Firth stars in excellent miniseries Posted: Thursday, September 29, 2011 12:15 pm | Updated: 12:29 pm, Thu Sep 29, 2011.
Long before he played the stuttering king-to-be of England, Colin Firth played Richard Herncastle in a seven-part television adaptation (1986) of J.B. Priestley’s 1965 novel “Lost Empires.”
It is a coming-of-age story of a young man who is taken by his Uncle Nick to join his variety hall act. The three-DVD version of this superior telecast is now available in a boxed set from Acorn Media; and I can place it among the five (or so) greatest miniseries ever.
The recreation of what it was like to travel from town to town, thrown into close contact with all sorts of characters, every one of whom is utterly credible, is what makes this story so special.
John Castle plays Uncle Nick as a man who rarely smiles, uses women just to keep the act together and his sexual drive satisfied now and then, and who remains as mysterious as his stage personality, the magician Ganga Dun.
The saddest one of them all is an “eccentric comedian” (Laurence Olivier) who cannot admit that his brand of humor gets “the bird”rather than laughter. Nearly as sad is the portrayal of Nick’s dwarf Barney (Mike Edmonds).
The most nauseating male is Tommy Beamish (Brian Glover), a low comedian who is popular with audiences and takes pleasure in beating his woman.
The women in Richard’s life are individually drawn. Nick’s assistant Cissie (Gillian Bevan) wants only a little happiness in this world. Beamish’s assistant Julie (Carmen Du Sautoy) wants only sex and never denies it.
Lily Farris (Pamela Stephenson) plays the little girl in white on the stage and — I’ll not reveal what — off the stage. But the real love of Richard’s life is Nancy Ellis (Beatie Edney).
In short, they are all, male and female, believable human beings.
My favorite element in this series is the recreation not only of the physical theaters but the acts that were seen in them.
Acrobats, a ragtime trio, dog acts, pretty singers, loud-mouthed comedians, those far past their fashion, and even the hapless bandmasters who have to rehearse music cues once on Mondays and hope for the best.
Each episode runs about 58 minutes, the picture is 4:3 full ratio, and there are very helpful subtitles. I have seldom enjoyed any series as much as this one and hope many will get their copies for viewing and viewing again.
It is a coming-of-age story of a young man who is taken by his Uncle Nick to join his variety hall act. The three-DVD version of this superior telecast is now available in a boxed set from Acorn Media; and I can place it among the five (or so) greatest miniseries ever.
The recreation of what it was like to travel from town to town, thrown into close contact with all sorts of characters, every one of whom is utterly credible, is what makes this story so special.
John Castle plays Uncle Nick as a man who rarely smiles, uses women just to keep the act together and his sexual drive satisfied now and then, and who remains as mysterious as his stage personality, the magician Ganga Dun.
The saddest one of them all is an “eccentric comedian” (Laurence Olivier) who cannot admit that his brand of humor gets “the bird”rather than laughter. Nearly as sad is the portrayal of Nick’s dwarf Barney (Mike Edmonds).
The most nauseating male is Tommy Beamish (Brian Glover), a low comedian who is popular with audiences and takes pleasure in beating his woman.
The women in Richard’s life are individually drawn. Nick’s assistant Cissie (Gillian Bevan) wants only a little happiness in this world. Beamish’s assistant Julie (Carmen Du Sautoy) wants only sex and never denies it.
Lily Farris (Pamela Stephenson) plays the little girl in white on the stage and — I’ll not reveal what — off the stage. But the real love of Richard’s life is Nancy Ellis (Beatie Edney).
In short, they are all, male and female, believable human beings.
My favorite element in this series is the recreation not only of the physical theaters but the acts that were seen in them.
Acrobats, a ragtime trio, dog acts, pretty singers, loud-mouthed comedians, those far past their fashion, and even the hapless bandmasters who have to rehearse music cues once on Mondays and hope for the best.
Each episode runs about 58 minutes, the picture is 4:3 full ratio, and there are very helpful subtitles. I have seldom enjoyed any series as much as this one and hope many will get their copies for viewing and viewing again.
No comments:
Post a Comment