There have been a number of RP posters praising various portayals of Elizabeth Bennett and Darcy but has anyone particularly liked a Jane Bennett? She never seems cast well to my mind. She should be the beauty of the family but usually is outshone by Lizzie! Julia Sahwalia as Lydia though was just right for me.
I loved Kevin Kline as Bottom. I suddenly realised that Shakespeare must have based that character on an actor he knew as Kline brought him to life. Anyone know who that actor was or could have been?

I agree on portrayals of Jane Bennett. Lizzie always steals the show. I guess that's because she's the main character, but it makes "...and you look very nice too, Lizzy..." seem a bit ironic. The most pronounced instance of that irony was in the Bollywood movie called "Bride and Prejudice," (loosely based on the book and quite hilarious) in which the Lizzie character is played by, I believe, a Miss Universe pageant winner. The Jane character was pretty, but didn't stand a chance.

I find that I have a hard time appreciating individual character portrayals when I don't like the overall screenplay much. Wynona Ryder did a very good job as Jo March, but I wasn't too thrilled with the movie overall (Smarmy... LOL!!!!) so her portrayal doesn't stand out in my memory as definitive. Same with many of the characters in Lord of the Rings. I hated hated hated the screenplay (what in the world were they thinking, messing with Faramir like that??? And why was Legolas surfing on an oliphant that shouldn't have been there in the first place????) so I tend to overlook the really memorable performances. (No offense to you who love the LOTR movies... I know I'm in the minority. :)

Someone mentioned Yul Brynner. To me, he is definitely the King of Siam, and Rex Harrison most definitely is not.

annpan I think Shakespeare would have know all the actors he wrote for as they were a close knit company in which many of them were share-holders. Quite different from today where actors have to audition for parts and travel widely for jobs.
WS probably had different people in mind when he wrote although I understand no-one was allowed to 'hog' all the best parts and everyone had to take it in turn to play 'girls'.
They even owned the buildings in which they performed. So when, for eg the lease ran out on the 'Theatre' the cast upped and took it down, heaved it over the River Thames to Bankside and reopened it as 'The Globe', (where the replica stands today).
It was two of WS's old actor chums Thomas Pope and Henry Cordell who collected up all his MS's and had them bound into what we now know as The First Folio saying they did it not for money but 'only to keep alive the memory of so worthy a friend and fellow alive that was our Shakespeare.'
I don't know if anyone has read 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare by James Shapiro? I have heard good things about it, and it is on my 'borrowing from the library' list.

Vee, I've not read the Shapiro book on the bard, but I am currently reading Stephen Greenblatt's "Will in the World: How Shakespeare became Shakespeare". I'm finding it fascinating and highly recommend it.

teacats, I also adored the film "Shakespeare in Love." It was elegant, funny, and poignant and IMO captured the spirit of the times.

I also think "Shakespeare in Love" is great fun. But the first time I saw it, a bell went off in my head: I had read something very, very similar to it but couldn't think where. Later, while browsing The Common Reader catalog, I noticed No Bed for Bacon by Caryl Brahms and S.J. Simon and recognized the storyline. Sure enough, when I reread the Brahms-Simon satire (first published in 1941), I knew that was it. But nowhere, as far as I can tell, is that book credited for being the basis of the film -- it's not in the credits of the film itself or at IMDb. Evidently, though, I'm not the only one who thinks the similarities are more than a bit suspicious. I highly recommend No Bed for Bacon -- I think it's hilarious; and I would enjoy hearing other opinions from those who have both read the book and seen the film.

Here is a link that might be useful: No Bed for Bacon

Nyree Dawn Porter and Eric Porter as Irene and Soames in the BBC's original Forsyte Saga. True, the females in that version are very late 60s-early 70s in their heavy makeup, and the sets are stagey, but IMO that does not detract from the quality of the story. The remake of a few years ago, with Gina McKee and Damian Lewis was atrocious. Not only did it did not follow the book in various details, but McKee was a disaster as Irene. IIRC Galsworthy described Irene as a blonde, with looks to drive men wild. Poor McKee - bony, gawky, with her eyes squinted at all times to look as dreamy as possible - was not fit for the role. I couldn't look at the watery-eyed Lewis and so didn't watch the second half of the story. But I can't believe that he achieved the redemption that Eric Porter so quietly portrayed.

