I would enjoy seeing this when it comes our way. No, I did not read the book. Shame on me, perhaps; but I simply cannot endure books written in the present tense. It irritates me beyond description. A well done performance will allow me to experience in part this book I have heard so much about.

Thanks for the review.

Rosefolly

I could not get through the book. I might, however, enjoy watching the screen version when I can access it.

I very much enjoyed the first episode, as did the rest of our family. Beautifully acted. I'm re-reading Wolf Hall - I seem to be going at just about the same rate as the show.

My daughter reckons it's Tudor House Of Cards - I quite like that description!

Are the scenes visible? I have dumped watching some shows, "Midsummer Murders" in particular because of the poor lighting.

Ann, while watching I hadn't realised the lighting was natural but didn't have any trouble with the 'darker' scenes, possibly helped by a new flat screen TV.
The only slight thing I might take issue with is that the buildings standing in for London town houses, albeit very grand places, were surrounded by so much 'openness'. Almost no people/animals to be seen in the background. I'm sure all cities were crowded and full of teeming streets with lots of shouting and activity going on. Perhaps the producers couldn't afford to hire rent-a-mob.

Vee, I agree with the crowded streets and was impressed by one of the "Emma"s I watched which included that kind of authentic background.
I too have a flat screen TV but am often annoyed by having to peer so that I can follow scenes shot in the dark. If it gets too irritating I have to dump the show.
I enjoy the "Death in Paradise" series as it is so brightly lit!

I saw the first tease for Wolf Hall yesterday on PBS, but I don't remember when they said it would start.

I was happy to see that PBS is again showing A Jewel in the Crown. I managed to miss most of it back in, I believe, the 70's when it was first shown, and I have read all of Paul Scott's books, The Raj Quartet. The first two hour segment was on yesterday afternoon.

Oh no - I missed The Raj Quartet rerun? Darn it. I've been wanting to see this, and hadn't checked the PBS schedule. Rats. My fault completely, but perhaps it's on-line somewhere.

DH and I are enthralled with this season of "Downton Abbey" (soap opera as it is). I'm pretty sure that Dave is the only police officer to be watching this in this city, so not much water-cooler catch-up for him, I'm afraid. We have to do it over supper as no one at my work watches it either!

Lemonhead, we haven't had The Raj Quartet in my area either. I did watch it the first time but would like to see it again. Maybe we will get it later.

Looks as though we're going to see it on Masterpiece Theater later this spring.

The Jewel in the Crown was certainly an excellent series; over 30 years now since it was first shown.

Lots of anniversary 'events' coming up/already happening and being shown on TV here.

Commemorations of the seventy years since the liberation of Auschwitz by the Russians and heart rending footage and interviews with the survivors.
The fiftieth anniversary of the death of Winston Churchill. Remembering his funeral, the most moving thing for me at the time were the pictures/film of all the cranes being 'dipped' as the coffin was carried down the Thames. This was not an official part of the ceremony but just something organised among the crane-operators/dockers themselves.
The whole Churchill 'debate' has brought various naysayers out of the woodwork to complain that he was not up to much . . . probably the same intellectuals who taught my DD at University that Hitler was not such a bad chap ;-(
Looking back at Magna Carta (1215) has brought some interesting and informative progs to the TV. One by Prof David Starkey will probably wend its way over the Pond. He shows how important the document became, not just for English 'freemen' but for the American Constitution and wonders where we are all going today what with Guantanamo Bay in the US and Govt powers in the UK to constrain possible terrorists.

No doubt the Battle of Waterloo (1815) will get a mention later.

And as a footnote.
When the elderly Churchill was discussing his funeral plans with whoever makes these arrangements over here, he 'suggested', on hearing that his old sparing partner General de Gaulle would be a guest, that rather than take his coffin from Paddington Station to his final resting-place near Blenheim, the train would leave from Waterloo Station; which it did ;-)

Vee, re Magna Carta, my Spanish professor in college who was a Cuban refugee, got sidetracked one class period on the differences between North and South America. He said that the Spanish explorers were so intent on looking for gold that they didn't care about the land, while the English settlers came for adventure and/or a better life either as younger sons or for more religious freedom, bringing with them their beliefs of freedom from interference by the government from the time of Magna Carta. The strong differences grew between the views of colonialization, riches, and class division and those of an Englishman's home being his castle and land ownership for whoever would clear it because there wasn't any gold in the first colonies.

