Helen Mirren at the BBC (The Changeling / The Apple Cart / Caesar and Claretta / The Philanthropist / The Little Minister / The Country Wife / Blue Remembered Hills / Mrs. Reinhardt / Soft Targets)
by Anthony Page, Claude Whatham, Stuart Burge
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Alison Steadman, David Daker, Liz Smith, Nigel Hawthorne, Patricia LawrenceDirector: Anthony Page, Claude Whatham, Stuart Burge
Brand: Warner Brothers
Producer: Cedric Messina
Writer: Christopher Hampton
Writer: Sarah Pia Anderson
Writer: Thomas Middleton
Writer: William Rowley
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 811 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-02-19
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: BBC Worldwide
Product features:
- Helen Mirrens Oscar winning performance in The Queen and her Golden Globe winning performance in Elizabeth I are merely the capstones of an illustrious and distinguished 40 year career. Ever since she wowed theater audiences as a 20 year old at England s National Youth Theater, Mirren has brought a fresh and commanding presence to all her roles. New for the first time, BBC Video presents nine d
Movie Reviews of Helen Mirren at the BBC (The Changeling / The Apple Cart / Caesar and Claretta / The Philanthropist / The Little Minister / The Country Wife / Blue Remembered Hills / Mrs. Reinhardt / Soft Targets)
Movie Review: Differences between US and UK Versions
Summary: 5 Stars
In regard to the previous review by Donald J. Lloyd, this set is indeed offered differently in the US and the UK. Unfortunately, neither is a complete set. The US set (5 discs; 13 hours and 31 minutes; 9 titles) is missing:
A Midsummer Night's Dream (TV Movie Dec 13, 1981)
Cymbeline (TV Movie Dec 20, 1982)
The Hawk (Theatrical Movie released Dec 10, 1993)
all of which are in the UK set.
However, the UK set (6 discs; 17 hours; 11 titles) is missing:
Soft Targets (Oct 19, 1982 Episode of TV Series Play for Today)
Both sets contain:
The Changeling (Jan 20, 1974 Episode of TV Series Play of the Month)
The Apple Cart (Jan 19, 1975 Episode of TV Series Play of the Month)
Caesar and Claretta (TV Movie May 9, 1975)
The Philanthropist (TV Movie Oct 29, 1975)
The Little Minister (Nov 2, 1975 Episode of TV Series Play of the Month)
The Country Wife (Feb 13, 1977 Episode of TV Series Play of the Month)
Blue Remembered Hills (Jan 30, 1979 Episode of TV Series Play for Today)
Mrs. Reinhardt (Oct 30, 1981 Episode of TV Series BBC2 Playhouse)
The UK set may be ordered from Amazon.co.uk for about USD$60 plus shipping but it is PAL format, Region 2. A viewer in the US will need a multi-format, multi-region DVD player.
The only title currently available individually is The Hawk (VHS edition available at Amazon).
Helen Mirren is currently one of the most accomplished actors of the last 30 years. Anyone interested in her acting performances over the 20-year period of these titles will not be disappointed. It should be noted that an earlier 1968 Theatrical Movie of A Midsummer Night's Dream is also available separately at Amazon. This is an excellent production and, in addition to Helen Mirren, has performances by Diana Rigg, Judi Dench, Michael Jayston, Ian Holm and Ian Richardson.
More Helen Mirren at the BBC (The Changeling / The Apple Cart / Caesar and Claretta / The Philanthropist / The Little Minister / The Country Wife / Blue Remembered Hills / Mrs. Reinhardt / Soft Targets) reviews:
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Summary of Helen Mirren at the BBC (The Changeling / The Apple Cart / Caesar and Claretta / The Philanthropist / The Little Minister / The Country Wife / Blue Remembered Hills / Mrs. Reinhardt / Soft Targets)
HELEN MIRREN AT THE BBC - DVD MovieLong before The Queen, long before Prime Suspect's DCI Tennyson, Helen Mirren was honing her craft with a cast of literary characters on par with the great actresses of all time--all in teleplays for the British Broadcasting System. This boxed set is both a treasure trove of English language classics, well known and obscure, and a brilliant window into the building of the talent and career of Mirren, starting as a young, Gwyneth Paltrowesque ingénue. The five discs feature costume dramas from just about any period of English history imaginable. Teleplays include versions of The Changeling, The Apple Cart, Caesar and Claretta , The Philanthropist, The Little Minister, Miss Rhinehart, Soft Targets, and other, shorter presentations.
Among the gems are The Changeling, shot with lush production values and a leisurely, very British pace. Mirren is Joanna, a young lass already torn by love and commitment, and Mirren is riveting even as a cherubic youngster. ("I adore Jacobean tragedy," Mirren says of this play in the commentary--and who doesn't?) In Bernard Shaw's The Apple Cart Mirren doesn't appear until nearly an hour into the play, but is compelling as a wily mistress type: "You are as slippery as an eel," she tells her ne'er-do-well companion, "but you shall not slip through my fingers."
The set is as compelling for the appearances of other actors who costar with Mirren, including a young, tormented Ian Holm in Stephen Poliakoff's Soft Targets. Not to be missed are the interviews with Mirren, including Helen Mirren Remembers, which gives a great overview of the set, and how she grew into the splendid actress she later became. "You're going to be very exposed" in front of a camera, she says--and that's the true delight here for all Mirren fans. --A.T. Hurley
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