Thank goodness the original has finally been released on DVD.

Thank you for reminding me of that one. It was truly great. I was so immersed in it that I started to read the books--nine of them, I think--and had to force myself to slow down so I wouldn't get ahead of the TV show and ruin the suspense for myself. When the new version came on a couple of years ago, I agree that it was awful. Gave up after two episodes. I emailed PBS and asked them why they just didn't show the original. They said the "production values", whatever that means, were not up to current standards. I'm so glad you let us know it is out on DVD.

I agree about Nyree Dawn Porter. She was great as Irene as well as gorgeous.

Veer, thanks for that. Sounds like a superior Repertory Company!
I was surprised to read that Agatha Christie liked Margaret Rutherford as Jane Marple. She was totally unlike the description and her crime scene involvement in the films and general heartiness grated on me. So unlike the "home life of our dear Victorians!"

annpan I think any 'Rep' that could boast a cast that included Shakespeare as actor/writer would have been onto a winner!

Frieda I heard the theatre producer/radio presenter Ned Sherrin talking about No Bed for Bacon. He and Carol Brahms with Malcolm Williamson (Australian Master of the Queen's Music) turned it into a little-remembered musical in the early '60's.
The book has since been reprinted.

Here is a link that might be useful: No Bed for Bacon + Shakespeare in Love

Vee, thanks for posting the interesting link above. I had never heard of this book, but think it's a shame it has languished in oblivion. How far can an author go in borrowing ideas from other works without being sued? Yet, in recently reading about Shakespeare, I was surprised to learn that he borrowed many ideas for his own plays from works extant.

On another topic: I saw both the Olivier and Branagh versions of Henry V. I still prefer the vibrant. lively film of Branagh to the inimitable Olivier.

Vee, yes, thanks for the Salon article. I did notice the change in the film of Viola's last name -- from Compton to De Lesseps -- and a few other things, but the basic story is too similar to just "be attributed to the common pool of Shakespearean lore," in my opinion.If Stoppard and Norman did find inspiration for "Shakespeare in Love" in "No Bed for Bacon," their borrowings would certainly be in the finest tradition of the Bard himself, who never met a plot in old books he didn't like.Of course back in the day before copyrights, writers so freely borrowed each other's ideas that it's tough to sort out who originated what. I remember a Shakespeare professor blowing our minds (it was the '60s) by saying that Shakespeare was the biggest plagiarist of 'em all: he originated very little, BUT he made things better.

I mentioned to my mother that I was talking about "Shakespeare in Love" (which she gets a real kick out of) and the similarity to the Brahms-Simon book. She said to me, "I could've told you that! Go in my room and fetch my copy of No Bed for Bacon. I've had it since the war [World War II]." She has allowed most of her library to mingle with mine, but she has kept a few of her most-treasured books for her own bookshelves. Her copy is probably the one I read when I was a kid.

I really like the lead-in to Branagh's "Henry V" and the realism of it; but Olivier will always be Henry V, to me, as well as Richard III -- the nasty version of Richard, that is. And Claire Bloom will always be Lady Anne.

Now, I don't care what anyone else says, Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey are the best Romeo & Juliet. Yes, Zeffirelli's film hit me at just the right age. :-)

Frieda, I completely agree about Whiting and Hussey as R & J. Earlier, I had seen the tepid screen version with Laurence Harvey and Susan Shentall. There is no comparision! And the more modern version just did not cut it with me.

How about the film "Becket"? One of my favorites. For me Richard Burton will always be Thomas a Becket and Peter O'Toole the pathetic king.

I cannot remember what Whiting and Hussey looked like, although I saw the film at an impressionable age. Whatever impression it made was wiped out completely by di Caprio and Claire Danes.

On a completely different note, and one where the film preceded my reading of the book by a long way - can anyone here think of Frankenstein's creature and NOT see Boris Karloff?

Well, anyanka, not exactly, but I have to admit that usually the first image that flits through my mind is Peter Boyle, as the creature, "Putting on the Ritz." Of course that's cheating because the "Young Frankenstein" monster is a spoof on the look of Karloff.

I read Tess of the d'Urbervilles a long time before I ever saw any of the filmed versions. I've now seen three, but Nastassja Kinski's image in Roman Polanski's "Tess" is the one I carry with me, even when I reread. And Angel Clare is the actor (can't think of his name) in that filmed version, too.

Speaking of Kinskis: I always think of Klaus Kinski as Kostoyed (the vein in his forehead and his saying "Lickspittle") in David Lean's "Doctor Zhivago." I saw the 1965 film before reading the book -- in fact, it took me years to get over the disappointment that the film and book were rather dissimilar. Rod Steiger is, in my opinion, outstanding as Victor Komarovsky. Sam Neill as Komarovsky, in the made-for-television remake, is good; and in many ways that is a more faithful version, but I'm afraid that Sharif and Christie will never be eclipsed in my mind (in spite of the hokey hairdos and makeup and very-1960's fashion sensibility) -- nor will Geraldine Chaplin as Tonya, nor Ralph Richardson as Alexander Gromeko, nor Tom Courtenay as Pasha Antipov/Strelnikov. I disliked Keira Knightley as Larissa and the poor actor who played the "new" Yuri...well I can't recall his name or his face. I hope I can accept Knightley better as Lizzie Bennet when I see the new "Pride and Prejuduice." Back to "Doctor Zhivago" for a moment: That house in the country, in the 1965 film...oh my, that house defines Varykino, in my mind.

Hee, my DH is watching the new P&P. He loves the old one. Says this one is like watching the 6 hour series on 45 rpm.

Just chiming in to agree that Whiting and Hussey were, for me, the definitive Romeo and Juliet. I also saw the movie during my formative teen years, so that may have something to do with it. I also agree with Frieda re the casting for Doctor Zhivago. Did Geraldine Chaplin ever go on to do anything else in film? That is the only movie I've ever seen her in (at least, that I can remember).

I didn't see the DiCaprio / Danes version of R&J. For some reason, the ads for it didn't appeal to me, so I never sought it out. I've read rumors on the net that Martin Scorsese has been interested in bringing Dan Simmons' Hyperion saga to the big screen with DiCaprio starring as Raul Endymion. Ever since reading that, I've pictured DiCaprio as Endymion. Unfortunately, it is also rumored that Scorsese may retire soon and has lost interest in that project. Probably just as well. It would be a very challenging series to adapt to film.

What do you think about Alan Ladd as Shane? It's another movie I saw before I read the book, but it stands out as one of those movies where the actor forever after personified that character in the minds of his audience throughout the rest of his career.

re Geraldine Chaplin, I remember seeing her in Chaplin the biopic about her father. Didn't she play the role of her own grandmother? I think she has appeared in some 'foreign' (ie non English speaking) films.
I didn't know Shane was taken from a book. Isn't that the film where we first hear the lines "A man's got to do what a man's got to do"? And is it true that AL had to stand on an out-of-shot box while kissing Veronica Lake?
As I've never read anything 'cowboy/Western' it would be interesting to know how many of these films came originally from books.

I can't think of Shane without seeing Alan Ladd's face. Shane, both the book and film, go so far back with me that I don't know which I experienced first.

Oh-oh! Georgia, Geraldine Chaplin is wonderful as Queen Anne in Richard Lester's "The Three Musketeers" and the follow-up (actually filmed simultaneously) "The Four Musketeers." Indeed, she did play her own grandmother in "Chaplin" and her performance was very poignant. She was also the very-odd Nina Soames in "White Mischief," and the hard-as-nails Miss Scratcherd in the 1996 version of "Jane Eyre" (the one with William Hurt and Charlotte Gainsbourg).

Vee, you mean you've never read Owen Wister's The Virginian? Or Ferber's Giant? There are lots and lots of Westerns based on books. Dorothy Johnson's The Hanging Tree was made into a film (of the same title) with Gary Cooper...and let me see, I think she also wrote the story The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and the novel A Man Called Horse. Those are just a few that I can think of, at the moment.

Frieda I really don't think 'Western' books make much impact over here. I know the library has a small section devoted to Zane Gray type paperbacks but I have never seen anyone take one out. I always presumed they were the male equivalent of the Barbara Cartland romances some females enjoy.
I see almost no 'modern' movies (no cinema within easy stricking distance ie one where DH doesn't need to take the car as our town centres are full of deliquent kids after dark)) but do remember watching The Hanging Tree over 40 years ago in a tin hut (The Institute) at Uyeasound on the Isle of Unst, the most northerly of the Shetland Islands. A howling gale blowing outside and such a grainy old print I think it could be considered a true film noire.

I read that there is to be a remake of The Ten Commandments-a TV version which I assume they will be showing for Easter....now how could anyone other that Charlton Heston be credible as Moses!

Pat

georgia peach, yes, Geraldine Chaplin has continued to make films, some foreign, e.g. "Talk to Her", directed by Aldomovar, (in Spanish,) in which she plays an aging ballet teacher. BTW, a marvelous film!

Frieda, I so agree with all you wrote re the stars of "Dr. Zhivago." (I'll never forget that pulsating, throbbing vein, either!) Of course, I have seen this film so many times, I know parts of the script by heart and can quote some bits....

Pat, I saw previews of the new Ten Commandments yesterday and thought the same thing. That's not Moses!

I read Shane after watching the movie. Cried both times.

Loved Geraldine in anything I've seen her in. She does her papa proud.

Over the years I've been amazed by how many early movies (40s and before) were from books or short stories. I've gone back and read some, and actually have been surprised by some of the older adaptations.

No, there cannot be another Heston in that role. Why do film makers feel the need to remake classics? I heard they want to re do Casablanca. Why? Bogarts role can't be reproduced. The remake of the Grinch was beyond horrible.

Tho there is a voice whispering in the back of my head, reminding me of all of the productions I have seen of Shakespeare and Moliere, and how much I have enjoyed several of them

Oh, veer and other Brits - have you been to the new Globe theatre? Its so cool, not only seeing a play there but checking out the interactive exhibits. One lets you listen to famous British actors recite famous Bard passages. Comparing them is loads of fun, and you realize how one actor can make the same passage sound completely different.

I always presumed they were the male equivalent of the Barbara Cartland romances some females enjoy.I suppose some westerns are of that type, but not all, by any means. Upthread a couple of posters mentioned Robert Duvall as Gus McCrae in the adaptation of Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove -- that novel won the Pulitzer. An earlier McMurtry novel, Horseman, Pass By, a modern western, was made into the film "Hud" with Paul Newman as the title character -- and my, my, Newman nailed the part! McMurtry has not only written novels with American West settings, he's adapted several of his own books for films, including The Last Picture Show, which of course is set in West Texas during the 1950s, though not a "western" if the genre is equated with cowboys, gunslingers, renegades, politically incorrect depictions of Native Americans, and saloon gals. And then there's the latest adaptation McMurtry co-wrote: Brokeback Mountain from Annie Proulx's short story. I have a major quibble about calling the guys in that film "cowboys" -- they ain't cowboys; they're sheepherders! Dummkopfs don't know the difference?

I'll mention below a few other well-known western films that are based on maybe not so well-known books of the western genre. I happen to have read all of them; but I realize that the western was out of vogue for many years, and generally treated condescendingly because, I think, Hollywood and pulp writers and undiscriminating readers have left the impression that you picked up on, Vee. Of course, I don't expect as many Britons as Americans to necessarily appreciate the "western" novel, but I have to tell you that I know at least a couple of Britons that are mad for John Ford films and Louis L'Amour novels. :-)

Anyway, here's my list:
"Little Big Man" from Thomas Berger's novel of the same title (I can't imagine anyone but Dustin Hoffman as Jack Crabb!)
"The Ox-Bow Incident" from Walter van Tilburg Clark's novel (excellent novel that probably got run into the ground because it was at one time required reading in many U.S. secondary schools.)
McCabe by Edmund Naughton inspired "McCabe and Mrs. Miller," and Warren Beatty surprised the heck out of me as McCabe and Julie Christie is perfect as Constance Miller.
True Grit by Charles Portis, if anything, in my opinion, is better and funnier than the film with John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn. Some reviewer at Amazon calls it sui generis and it is!
Portis also wrote The Dog of the South -- although I don't think that one has been filmed, and the humor is so darned quirky I'm not sure it would appeal to many who aren't steeped in a certain style of American-southern humor. It's not a western, anyway, but I mentioned it because I read it and True Grit about the same time and the two are practically fraternal twins in my mind.
"The Outlaw Josey Wales" is adapted from Forrest Carter's novel of the same title. Clint Eastwood...sometimes he just fit a part so well and this was one of...

Wow! Thank you Frieda. It seems there is a whole genre of novel out there that I am totally unfamilier with.
Actually I remember reading one 'Western', memorable in its unbelievable storyline.
You know the sort of thing . . .our anti-hero finds himself leading a party of small Mexican children, a pure white maiden, 3 nuns and a pregnant woman out of 'Indian Territory'. By chapter three he has been peppered with festering arrows wounds, has a broken arm, delivered healthy twins, and killed a tribe of Sioux. All this while falling in and out of consciousness as his only 'succour' has been swigs of fire water until he kills a goat which the nuns skin and cook.
By the last page they have reached the fly-blown fort, the cavalry ride out to kill the remaining Indians and our anti-hero makes passionate, sweaty love to the still beautifully unsullied female. He rides away we know not where . . . Fade to technicolour sunset.
You may remember the movie.

So from all the above books (or any similar) can Frieda, or anybody, please recommend ONE that I should read?

BTW over here we call the people that tend/guard sheep shepherds. They used to lead solitary lives, I don't know if any of them were gay but, as the saying goes, 'some of the sheep looked worried'.

Cindy, thanks for your question re the Globe - it has reminded me that I need to check out this summer's programme and book tickets rather urgently. My older teenage daughter found her love for Shakespeare at school, so we now try to go to the Globe at least once a year and have so far seen the Midsummer Night's Dream (superb), all female productions of the Taming Of The Shrew and Much Ado About Nothing (both hilariously uproariously funny) and Romeo And Juliet (middling to poor).

Apart from the fact that I have enjoyed the style of the Globe productions, they are also eminently affordable for a family of four. Well, I'm off to the Globe website now...

Vee, I don't know that you should read any western. They may not be your thing. But if you would like to give one a try, I would probably recommend McMurtry's Lonesome Dove first, because so many readers -- Americans and others -- have enjoyed both the novel and the miniseries based on it. You also might like Vanderhaeghe's The Englishman's Boy. If you want a feminine view, I think Nancy E. Turner's novel These is my Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1891-1901, Arizona Territories is very appealing. Or if you prefer nonfiction, Letters from a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart can help give you the feel of what it was like for a woman in Wyoming during the late nineteenth century and early-twentieth century.

Maybe the word shepherd seems a bit "dainty" in the American West -- bringing to mind Biblical pastoralists or a solitary soul on foot with his woollies in relatively small but lushly green fields of northern Europe. Sheepherder is more commonly used in the American West for the guy on a horse herding his charges on open range (hundreds of square acres...or miles), unless the speaker is feeling poetic or something, and then it's shepherd. Or it could be that sheepherder is one of those holdovers from Middle English often embedded in American speech.

I'm reviving this thread because I somehow managed to miss it when it was new.

I always think of George Baker as Inspector Wexford and Christopher Ravenscroft as his sidekick, Detective Inspector Burden, when I read the Wexford mysteries.

For me, Peter Ustinov was always Hercule Poirot, probably because he was the first Poirot I saw on the screen. But I must admit I have never seen David Suchet play the role.

For me, the ultimate Scarlet Pimpernel will always be Anthony Andrews. He made me fall in love with the character.

John Malkovich as the Vicomte du Valmont. I may change my mind after seeing Valmont, but somehow I doubt Colin Firth can match him in that role.

Maggie Smith as Miss Brodie. I saw the movie first, and kept seeing and hearing Smith while I was reading the book.

And one miscasting:
I never went to see CorelliÂs Mandolin because Nicolas Cage was so far away from my mental image of Cpt. Corelli that I couldnÂt imagine enjoying the movie.

Wanted to comment on various portrayals of the First Queen Elizabeth, now that I've seen Bette Davis in that role (1939 version "Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex"). IMO, Davis trumps all other portrayals as the temperamental, mercurial Queen. And she has the perfect "laid-jolie" demeanor of the aging monarch, in my view. Frieda, are you out there? What say you?

I really hated to see this thread drop off into oblivion....

