Pere Goriot (1971) Reviews

Pere Goriot, Honore de Balzac's tragic novel about an old man who sacrificed all for the sake of a place in society, was adapted as a multipart British miniseries in early 1971. Michael Goodliffe played the title character, who squandered his money, his property, and ultimately his life in order to "buy a reputation" for his two daughters. The fly in the ointment was the sinister Vautrin (Andrew Keir), who coerced a gormless young law student (David Dundas) to commit a murder in order to win the hand of Goriot's eldest daughter. Pere Goriot was seen in the U.S. as part of PBS' Masterpiece Theatre anthology beginning June 13, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi