step-sister, the clash of different cultures. Aw, sometimes we all need a bit of Cinderella in our lives. By the way, I may need to add the Sandra Dee version to my sappy, happy film collection.

Father/Daughter pedicure

Henry Dashwood: I think I owe you a rather large apology.
Libby Reynolds: Do you think I've waited 17 years for an apology?

Young love...in London!

Ian: Why are trying so hard to fit in when you are born to stand out? 

***********************************************************************************

I know the line is cheesy but what 17 year old (or 47 year old) wouldn't melt with that one?

Glynnis and Clarissa- they are such a Payne!

Glynnis Payne: I know my daddy was naughty, but what about me?

**********************************************************************************

Clarissa: I can't believe that little impostor is going to ruin my summer!
Fiona: She may be a lot of things, but I can't believe impostor is one of them. Technically, she's 39th in line to the throne.
Clarissa: Really, Fiona. 38 people would have to die for her to be queen.
Jane: Well, it's far less than the 72 you'd need.
Clarissa: Hmph! 

Colin Firth

What a girl really wants of course is Colin Firth. And I guess if he is really too old for you, then having him as your Dad would be the next best thing????

Seeing him dance in this is very funny. Not quite as hilarious as seeing Hugh Grant dance in Love Actually and Music and Lyrics, but pretty darn funny in a "cover-your-eyes-and-peek-through-your-fingers-embarrassed-for-him" kind of way. Oh, those pleather pants!!!

 Henry Dashwood: Remember when I told you how groovy I used to be?

Cat fight!

Glynnis Payne: Now Daphne, we don't want to make a scene now, do we?
Libby Reynolds: Take your hand off my daughter or you won't get a scene, you'll get a Broadway Musical!

***********************************************************************************

So here's to having a little fun and spotting Dame Eileen Atkins in a lovely little role as Henry Dashwood's mother. Now I need a few of you to fess up that this is one of your "happy night" films too. I know you watch it!

Upstairs Downstairs on PBS starting April 10 2011

Upstairs Downstairs, on the stairs!

On Sunday April 10, 2011, the long awaited Upstairs Downstairs finally begins. It is just 3 episodes long over the next three Sunday nights, so don't get too attached to this one folks.  It is a lovely revival of the classic 1970s television series. Updated to the 1930s, just before the Second World War began, this is undoubtedly a fascinating time period in which to set this classic period soap opera.

Upstairs Downstairs-Sir Hallam and Lady Agnes in their evening dress

In this episode, Sir Hallam (Ed Stoppard) and Lady Agnes Holland (Keeley Hawes) move into 165 Eaton Place and hire former parlor maid Rose (Jean Marsh) to assemble a staff. The servants are soon put to the test during a party that threatens to destroy Sir Hallam’s career. Dame Eileen Atkins also stars as Sir Hallam's rather "take-charge" mother.  Her monkey is hilarious as is she. Clare Foy plays Lady Agnes' naughty little sister Lady Persie.

Lady Agnes and the servants of Upstairs Downstairs

I quite enjoyed this one, although I freely admit to preferring Downton Abbey. BBC has finally been outdone by ITV (commercial television in Britain) but only just. Since we are not going to get any more Downton Abbey until 2012, savour this delightful miniseries for the little gem that it is.

The two miniseries were so similar in style that Comic Relief did a parody of both of them on Red Nose Day called Uptown Downstairs Abbey.  I am feeling cheeky today, so here is another parody of Upstairs Downstairs by our friends on Sesame Street:

Upstairs Downstairs-The Saga Continues on PBS/Masterpiece

Upstairs, Downstairs is back on PBS starting Sunday April 10th

If you are in withdrawal after Downton Abbey finished this week, fear not! BBC and PBS have combined forces yet again to bring us the continuation of the famous historic soap opera of the 1970s, Upstairs Downstairs.

The story opens in 1936, six years after the Bellamy family moved out of 165 Eaton Place at the end of the original series. Recently inherited by young Sir Hallam Holland (Ed Stoppard, Bridey Flyte from Brideshead Revisited 2008), the house has been long vacant and its considerable needs are taken in hand by Hallam’s vivacious wife, Agnes (Keeley Hawes, Cynthia from Wives and Daughters).

The stellar cast includes the original series creators Dame Eileen Atkins (Miss Deborah Jenkyns from Cranford) and Jean Marsh (Mrs. Ferrars from Sense and Sensibility 2008), with Marsh reprising her Emmy Award-winning role as Rose Buck, now promoted from parlormaid to housekeeper, and Atkins appearing as the aristocratic Lady Maud.  Hopefully we can expect some of the brilliant verbal sparring from these ladies that we have so enjoyed with the "Dames of Downton".

Lady Agnes Holland's first order of business is to hire servants, for which she retains Rose (Marsh), the proprietor of a domestic employment agency, although Agnes is unaware of Rose’s previous association with 165. After lining up a butler (Adrian Scarborough from Cranford), a cook (Anne Reid from Bleak House), a housemaid (Ellie Kendrick from The Diary of Anne Frank), and other staff, Rose realizes she may be of no further use to the new family.  But of course, she is needed once again...

And so it continues, just as it did thirty-odd years ago, with stories of the upper-class and working-class intertwining in complex and interesting ways against a backdrop of world events—in this case, the abdication crisis of Edward VIII, the growing belligerence of Hitler and Mussolini on the continent, and the rise of the British Union of Fascists under Sir Oswald Mosley.

You know where I will be every Sunday night in April.  Will you be joining me, Earl Grey tea in hand?