Antonia Pemberton Movies
Based on Quentin Crisp's autobiography, the once-controversial picture The Naked Civil Servant stars John Hurt as Crisp, a flamboyant character who publicly declared his homosexuality during the brutally homophobic and misogynistic England of the 1930s and '40s -- a time when this alternative lifestyle was still an offense punishable by imprisonment in Great Britain. (The man dyed his hair and wore makeup in an era when women were looked on with disapproval for such behavior!) Director Jack Gold handles the material with taste, discretion, and a generous supply of humor; it thus might seem bizarre to a contemporary viewer that anyone could be offended by this, but remember that the world was a different place in 1975. More than a few PBS subscribers threatened to yank their support when this British TV film was first offered to American viewers in the spring of that year. Fortunately, many others were willing to see beyond the film's controversial subject matter and revel in the excellence of the production and its participants; one of the film's biggest and most influential fans was none other than Milton Berle. Carl Davis, best known for his symphonic silent-movie restoration scores, composed the music. Hurt drew equal controversy later that same year for his work in another British drama-turned-PBS special -- when he played the psychotic Caligula in Herbert Wise's epic miniseries I, Claudius. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Hurt, Patricia Hodge, (more)
- 1980
Alec Guinness stars as an elderly Brit who takes in his poor New Yorker grandson (Ricky Schroeder) in this made-for-TV modern-day retelling of Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
A Passage to India, director David Lean's final film (for which he also received editing credit), breaks no new ground cinematically, but remains an exquisitely assembled harkback to such earlier Lean epics as Doctor Zhivago and Ryan's Daughter. Based on the novel by E. M. Forster, the film is set in colonial India in 1924. Adela Quested (Judy Davis), a sheltered, well-educated British woman, arrives in the town of Chandrapore, where she hopes to experience "the real India". Here she meets and befriends Dr. Aziz (Victor Banerjee), who, despite longstanding racial and social taboos, moves with relative ease and freedom amongst highborn British circles. Feeling comfortable with Adela, Aziz invites her to accompany him on a visit to the Marabar caves. Adela has previously exhibited bizarre, almost mystical behavior during other ventures into the Indian wilderness: this time, she emerges from the caves showing signs of injury and ill usage. To Aziz' horror, he is accused by Adela of raping her. Typically, the British ruling class rallies to Adela's defense, virtually convicting Aziz before the trial ever begins. Though he is eventually acquitted due to lack of evidence (in fact, director Lean never shows us what really happened), Aziz is ruined in the eyes of both the British and his own people-as is Adela. Woven into these proceedings is a subplot involving Adela's elderly travelling companion Mrs. Moore (Peggy Ashcroft), who through a series of plot twists too complex to describe here becomes a heroine of the Indian Independence movement. A Passage to India was nominated for several Academy Awards, scoring wins in the categories of Best Supporting Actress (Peggy Ashcroft) and Best Original Score (Maurice Jarre). A theatrical version of A Passage to India, written by Santha Rama Rau, was previously adapted for television by the BBC in the mid-1970s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judy Davis, Victor Banerjee, (more)
- 1984
This enjoyable romantic comedy-drama is about Stephan (Michael Maloney), an aspiring sci-fi writer who teaches English to a class of often amusing foreigners. On a field trip with his class one day Stephan goes by the house of his hero, Evan Gorley-Peters (Robert Urquhart), a celebrated sci-fi writer. Intrigued by the sight of the writer's attractive daughter Natasha (Suzanne Burden) out horseback riding, Stephan finagles a way to meet her and get invited to lunch with her and her father. As events unfold, Natasha starts to fall for the charming English teacher, but the big question is whether he is using her to get to her father, or not. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Suzanne Burden, Robert Urquhart, (more)
Based on a novel by Catherine Heath, the four-part British miniseries Behaving Badly starred Judi Dench as Bridget, a typically dutiful upper middle-class wife and mother. Upon learning that her husband is a philanderer, Bridget is shocked but willing to forgive. But when hubby walks out, she decides to kick over the traces and have some fun of her own, which -- in time-honored "double standard" fashion -- thoroughly scandalizes her family and friends. Behaving Badly first aired in 1988 over Britain's Channel 4. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judi Dench, Douglas Hodge, (more)