Mary, I wonder how many films there have been about Queen Elizabeth? Do you remember one made in the early'70's with Vanessa Regrave as Mary Queen of Scots and Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth? Great scenery and locations but inaccurate historical content.
Glenda Jackson also played the title role in Elizabeth R in the BBC TV series made in about '72. Did that come to the US? Excellent script and very well acted.

Hmmm... now that you mention the Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, I'm wondering if I had The Virgin Queen and that movie confused. I remember seeing both of these, but it has been years, and I remember Bette Davis being remarkable as QE, but the two movies are blurred in my mind. It gets confusing when an actress has played a character more than once.

I haven't seen the Bette Davis version of Elizabeth so cannot compare it to others.
I own the Glenda Jackson 6-part BBC version and it is very good.
I also own the DVD of the Cate Blanchett version and went actually to a theatre 50 miles away to see it when it first came out. A friend and I went for the day-they showed the Elizabeth movie early, we went to lunch and came back the same day to see Shakespeare in Love, that has been quite a few years ago now, but I still enjoy both movies....IMO I don't think any one actress owns the part.

Vee wasn't there another more recent Elizabeth on BBC? I remember seeing something lately and thinking the actress was not suited to the part.

Pat

Surely Mandy Patinkin embodies Inigo Montoya.

Brenda

Oh my goodness yes! Loved that movie, and when I read the story, his face and voice join the text.

Mary, it's been too long since I've watched "Elizabeth and Essex" with Bette Davis and Errol Flynn. Thanks for reminding me of it! I will try to see it soon, and I'll let you know how I think Bette measures up. I like the way you describe Elizabeth and Davis's portrayal of her:Davis trumps all other portrayals as the temperamental, mercurial Queen. And she has the perfect "laid-jolie" demeanor of the aging monarch, in my view.

I adore Mandy Patinkin (especially as Avigdor in "Yentl" and as Alfred de Musset in "Impromptu" and as the Roy Cohn-type character in "The House on Carroll Street"), but I have to admit not knowing the character of Inigo Montoya. I looked him up at IMDb to find that he's in "The Princess Bride," which I've never seen, or read. But I recalled that my sons loved the film and asked one of them if they still have it. "Sure we do!" was the enthusiastic reply, and then I was given a recitation of favorite lines...particularly "Inconceivable!" that I've heard both boys use over and over but I never knew from where they picked it up. I may have to watch it, but I'm not really sure it's my sort of film -- I've never been big on fantasy.

Your sons know of what they speak! Its a fabulous movie, and a wonderful adaptation of the book. Its 'fantasy' in the way that all fairy tales are. Its filled with love, true love, kidnapping, attempted murder, swashbuckling and some delightful lines ('inconceivable' is usally followed by 'you know, you keep saying that word, and I don't think it means what you think it does...)This is a must see, a msut read. They you will know who Indigo Montoya.

Excellent movie, excellent book. And it includes the finest sword fighting scene of any movie ever filmed, in my not so humble opinion. You don't need to be big on fantasy to enjoy The Princess Bride.

Rosefolly

Pat, there was a ITV series about QE1 shown, I think last Autumn, but it was very unmemorable and had some 'soap actress' playing QE ( I didn't watch it)
Also another 2-parter with Helen Mirren and Jeremy Irons.
Did anyone remember that in the film Orlando the elderly Q E was played by Quentin Crisp?!
Let us not forget Miranda Richardson's very silly/funny QE in the Blackadder series.

Can someone please tell me why 'mini-series' are so called? We don't have that term over here (except as a US import)?

I completely agree, Mandy Patinkin is Inigo Montoya. I kept seeing him when I read the book.

The Princess Bride is a parody and even people who profess to hate fantasy usually end up loving it. It's also one of those movies that are better than the book.

>why 'mini-series' are so called? We don't have that term over here (except as a US import)?
They are not a season long program, its only 4 or 6 episodes. And I know you have them (if not the term) - I seem to remember several British series on our public tv station (Poldark is the only one that springs to mind, but I vaguely remember others). Unless these were Brit made for American consuption?

Before I had even heard of The Princess Bride, I was actually advised, in all seriousness, that, "If you read the book, make sure you just get the 'good parts' version..." Goldman did a great job hoodwinking a few readers.

