The Belle of Amherst Review

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(More customer reviews)This astonishing video performance of Julie Harris' one-woman show about poetess Emily Dickinson's life and work is a true tour-de-force. Ms. Harris' range of expression both physically and vocally evokes Emily Dickinson so precisely that one can hardly imagine that she ever looked or sounded any other way. The poems which are featured in this script are so deftly and subtly interwoven that the entire presentation feels seamless and eminently REAL. I am a Theatre Arts/Speech teacher at a small High School in Virginia, and my students are perpetually astonished at the humor and relevance of a video made more than twenty years ago - usually, they want to tune out anything "old". This is a rich and sumptuous piece of living literature with a tremendously broad appeal - not just Dickinson's poetry, but her unique life is showcased in this privileged interview. This is EXACTLY the kind of "living literature" that we need most in our homes and in our schools - by bringing authors and works of note to life, we can perpetuate the essential reverence for the power of the written word which has perenially distinguished our culture. Please don't let the relatively high price of this product deter you - it is an investment which will repay itself many times over!

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The Last of Mrs. Lincoln (Broadway Theatre Archive) (1976) Review

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(More customer reviews)This 1976 KCET production directed by George Schaefer is a re-creation of the 1972 Broadway play for which Julie Harris won one of her 5 Tony Awards.
Ms. Harris' performance will keep you riveted to the screen in this astounding portrayal of the ageing, troubled, and misunderstood Mary Todd Lincoln.
Exquisitely written by James Prideaux, it's a compassionate portrait of this first lady who's love for her husband made it so hard for her to live without him, and does give insight into certain things. It was Mary who installed many improvements in the White House (like plumbing !), and was never sufficiently renumerated for them by the government.
The final seventeen years of her life depicted are not all doom and gloom, thanks to the script, which is balanced with wonderful wit. I love the dialogue with Senator Austin (well played by Denver Pyle) in a sparse hotel room in Frankfurt, as well as the repartee with a malicious gossip (deliciously played by Kate Wilkinson) during her 1875 stay in Springfield.
The rest of the cast is excellent: Michael Christopher plays her son Robert, who was the only one of their children to live to full maturity, Robby Benson her beloved Tad (two other children had died previously), Priscilla Morrill and Ford Rainey play her her sister Elizabeth and brother-in-law Ninian, and Patrick Duffy their grandson, Edward Lewis Baker Jr.
The costume design by Noel Taylor is marvelous, and I was especially delighted to see the reproduction of the beautiful gown adorned with flowers with matching flower headress seen in photographs of Mrs. Lincoln, and Ms. Harris wears it with beauty, grace and style.
Mrs. Lincoln died at age sixtythree in her sister's house in Springfield, the same house she was married in, and given the wedding ring with the inscription "Love is Eternal".
This is a remarkable drama for history buffs, and Julie Harris is truly the First Lady of the stage.

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