Prunella Scales Movies

The human face is what attracts and repels humans meeting other humans. This process is mysterious. This four-volume program from The Learning Channel investigates many aspects of the human face, from beauty to facial expression. John Cleese acts as narrator and host to a number of guests who discuss the power of the face. Skits and personal interviews highlight the points made in the production. The four episodes include Secrets of the Face, The Endlessly Fascinating Face, Does Beauty Matter?, and Famous Faces. In this episode, people with faces considered beautiful or ugly talk about the effect their faces have had on their lives and their interactions with other people. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide

The human face is what attracts and repels humans meeting other humans. This process is mysterious. This four-volume program from The Learning Channel investigates many aspects of the human face, from beauty to facial expression. John Cleese acts as narrator and host to a number of guests who discuss the power of the face. Skits and personal interviews highlight the points made in the production. The four episodes include Secrets of the Face, The Endlessly Fascinating Face, Does Beauty Matter?, and Famous Faces. This episode examines reading a face and its expressions and what one can learn about its owner. Case studies in stereotyping, victimization, and fame illustrate the importance of the face on the daily lives of humans. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide

The 13th feature-length episode of the British detective series Midsomer Murders, "Beyond the Grave" is set in motion by a mysterious act of vandalism at the Aspen Tallow museum. When a 17th century painting is slashed to pieces, the superstitious locals believe that the damage was the handiwork of one Jonathan Lowrie -- and never mind that he has been dead for centuries. Ultimately, a number of mysterious deaths occur, which some attribute to Lowrie but which DCI Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) believes are being committed by someone who is still very much alive. As he pursues his investigation, Tom is also pressed into service as a "technical advisor" for his daughter's actor-boyfriend (Ed Waters), who has been cast as a cop in a popular TV soap opera. "Beyond the Grave" was first telecast in the U.K. on February 5, 2000, and in the U.S. on April 8 of that same year. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Midsomer Murders: Death's Shadow features John Netters as Inspector Barnaby who investigates a popular stage director about a series of murders. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

This 5.7-million-dollar British comedy from writer/director Gary Sinyor satirizes the now-familiar Merchant-Ivory style of period dramas. So no one will miss the joke, the central setting is Ivory Hall, the Ivory family mansion in rural England. In 1908, young twit Edward Ivory (Samuel West) plans to match his bookwormish friend Cedric (Robert Portal) with his 22-year-old sister, Emily (Georgina Cates), and introduces the two at Ivory Hall. However, Emily is instead attracted to gamekeeper George (Sean Pertwee), the son of a peasant (Brian Glover). Emily's aunt Agnes Ivory (Prunella Scales), in favor of Cedric, suggests an Enchanted April-type excursion to Italy with George along as a servant. Eventually, Emily and George become a couple, but class differences are a barrier. When Aunt Agnes becomes bored with Italy and yearns to go "somewhere more English," the vacation party is off to India, where Agnes has her own romantic encounter with lecherous tea-planter Horace (Peter Ustinov). Other short satirical send-ups recall Chariots of Fire, Brideshead Revisited, Upstairs, Downstairs, The Shining, and Gandhi, while humorous references also are heard in the soundtrack of classical excerpts. Stiff Upper Lips was shown at the 1997 London Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