He was also in favor of our former universal draft, saying that if every man served his two years in the Armed Services that made him loyal to the country as a whole; but in Latin American countries the generals commanded their own armies, thus making the soldiers loyal to their generals and consequently making coups easier.

I may not be explaining it very well, but it was a very interesting discussion and one that I have never forgotten--unlike the Spanish I was supposed to be learning.

Oh, and by the way, my sister and I saw the copy of Magna Carta in Salisbury Cathedral last fall.

I note that the Australian author Colleen McCullough has died. She will be remembered for "The Thorn Birds" which was made into a TV series. It may have been shown in the US and the UK.

Ann, I enjoyed the book The Thorn Birds and to a lesser extent the TV series. I remember the 'flock' of about seven sheep herded in front of the camera every few minutes for outback atmosphere.
Didn't you feel that C McC's books varied widely; some really enjoyable others rather mawkish eg Tim?

Carolyn, interesting about Magna Carta and the difference in the colonisation between N and S America. We don't 'do' much S American history over here, so just learn about the powerful and gold-mad conquistadors aided by zealot Jesuits in subjugating the native peoples.
I suppose the early settles to N America were not soldiers, more 'family men' and farmers; plus the God-fearing leaders in New England. Perhaps if the prospect of gold had been there a much less disciplined society would have resulted rather like the lawless 'Old West'.
I think the original Magna Carta was about curtailing the power of the King to make sure he could never be 'above the Law', rather than the 'Government' . . .of which there was little then, other than what the barons decided. Apparently within weeks King John had appealed to the Pope and had it overturned. But, as they say 'the seed was sown' and the provisions of M C became the 'blue-print' for democratic thought and protected free men . . no women or slaves were considered!

Vee, I don't recall that I have ever read any of McCullough's books. I can't remember watching "Thorn Birds" either but it was a long time ago! What did I have for breakfast this morning? :-)

I think I was too busy in the seventies and eighties to have much time for reading even though I was working in libraries then!

Very interesting about the Magna Carta. Just now in my course on the American West, we are studying the influence of the Spanish upon the Southwest (what is now New Mexico, Arizona, and California). The Spanish were more militant in their Catholic outlook when they were in the Americas in the 1500's because they had had to deal with the Moors within their own borders in Spain. The fall of Granada, the last Moorish stronghold, in 1492 is a key date. Thereafter, Ferdinand and Isabella decreed that both Jews and Moors in were to convert to Catholicism or be kicked out.

They carried on this militant attitude into the Americas when they exploited the Natives and felt that their "mission" was to convert the tribes. Also, Spain had been the home of the Inquisition. It was the victory of the Spanish Armada under Queen Elizabeth I that placed the English in a superior position to proceed with the exploration of the New World, when all were looking for a passage to Asia. Both nations, however, considered Native peoples of the New World as inferior to themselves.

I can't wait to see Wolf Hall. I loved the book and have only heard good things about the TV series.
Interestingly, I don't mind books in the present tense, but can't abide TV documentaries that do it. I stopped watching a Starkey one on the Tudors (I think) because the constant telling in the present tense annoyed me so much.
'Henry is angry and decides to lop her head off.'
No thanks.

Interesting about the Spanish Armada, to some extent the English fleet was helped by the weather/wind showing God to be Protestant not Catholic (as some simple folk really believed) Over here we just learn that after the defeat, England no longer feared invasion by the Spanish or the reign of religious terror that might have followed. It did allow adventurers such as Francis Drake to do some big-time plundering of Spanish treasure ships and relieve Philip II of a vast fortune.
Mary, from your classes do you know if many 'ordinary' Spanish or Portuguese went out to Central and South America as colonists . . . in the way so many English and later Europeans did to N America?

Vee, from my classes, I gather it was not the ordinary Spanish and Portuguese who went at first as explorers to the New World, the Americas. Instead it was those who were inclined to the military life style. Often they were sons of noble families, who had a little money. Some of the Spanish explorers in the Southwest financed their own expeditions. Columbus had inherited some money and used it in his expeditions, for example.I'm now speaking of the early days of exploration. Later, of course "ordinary" folk, commoners came to settle in.

