Cryss Jean Healey Movies
- 1989
In her final film, celebrated British actress Peggy Ashcroft portrays one Lillian Huckle. Released from a mental institution after 60 years, Lillian is taken in her nephew (James Fox) and his somewhat trepidatious family. As they (and we) get to know Lillian better, the many social and emotional pressures that can drive a woman to insanity come to surface; worse, Lillian has always felt that she deserved her fate. Filmed in 1989, She's Been Away was telecast in the US on December 1, 1991 as a PBS Masterpiece Theatre presentation. At the end of this telecast, a tribute was offered to Peggy Ashcroft, who had died earlier that year at the age of 83. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peggy Ashcroft, Geraldine James, (more)
Lady Jane Grey, the 16-year-old girl who for nine days in the 16th century was Queen of England, is here portrayed by Helena Bonham Carter. Lady Jane Grey's sickly cousin, who becomes Edward VI upon the death of Henry VIII, is on the threshold of death himself. The Protestant powers-that-be, fearing that England will fall under Catholic rule, contrive to marry off Edward VI's most likely successor Lady Jane to the wastrelly Guilford Dudley (Cary Elwes), the future Duke of Suffolk. The dying Edward is coerced into naming Jane as his successor. Jane is forced to assume the throne, attempting to impose reforms on the corrupt Protestant government during her brief reign. A coup led by Jane's cousin Princess Mary (Jane Lapotaire) results in the ouster, and eventual execution, of Queen Jane and her consort. The story is told through anti-establishment themes; teen-agers Lady Jane and Guilford Dudley are seen as the only hope for a brighter future, making their deaths all the more tragic. An earlier version of the same story, Tudor Rose, was filmed in 1936. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helena Bonham Carter, Cary Elwes, (more)