In this made-for-TV adaptation of Jane Austen's classic novel, Emma Woodhouse (Kate Beckinsale) is a clever young woman from a wealthy family who fancies herself a matchmaker and tries to find a husband for her shy friend Harriet (Samantha Morton). However, Emma's skills in bringing romances together are not all she imagines them to be, which causes no small annoyance for Harriet. What's more, Emma's interest in the affairs of others nearly causes her to miss out on the love of her life. This adaptation of Emma was first shown in the U.S. on the A&E cable network; it followed both Douglas McGrath's acclaimed film version starring Gwyneth Paltrow, and Amy Heckerling's considerably updated variation on the story, Clueless. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This British comedy anthology consisted of four short plays, each written by and starring Lee Evans in the zany tradition of Rowan Atkinson's Mr. Bean. The playlets placed Evans in a variety of universally recognizable situations, enabling him to gracefully (?) segue into visual and verbal slapstick. The first episode, telecast June 2, 1995, consisted of two 15-minute sketches: "The Late Shift" and "Meet the Folks." The remaining installments of The World of Lee Evans were made up of three half-hour plays: "Off the Rails," "One Late Night," and "Mr. Confidence." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Actor William Hurt delivers one of his most acclaimed performances in this drama from Oscar-winning cinematographer-turned-director Chris Menges. Hurt stars as Graham Holt, a repressed Welsh postmaster who lives a reclusive bachelor's existence with his suicidal father (Alfred Lynch), who is in failing health and is still grieving from the recent death of Graham's mother. Knowing that he'll soon be alone, Graham applies to adopt a troubled ten-year-old boy, James (Chris Cleary Miles), whose own painful history mirrors Graham's. Throughout the long adoption process, supervised by wisecracking social worker Debbie (Jane Horrocks), Graham struggles to win James' affection and respect during weekend visits, while the boy dreams of reconciliation with his father, John (Keith Allen), who is currently serving prison time. Graham's father dies, drawing Graham and James closer, and Graham begins to feel like a real father to James. But when John is released, he appears in town with the shocking news that he is afflicted with AIDS -- and cannot care for his son. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Jack Nicholson becomes a werewolf in this bizarre comedy-horror film directed by Mike Nichols. Nicholson plays Will Randall, a book editor with a testosterone deficit who has just been sacked at his publishing firm by a new boss, Raymond Alden (Christopher Plummer). A colleague, Stewart Swinton (James Spader), whom Randall thought was his friend, betrays him. Randall's personality changes after he hits a wolf with his car and gets bitten by the creature. He immediately feels more powerful, has heightened hearing and vision, and sets about to right the wrongs in his life. He visits Alden at the publisher's mansion to protest his dismissal, and he is asked to leave -- but Alden's daughter Laura (Michelle Pfeiffer) asks him to stay for lunch. Laura loves to defy her father. Will tells her about the wolf bite, and she becomes attracted to him. But because werewolves usually kill the ones they love, Laura is in danger. Will reasserts his place in the publishing world, supported by his loyal secretary Mary (Eileen Atkins), and his relationship with Laura deepens. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

James Fox stars as real-life British turncoat Anthony Blunt in A Question of Attribution. A highly respected art expert (he was Queen Elizabeth's personal art advisor), Blunt was also intimately involved in the Burgess-Maclean-Philby spy scandal of the 1950s. According to this 1992 adaptation of Alan Bennett's play, Blunt tipped his hand while restoring one of his precious Titians. John Schlesinger (Midnight Cowboy) directed this razor-sharp psychological melodrama. Originally produced for British television, the 90-minute A Question of Attribution premiered in the US on October 4, 1992, as part of PBS' Masterpiece Theatre. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of the best Ismail Merchant/James Ivory films, this adaptation of E. M. Forster's classic 1910 novel shows in careful detail the injuriously rigid British class consciousness of the early 20th century. The film's catalyst is "poor relation" Margaret Schlegel (Emma Thompson), who inherits part of the estate of Ruth Wilcox (Vanessa Redgrave), an upper-class woman whom she had befriended. The film's principal characters are divided by caste: aristocratic industrial Henry Wilcox (Anthony Hopkins); middle-echelon Margaret and her sister Helen (Helena Bonham Carter); and working-class clerk Leonard Bast (Sam West) and his wife (Nicola Duffett). The personal and social conflicts among these characters ultimately result in tragedy for Bast and disgrace for Wilcox, but the film's wider theme remains the need, in the words of the novel's famous epigram, to "only connect" with other people, despite boundaries of gender, class, or petty grievance. Filmed on a proudly modest budget, Howards End offers sets, spectacles, and costumes as lavish as in any historical epic. Nominated for 9 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director, the film took home awards for Thompson as Best Actress, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's adapted screenplay, and Luciana Arrighi's art direction. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide