Lillie: 4 Volume Gift Boxed Set (1979) Review

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(More customer reviews)Quite simply, one of the best BBC Classic TV Miniseries ever produced. Filmed in 1978 and to be released in a four-disc DVD set, the miniseries stars the brilliant Francesca Annis (Tommy and Tuppence, etc.) as Lillie Langtry, one of the most famous and infamous courtesans/ladies of the Victorian age.
In an era when women were to be seen and not heard, the unforgettable Lillie broke every taboo without a backward glance. The series chronicles her long life, and in so doing presents one of the best portraits of Victorian England ever filmed.
We watch Lillie as a young tomboy, grow to an awkward adolescent, a stunning woman, and a beautiful old woman. Each stage of her life is portrayed perfectly by Annis, the makeup transforming her body while her awesome talent transforms her character development as Lillie.
Lillie is one-of-a-kind, a calculating woman of immense presence, grace and substance. Unfortunately, she becomes trapped in a loveless marriage, but she devises her own way to cope.
Taking full advantage of her beauty, Lillie deliberately attracts as many as a dozen lovers and admirers including the married Prince of Wales and notorious Oscar Wilde.
As her husband slowly drinks himself to death, she relies on her looks, wiles and self-assurance in the London Society of the 1870s to embark upon a sensational career as a marginally talented actress.
With guile, Lillie creates a truly unique life of the courtesan, eventually gaining prestige by going on the stage and touring America many times over.
Throughout her life she endures financial ruin and scandal, yet maintains her celebrated lifestyle. Because Lillie lives to be a very old woman, viewers are given an honest glimpse of the Victoria Era through the span of her life.
As with every BBC miniseries dealing with period stories, the acting, staging, filming and music is all well above top notch.

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Lillie (1978) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Quite simply, one of the best BBC Classic TV Miniseries ever produced. Filmed in 1978 and to be released in a four-disc DVD set, the miniseries stars the brilliant Francesca Annis (Tommy and Tuppence, etc.) as Lillie Langtry, one of the most famous and infamous courtesans/ladies of the Victorian age.
In an era when women were to be seen and not heard, the unforgettable Lillie broke every taboo without a backward glance. The series chronicles her long life, and in so doing presents one of the best portraits of Victorian England ever filmed.
We watch Lillie as a young tomboy, grow to an awkward adolescent, a stunning woman, and a beautiful old woman. Each stage of her life is portrayed perfectly by Annis, the makeup transforming her body while her awesome talent transforms her character development as Lillie.
Lillie is one-of-a-kind, a calculating woman of immense presence, grace and substance. Unfortunately, she becomes trapped in a loveless marriage, but she devises her own way to cope.
Taking full advantage of her beauty, Lillie deliberately attracts as many as a dozen lovers and admirers including the married Prince of Wales and notorious Oscar Wilde.
As her husband slowly drinks himself to death, she relies on her looks, wiles and self-assurance in the London Society of the 1870s to embark upon a sensational career as a marginally talented actress.
With guile, Lillie creates a truly unique life of the courtesan, eventually gaining prestige by going on the stage and touring America many times over.
Throughout her life she endures financial ruin and scandal, yet maintains her celebrated lifestyle. Because Lillie lives to be a very old woman, viewers are given an honest glimpse of the Victoria Era through the span of her life.
As with every BBC miniseries dealing with period stories, the acting, staging, filming and music is all well above top notch.

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As seen on Masterpiece Theatre "Sparkling" -The Washington Post "Captivating" -The New York Times Walt Whitman called Lillie Langtry "the essence of poetry." James Whistler confessed that even he couldn't capture her beauty in a painting. And George Bernard Shaw declared her "intelligent, daring, and independent." In a BAFTA-winning performance hailed by critics, the incandescently beautiful Francesca Annis (Madame Bovary, Reckless, The Libertine) portrays the acclaimed British actress and courtesan from the blush of youth to the blight of old age.At a time when society expected women to be docile and demure, Lillie posed for celebrity endorsements, conducted her own business affairs, and paid her first husband to keep his distance. Even more scandalously, she openly entertained a string of lovers among Europe’s elite, including the very married Prince of Wales-all while managing to win the respect and admiration of his wife. With its splendid cast and exquisite production elements, Lillie vividly captures the complex woman who became one of the most infamous figures of the Victorian age.DVD SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE essay about Lillie Langtry's impact on pop culture and cast filmographies.

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The Buccaneers (1995) Review

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(More customer reviews)My sister and I adore this mini-series which was shown in Masterpiece Theater many years ago. Anyone who enjoys turn-of-the-century films such as The Age of Innocence, House of Mirth, The Golden Bowl, A Room With A View and Howard's End or stories of the Astors and Vanderbilts will find themselves enraptured with this tale of 4 beautiful American women who find themselves being courted by sons of the British nobility.
In the center of the story are Nan (Carla Gugino) and Virginia St. George (Alison Eliott), and their friends Conchita Closson (Mira Sorvino) and Lizzy Elmsworth (Rya Kihlstedt) - four young women living in turn-of-the-century America, when social status and wealth were the most important considerations in a woman's life (these were the days of the Astors and Vanderbilts, after all). Early in the story we find Conchita married to Lord Marable and begins her new life with the English nobility. Spurned in Newport and New York social circles because they are considered "new money," Nan, Virginia and Lizzy travel to England to visit Conchita and hopefully try their luck there. With the help of 2 enterprising older women, they soon become the toast of the town and are courted by many handsome, wealthy young men. Virginia and Lizzy vie for the attentions of Lord Seadown (Mark Tandy) who is not quite what he seems. Nan is pursued by the humble but ambitious Guy Thwaite (Greg Wise from "Sense and Sensibility") and the wealthy and reserved Julius, the Duke of Trevenick (James Frain).
The mini-series offers beautiful scenery and costumes, great acting from members of the cast (including veterans Cherie Lunghi, Jenny Agutter, Michael Kitchen and Rosemary Leach) and a thoroughly engaging story. I loved the fantastic mansions, palaces and castles in Newport and England alike and the wonderful intertwining of the American and British sensibilities in the plot. It has "one foot in America and another foot in England," as Masterpiece Theater narrator Russell Baker aptly explains. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys top-notch romance/drama!

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Deemed nouveau riche and shunned by elitist New York society, sisters Nan and Virginia St. George, along with their friends Lizzy Elmsworth and Conchita Closson (Academy Award winner Mira Sorvino), try their luck in London. The girls' New World spontaneity and impertinence constitute nothing less than a social invasion of Old World society and they soon find themselves courted by a coterie of fascinated admirers. But as the old and new worlds come to clash, something has to give.

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