Deborah Moggach Movies
One of the most powerful, personal accounts of World War II ever recorded, The Diary of Anne Frank is adapted for the BBC by director Jon Jones and screenwriter Deborah Moggach. A German-born girl of Jewish descent whose family relocated to Amsterdam in 1933, Frank and her family hid out in her father's office during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, surviving for two years under cramped, crowded living conditions and relying on the kindness of others for basic living needs. During that time, the young girl eloquently documented her harrowing experiences in a diary purchased for her by her father, Otto. When the war was over, Otto was the sole surviving member of the Frank family. Returning to the space where they spent two of their darkest years, he discovered his daughter Anne's diary and decided to share it with the world. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ellie Kendrick
Jane Austen's perennially popular story of the game of love among the British upper classes returns to the screen in this polished film adaptation. The Bennets (Brenda Blethyn and Donald Sutherland) are the parents of five daughters near the close of the 18th century. Comfortable within their means but well short of rich, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet are looking for suitable husbands for their girls, and they are encouraged to learn that an eligible young bachelor from a wealthy family, Charles Bingley (Simon Woods), has moved into a nearby estate. Eager to see if a match can be made, the Bennets bring their daughters Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) and Jane (Rosamund Pike) to a ball thrown by their new neighbor to see if sparks will fly. Jane seems to like Charles, and he appears to feel the same, but Elizabeth takes an immediate dislike to Darcy (Matthew MacFadyen), Charles' egocentric best friend. While Elizabeth is infatuated with military man Lt. Wickham (Rupert Friend) and finds herself courted by William Collins (Tom Hollander), a well-meaning but drab man of the cloth, fate causes Elizabeth and Darcy to frequently cross paths, and while they don't care for one another, they can't stop thinking about each other, either. Pride & Prejudice also stars Jena Malone, Judi Dench, and Penelope Wilton. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Keira Knightley, Matthew MacFadyen, (more)
The first British TV version of Nancy Mitford's autobiographical novel Love in a Cold Climate was telecast in seven hour-long installments in 1980. This 2001 version attempted to crystallize Mitford's long and labyrinthine narrative into a mere 150 minutes, and for the most part it succeeded. Set during the period from 1929 to 1940, the story (which also incorporates elements of another Mitford novel, The Pursuit of Love) largely takes place in an English country estate presided over by Matthew Radlett (Alan Bates), for whom the word "eccentric" must have been coined. When she isn't being "hunted" by her zany uncle for sport, Matthew's niece Fanny (Rosamund Pike), who serves as narrator, looks on compassionately while her cousin Linda (Elisabeth Dermot-Walsh) and her friend Polly (Megan Dodds) desperately seek out worthwhile and decent husbands, only to be thwarted at every turn by deceitful, duplicitous, dissolute, disagreeable, and otherwise unsuitable young swains. First telecast by the BBC on February 4, 2001, Love in a Cold Climate was shown in America as a two-part installment of PBS's Masterpiece Theatre on February 11 and 18, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Bates, Rosamund Pike, (more)
- 1998
The lives of the Prices, a middle-class British couple, were thrown into disarray the moment that they won an expensive car in a raffle. Written up in a front-page newspaper story, Morris and Val Price (David Suchet, Geraldine James) were touted as a classic example of the old "rags-to-riches" story. Unfortunately, the newspaper item attracted the attention of a group of would-be criminals, and as a result, the Prices' 17-year-old daughter was kidnapped. Surprisingly, the three-part miniseries See Saw was just as sympathetic to the crooks' point of view as it was to the anguished parents, making this 1998 ITV offering all the more compelling. The program was adapted by Deborah Moggach from her own novel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
The six-part British drama series To Have and to Hold starred the versatile Amanda Redman as Viv. In order to make the dreams of her barren sister Ann (Marion Bailey) come true, Viv agrees to act as surrogate mother for Ann's baby. This act of largesse serves only to tear apart the family of the two siblings. Written by Deborah Moggach, To Have and to Hold was seen over ITV's London Weekend Television service in 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
