Sylvia Barter Movies
- 1993
- PG
- Add Shadowlands to Queue
This lavishly mounted adaptation of the play by William Nicholson tells the true story of the doomed love affair between novelist and noted Christian scholar C.S. Lewis and a Jewish-American poet. Anthony Hopkins stars as C.S. "Jack" Lewis, an Oxford professor and successful author of the Chronicles of Narnia series of children's fantasy novels. A confirmed bachelor, Jack's existence is an inward life of the mind. Somewhat detached from the world, his only social outlet is evenings out at a local pub discussing philosophy and religion with his fellow lecturers. Jack has been corresponding with a bluntly intelligent American woman, Joy Gresham (Debra Winger), who arrives to visit him, with her young son Douglas (Joseph Mazzello) in tow. She tells Jack that she has actually fled from an abusive marriage and plans to divorce, and Jack astonishes friends and family by agreeing to a platonic marriage with Joy so that she can obtain British citizenship. As their friendship deepens and Joy discovers that she has a terminal illness, the relationship between Joy and Jack becomes a genuine romance, and their marriage turns into a real commitment. Shadowlands (1993) had previously been filmed as a well-regarded British television movie in 1985 starring Joss Ackland as Lewis. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anthony Hopkins, Debra Winger, (more)
A wealthy, upper-class British widow marries a much younger Italian man with disastrous results in this turn-of-the-century costume drama based on the E.M. Forster novel. After marrying into a wealthy family and then losing her husband, middle-aged Lilia Herriton (Helen Mirren) suffers under the disapproving yoke of her haughty mother-in-law (Barbara Jefford). At the suggestion of family friend Caroline Abbott (Helena Bonham Carter), Lilia leaves her young daughter and in-laws for a holiday in Italy, where she falls in love with the penniless but handsome Gino Carella (Giovanni Guidelli). When she announces her plans to marry Gino, the family dispatches her brother-in-law, Philip (Rupert Graves), to prevent the union. But the alternately caddish and thoughtful Philip fails in his mission. Gino proves to be as charming to other women as he is to his wife, but he's genuinely bereaved when she dies in childbirth. Soon, Philip and his high-strung sister, Harriet (Judy Davis), arrive in Tuscany in an attempt to spirit away Lilia's son. But the principled Caroline turns up, determined to stop them, setting the stage for unexpected realizations and unforeseeable tragedy. Where Angels Fear to Tread reunites Bonham Carter and Graves, who co-starred in the previous E.M. Forster adaptation, A Room With a View. Each actor also starred in other Forster films: Bonham Carter in Howards End and Graves in Maurice. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
- Starring:
- Helena Bonham Carter, Judy Davis, (more)
- 1983
British filmmaker John Schlesinger directs Separate Tables, a made-for-cable TV version of the Terence Rattigan plays Table By the Window and Table Number Seven. This 50-minute adaptation features Julie Christie and Alan Bates, each in a dual role. Set in a sleepy British town, a group of residents hide out in a hotel during the off-season and try to forget their troubles. Things get upset when former model Ann Shankland (Julie Christie) comes to visit her alcoholic ex-husband John Malcolm (Alan Bates). He is a struggling writer secretly in love with the hotel's owner, Pat Cooper (Claire Bloom). Other residents of the hotel include the overbearing Mrs. Railton-Bell (Irene Worth), whose distrubed daughter Sibyl (Christie) is strangely attracted to Major Pollock (Bates), a man who claims to be a military officer. The feature-length version of Separate Tables was released theatrically in 1958, starring Burt Lancaster and Wendy Hiller. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