I've just been reading about the horse and when it was introduced to North America. (There had been an early horse in the New World that had died out in ancient times.) It was the Spanish who settled Mexico (New Spain) who introduced the horse to the Native American peoples. Some of the nomadic tribes made good use of the horse in their pursuit of bison, and warfare amongst the various tribes increased upon the introduction of the horse to the natives.The introduction of the horse took place circa 1680.

For Alice fans we recently watched an interesting programme 'celebrating' 150 years since the publication of 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' and the life of Lewis Carroll. As a child I found much of the story both scary and very confusing, but according to the TV it was the first children's book without a high moral/improving tone and showing Alice as feisty, questioning and inquisitive.
As to the sexual proclivities of Carroll, maybe the jury is still out. It was suggested that he was possibly more interested in Alice's older sister and certainly a couple of the photos he took of her are far more 'adult' than would now be considered acceptable.

Vee, perceptions do change seen with modern eyes, certainly. On reading "Vanity Fair" again, Dobbin appears to be a stalker, the way he watches Amelia and George!

The 'Mail' Didn't Enjoy It!
The BBC with HBO have just 'aired' the first of three part of J K Rowling's adult book "The Casual Vacancy". I haven't read the book (and am probably the only person in the world not to have read the HP series either) but this sure isn't suitable for the kiddies.
The bits I managed to watch were full of down-trodden 'Council Estate' (ie social housing) people with drug, sex problems and using language that would make a parrot blush. The 'toffs' were all equally stereotypical; money grabbing, only interested in climbing their own greasy pole etc. plus scenes of 'lost' teenagers' doing drugs and sex.
Apparently parts of the story have had to be 'toned-down' to make it less grim than the book . . . my goodness what was the original like?
It was filmed amid beautiful Cotswold scenery, I suppose to add contrast to the lives of the down-trodden have-nots. In real life that part of the country is SO expensive all the 'poor' will have been moved on and their houses done-up and sold for millions.
If it ever makes the journey across the Pond much of the script will have to be bleeped out and the strange 'rural accents' will need sub-titles so that it might not be worth the watch!

Why does the link come up at the top rather than the bottom? Have I done something wrong?

Trying to bring this up, it got 'stuck' earlier this morning.

I recently found that there was a remake of "The Franchise Affair" so have ordered the DVD through a specialist supplier. I have read the book and saw the film many years ago. Splendid stuff!

Ann, I think you will find the earlier 1951 film of 'The Franchise Affair' the better of the two; the one with very English matinee idol Michael Denison playing the lead.
BTW many years ago I was at College with his nephew Nigel (equally if not more beautiful) who invited the great man to give a talk to the students. Can't remember anything about what he said, but certainly good to look at and with a wonderful 'speaking voice' . . . as the expression was then.

Oh, I remember those handsome matinee idol looks and the looks and voices of those other idols too.
Stewart Granger was a great favourite of mine.
Interestingly, the first "Franchise" has been reissued by a production company, I was told, so is no longer carried by the specialist supplier.
I hope to receive my later edition soon to compare it. I remember the first one quite well as I have seen it since 1951.

Ann I watched part of the 1951 version on Youtube earlier and read a report from the New York Times written when the film had been 'up' for some sort of award saying it was all talk and no action and that endless cups of tea were drunk . . . I think they rather missed the point of the 'running joke' (no pun intended) of all the tea.

I'm not sure if I ever saw the 1951 film of "The Franchise Affair," but I probably did since Michael Denison was in it. He was one of my mother's favorite English actors. Others she regularly swooned over were Leslie Howard and Trevor Howard -- were they related? I watched the films with these actors, trying to figure out what mama saw in them that I didn't. I recognized well enough that they were good actors, but I had to conclude that tastes had changed regarding looks between my mother's generation and mine.

My own favorite English actors -- the ones that made me swoon -- were born in the 1930s and '40s: Alan Bates, Michael York, Oliver Reed, etc. None of these actors were especially pretty in the matinee idol sort of way, but they were mesmerizing on screen to me and to many others of my age. However, I think Simon Ward was one of the handsomest ever English actors when he was young (I'm thinking of him as the Duke of Buckingham in Richard Lester's "The Three Musketeers").

At any rate, I did see another version of "The Franchise Affair." I'm thinking it was in the 1990s. but all I can find at IMDb is mention of a TV series with six episodes. I think what I saw was on a single cassette, and not a particular long one at that, because it kept my attention for the whole time I watched it -- I thought it was that good. Anything longer would have had me taking several breaks or climbing the walls. Btw, "Franchise" is my favorite of Tey's books; I like it even better than "The Daughter of Time" which gets a lot more attention, usually. I didn't find out until years after I read it -- probably from someone here at RP -- that Tey had based "Franchise" on an infamous real case that happened in the 18th or 19th century.

I've never seen "The Franchise Affair." Have I missed a great classic?

I think the older generation of actors were far more sexy than today's modern crop. They were heavy on charm. One of my favorite films is "Roman Holiday" with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. Now that was romantic! I also like the pairing of Grace Kelly and Cary Grant in "To Catch a Thief", set on the French Riviera. I think Stuart Granger (mentioned above) was in "Young Bess", about the youth of Queen Elizabeth I.

Frieda, I don't think the 'Howards' Leslie and Trevor were related and Trevor, certainly had a more 'lived-in' face than Leslie. Would Cary Grant or Gregory Peck fall into the 'matinee idol' role? I think David Niven might hit the spot, certainly for being suave and was wondering about some of those earlier French stars . . .reminded of them by an obit for Louis Jourdan (Three Coins in a Fountain, Gigi etc) who died a few days ago. Not much of an actor, but who could resist the accent!
Anymore non-hunky types come to mind?

What about Laurence Olivier? Some women adored his brooding looks as Heathcliff, especially his profile. I was never sure what the fuss was all about, but, yes, he was handsome in a saturnine way.

Cary Grant would certainly fill the bill, I think. He was handsome even as an old man! David Niven was witty enough, apparently both on- and off-screen. I never thought he was particularly good-looking, though, probably his style being out of fashion by the time I came along.

My mother just suggested Robert Donat, saying: "He was so fine!" I'll take her word for it because he didn't leave any great impression on me at all.

I can think of more American actors in the matinee idol category, because they were hired usually for their looks more than for their acting ability. As someone in Hollywood once said, "So what, if he can't act. He's got the look." Sadly, that was even more true of actresses.

I seem to recall that popular actors in my youth were rather typecast. There were the noble looking ones, so good at being heroic in war films and the ones with a touch of the devil!
Dirk Bogarde was one of my favourites and I went to see him in a play too.
Most of the British stars could act, having been trained for the stage.
Friedag, I saw a reference to a short version of "Franchise" when I was checking out the sites. Perhaps that was the one you viewed. I think it was about an hour long.

Ann, we used to love Dirk Bogarde when young and, as you say nearly all the UK 'film stars' had come up via the theatre as could really 'act'; still usually the case today.
Laurence Olivier seems to be somehow above the matinee idol 'rule'. He appears so over-stated. An enormous presence on the stage/screen, did all his own stunts (I saw him at Stratford in 'Pericles' swing from the scenery when well into his 50's), good looking etc.
John Gielgud, his contemporary, would fit the bill better I think.
Frieda, your Mother's choice of Robert Donat probably ticks all the boxes, although his career was shortish as it was blighted by illness. He had the most beautiful 'speaking voice', something that has gone right out of fashion these days and probably holds little importance for a US audience . . . or am I wrong?
Best remembered for 'The 39 Steps' and 'Goodbye Mr Chips'.

Robert Donat

I remember Dirk Bogarde, but primarily in films after he was older and past his heartthrob years. Who are some more of the actors with "a touch of the devil"? I probably liked/would like them more than the ones who seemed overrefined, as so many of the English actors of the 1930s and 1940s were, in my opinion.

As for the 'beauty of the speaking voice': Americans are not immune to a fine spoken delivery and are quite susceptible to an exotic accent, which is what an English or other British accent is to many of us. I recall being taken with James Mason's voice, and many Americans were/are unabashedly in awe of Welshmen Richard Burton's and Anthony Hopkins' voices. We don't usually rave much about American actors' speaking voices, though. Well, I say that and then immediately think of Marlon Brando.

No recommendations for English actors of the 1930-1950 era who played bad boys? I just remembered Richard Attenborough as Pinkie in "Brighton Rock."

Mama and I have been bantering on this subject of English matinee idols for a couple of days now. She recalls that Michael Redgrave had a following, although she's not sure if he met all the 'rules'. I'm rather vague on the rules myself. Basically, I've always thought they were the actors that mostly female fans flocked to see when these actors' names appeared on cinema billboards or they were shown in clips of 'coming attractions' shown before the afternoon 'featured presentation'.

I know this was a little later than the time we've been discussing, but I always enjoyed watching Albert Finney. I liked his looks when he was young, and I thought he was marvelously versatile, going from Arthur Seaton in "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning" to the eponymous "Tom Jones."

And Peter O'Toole! Mama and I agree that he made our hearts race.

Frieda, I saw Albert Finney as Luther sometime in the '60's, on the London stage, excellent performance.

I could comment on Michael Redgrave (many people have) as he spent several seasons on Stratford and many 'stories' went around the small town . .. but this being a respectable site, I wont.

Re English actors of the bad-boy variety of the '50 - 60's I can think of Michael Caine, Laurence Harvey, Richard Harris . . . you have already mentioned Burton, Bates and Reed . . . how about Peter Finch and (older) Errol Flynn? OK I know they were both originally from Aus. Of course some of them merely played baddy-types, others really were wild!

Lucky you, Vee, to have seen so many stage performances. I never had the opportunity even when I lived in London to see more than a handful. I was too busy and didn't run with the right crowd, apparently. The ones I did see were entirely forgettable.

Thanks, I hadn't thought of Caine, Harvey, Harris, and Finch. I always thought Harvey was such a super-serious actor that I was astonished and delighted when he did a striptease! in "The Magic Christian," that piece of insanity with Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr. I've heard about E. Flynn's wildness, but whatever it was that so many found appealing about him passed me right by.

Do you think English females and males have quite different views and opinions of films? I ask because I went out with two English fellas who did not want to watch British films when we were trying to make a decision on what pictures to see; they only wanted to see American movies starring the likes of Clint Eastwood, Charles Bronson, and George C. Scott. In fact, I had never heard of Bronson before this particular English boyfriend took me to see one of his films. I also saw "Patton" with this fella. He was so annoyed with the portrayal of Montgomery that it's the part I remember best. I asked both of these men why they didn't want to see English films? They both had basically the same answer but one was particularly succinct: "English actors are w__ers." Surely that attitude is no longer common, if indeed it was common back then.

Are there American actors and movies that you particularly like? I haven't seen you mention many/any, if you do. Some of my female English friends have said that American actors might be dream-worthy but they're just too inaccessible for them.

American movie stars? Surely as many good-lookers/eye candy as stars in the heavens. ;-) Are they all beef-cake? Maybe, but most of the big screen seems to be for looking-at rather than listening-to these days. I have a friend who used to swoon at George Peppard and I could have spent several minutes contemplating Paul Newman and Robert Redford . . . and these days George Clooney.

Frieda, your English boyfriends, back in the day, were probably 'into' all -action, knock'em down, blow'em up, hang-em high stuff . . . I think it is just a Universal 'bloke' thing which the Americans do best.

NB notice the italics. I wrote the usual <> . . .<> stuff and pressed 'submit' then pressed 'edit' and the italics appeared. Don't know if this will work every time!

Friedag, I had to rack my brains to recall a movie title I wanted to quote to you.

I was mentioning "touch of the devil" actors and recalled that some of the "good man" actors liked to play across type. Trevor Howard was in such a role in "Outcast of the Islands" (I knew it would come back to me!) and was acclaimed for his performance.

British stars enjoyed this kind of Saturnalia, the dramatic actress Margaret Lockwood "The Wicked Lady" played in a comedy "Cardboard Cavalier" as Nell Gwyn to the delight of her faithful fans.

Has anyone noticed the first few letters don't come up when typing in the comment box? I have had to go back to fill them in a few times.

Ann, no trouble with the fist few letters at my end.
Regarding 'a touch of the devil' I think James Mason would fit the bill . . . thinking of The Seventh Veil and similar 'noir' films of that period.
Below is The Upturned Glass; you know something nasty is going to happen as soon as JM appears on screen.

The Upturned Glass

Vee, the DVD of "The Franchise Affair" finally came in yesterday's post. It was a little blurred being a copy from old TV film stock, I think, but watchable.
I thought it was quite good and faithful to the book as I recall, apart from the ending on a train. I didn't like the music that was used as the background though. Rather jarring!
I think that the older film was in B/W which added to the mysterious atmosphere.

In both versions, the mother was well cast to portray a witchy type and the 50's atmosphere well created in the later production. All those queues for food!