And yes, Mandy Patinkin is definitely Montoya (and will make a great Dread Pirate Roberts). For me, Andre the Giant also defined Fezzik. I have quotes like, "Four horses... there are four of us... if we find the Lady..." running through my brain in his voice even as I type.

Thanks cindy re the mini-series. It was just the mini thing that confused me. Over here we never have series that run for a 'season'. The 'classic' stuff, such as 'P and P', 'Bleak House', 'The Forsyte Saga' or as you say 'Poldark' etc are usually 6 episodes of an hour each (it varies). These days the UK TV stations have the US market very firmly in mind with their 'big budget' productions often made with a US company (ie the US put up part of the money . .. the BBC make the show) and I understand that the episodes are made so 'advert breaks' can be inserted (BBC has NO adverts).
The BBC used to do far more 'one-off' plays although 'dumbing-down' seems to have seen the back of many of them. You will probably have seen many of them as Masterpiece Theater works.
I remember being rather confused with the 'Circle Theater' thing, firstly because it wasn't what I understood by the term 'theatre'. . .over here it always means a place where plays are shown . . . and secondly because many people talked about films/movies when I had seen them as TV productions, not at the cinema.
With time all became clear :-)

Patinkin spent months and months studying under a fencing master before filming THE PRINCESS BRIDE. Give me a Method actor who really gets into his roles!

Brenda

Leo McKern IS Horace Rumpole! :-)

I can't imagine any other actor as Renton in Trainspotting, but Ewan McGregor. The author of the book has written a sequel to the book, and director Danny Boyle says he wants to do a movie of it. Ewan McGregor has said he will not be in it... It will be interesting to see who will take the role.

When I read that Nicholas Cage was going to be Captain Corelli I couldn't believe how could they make such a miscasting. But, I have never been able to think of some actor that would the Captain Corelli that the book portraits.

I finally watched the Helen Mirren version of Elizabeth I yesterday (my DD had Tivo'd it for me) - it was really outstanding! The costumes alone were worth watching, the casting was superb, what great character actors the English theatre has!

This version concentrated more on the later years and Mirren was just beyond description-I certainly didn't find myself comparing her with previous actresses in the part-for those that have not seen it I highly recommend it! I just can't say enough about it-definitely 4 stars!

Pat

Pat, is this for rent in video stores, or was it from a TV program? I'd like to see it.

I still say no one can top Bette Davis....

Mary-it was on HBO which I don't get-as with everything else I am sure it will be available to rent-I will ck with Netflix to see if it is-or will be available soon.
BTW it was almost 4 hours long!

Pat

I found this site by accident, looking up the spelling of Andre Gromeko's name---what a pleasure!
My two cents are: Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter? Not if you 've read the books, I say. I don't think Daniel gets even close to the character that Rowling conceived. Nor does the child who plays Hermione. The Ron Weasley actor, though, I think is the best of the three.
Someone from England asked if we Americans notice the accent issues in movies. Remember Meryl Streep and Robert Redford in Out of Africa? Streep, as usual with her wonderful ear for accents, maintained her British personna throughout. Redford, on the other hand, started out with a semblance of an accent, but this deteriorated quickly until he just seemed to sort of give up, and just spoke pure American.
If you want to hear an amazing accent, watch Tommorow, a movie starring Robert Duvall. He takes on a backwoods accent and voice that are just astonishing.
I agree with those who say that watching the movie after reading the book can be disappointing. Now and then, there are some movie makers who captured the real nature and tone and voice of the book, and even if they have to cut a lot, it doesn't lose the feel of the book. One such, I think, was Prince of Tides. The movie left out probably 2/3s of the book, and Barbra Streisand, with her self-beloved long fingernails, wasn't the ideal psychiatrist. But nevertheless, the movie, i thought, captured the tone of the book very well.
I agree that Glenda JAckson was one of the best Queen Elizabehts, and that Maggie Smith absolutely is Miss Brodie.
Also that Richard Harris was a wonderful Professor Dumbledore, while Michael Gambon--who is a terrific actor; see The Singing Detective and The Butcher, the Thief, His Wife and her Lover--is just not the kindly, deep, thoughtful Dumbledore at all. Another case of one wondering What the Director Was Thinking.