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Conference turris::womannotes-v2

Title:ARCHIVE-- Topics of Interest to Women, Volume 2 --ARCHIVE
Notice:V2 is closed. TURRIS::WOMANNOTES-V5 is open.
Moderator:REGENT::BROOMHEAD
Created:Thu Jan 30 1986
Last Modified:Fri Jun 30 1995
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1105
Total number of notes:36379

706.0. "TV portrayals of Sayers's Wimsey" by RAINBO::TARBET (I'm the ERA) Thu Jul 20 1989 08:58

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Note 5.164             HOT BUTTONS!! (delete when cooled)             164 of 181
REGENT::BROOMHEAD "Don't panic -- yet."              20 lines  14-JUL-1989 13:12
                          -< I just can't stand it. >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    They're running the Lord Peter Wimsey stories, starring Edward
    Petherbridge, on PBS again.  I blame the director for their three
    principle faults:  a sour Lord Peter, a nasty Harriet Vane, and
    butchered plot lines.  This is epitomized by the conclusion of
    _Strong_Poison_.  In the book, it ends with Harriet struggling
    through the crowd to her friends to ask, "Where is Lord Peter?
    I wanted to thank him.", and receiving the reply, "Oh, he left
    as soon as they gave the verdict."  In the series, it ends with
    them coming face to face in an empty corridor, and she turns and
    walks away from him without a word or a smile.
    
    Arghhh!
    
    What makes it doubly annoying is that I found a much better Harriet
    Vane:  Jill Meager, who placed Lucy Eyelesbarrow in "Mystery!"'s
    version of Agatha Christie's _The_4:50_from_Paddington_.  (Also
    known as _What_Mrs._McGillicuddy_Saw!_, and filmed as `Murder (She
    Said)'.)
    
    							Ann B.
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name
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706.1From another WimseyphileWMOIS::B_REINKEIf you are a dreamer, come in..Fri Jul 14 1989 14:1910
    
    Ann,
    
    I had the same objections when I saw the end of Strong Poison.
    The casting was 'wrong' enough for me to not want to watch
    "Have his Carcass". Do you know bytheway if "Gaudy Night" was
    ever made into a tv movie? That I might watch even with the
    bad casting if the plot and dialogue wasn't butchered.
    
    Bonnie
706.2Wimsey critiqueDROSTE::benceWhat&#039;s one more skein of yarn?Fri Jul 14 1989 14:3312
    Re -1 and -2:

    Of the three Wimsey's done for Mystery (Strong Poison, Have His Carcass,
    and Gaudy Night), Have His Carcass was the only one I found palatable.
    I believe Have His Carcass had a different screen-writer from the other
    two, the plot is more or less intact and the dialogue witty.  
    
    They made a shambles out of Gaudy Night - no Gerald, no chess set, no
    Jones, no Religio Medico - arggghhhh!
    
                                            cathy
                                            
706.3I'm appalled!WMOIS::B_REINKEIf you are a dreamer, come in..Fri Jul 14 1989 14:388
    NO! 
    
    Cathy, thanks for the warning...I'll avoid it...
    
    Bonnie
    
    (who prefers her own mental movies to badly done versions of
    favorite books)
706.4as my wimsey takes meDECWET::JWHITEI&#039;m pro-choice and I voteFri Jul 14 1989 17:1614
    
    re:last several
    
    sorry, dear friends, have to disagree about the portrayal of
    harriet vane. i think she both looks and acts the part quite
    nicely. i do, however, agree with your criticism of lord peter:
    what an incredibly un-whimsical wimsey!
    
    i must confess, i never remember the details of mystery books
    so i was not put off by the altered ending of 'strong poison'.
    and so far i'm enjoying 'have his carcase', above objections
    notwithstanding.
    
    
706.5ULTRA::ZURKOEven in a dream, remember, ...Mon Jul 17 1989 13:184
Joe [the guy I live with] claims he's seen a much better Wimsey in another
production. Can anyone help me with what? He thinks maybe a Masterpiece Theater
production, but not of any of the Vane novels (maybe of the shorts?).
	Mez
706.6Oh, yes.REGENT::BROOMHEADDon&#039;t panic -- yet.Mon Jul 17 1989 13:408
    Joe's right.  There was a different actor in an earlier set of
    shows on (I think) Mystery!.  Lemmesee... They did _The_Unpleasantness_
    _at_the_Bellona_Club_, _Clouds_of_Witness_, _Five_Red_Herrings_ (aka
    _Suspicious_Characters_), and _Murder_Must_Advertise_.
    
    He was *better* -- but not perfect.
    
    						Ann B.
706.7Harriet was very good too!!RAINBO::LARUEAn easy day for a lady.Mon Jul 17 1989 14:5010
    I think Edward Petherwoosie made a very fine Whimsey as Lord Peter
    describes himself.  The other fellow is far too plump,  I couldn't see
    him diving off statues into pools.  I'll agree that the screen writing
    bears only token resemblence to the books but the rabbity Edward is
    more to the Peter in my mind's eye.
    
    Dondi
    
    PS
    oughten this to be a topic of it's own?
706.8More Wimsey trivia STAR::BECKThe question is - 2B or D4?Mon Jul 17 1989 18:006
Following the rat a bit further down the hole...

Did anyone else recognize the actor playing Bunter in the current series?

Anybody recall Dr. Ennis from Poldark? (Don't recall if it was the first or 
second Dr. Ennis...)
706.9So when do they do "Busman's Honeymoon"?VALKYR::RUSTMon Jul 17 1989 18:1118
    o Ian Carmichael was the earlier, plumper Wimsey. (Cheerfuller, too,
    but then he hadn't met Harriet yet; guess luv will do that to a guy.)
    
    o I happen to prefer Petherbridge's Wimsey to Carmichael's by a
    considerable margin, and I like the casting of Vane too, but I agree
    that both "Strong Poison" and "Gaudy Night" were mangled (presumably by
    the director?). "Have His Carcase" was quite good, however.
    
    o Richard Morant plays the new (too young) Bunter. I like the actor,
    but he's wrong for the part. (I've gone on about this in the TV
    conference, but this is the hot-button note after all! And I just
    *hate* it when an important character is mis-cast!)
    
    o For further Wimsey discussion, p'raps we should retire to BOMBE::TV.
    (The note number escapes me, but a DIR/TITLE="Lord Peter" should turn
    it up.)
    
    -b
706.10RMADLO::HETRICKGeorge C. HetrickMon Jul 17 1989 19:022
It's note 412.* in BOMBE::TV, started by Beth Rust (small wonder she remembers
it).
706.11of mixed minds..:-)WMOIS::B_REINKEIf you are a dreamer, come in..Mon Jul 17 1989 23:198
    Wow! I never knew there were so many Wimsey/Vane fans around.
    Speaking as a noter I'd love to start a note about those books
    here, tho in my moderator capacity I realize that there are other
    files where the subject is discussed.
    
    sigh
    
    Bonnie
706.12So there.REGENT::BROOMHEADDon&#039;t panic -- yet.Tue Jul 18 1989 10:418
    So start one with a particularly of-interest-to-women slant,
    Bonnie.
    
    						Ann B.
    
    P.S.  So he was plumpish.  And should never have dived into a
    fountain.  At least his face didn't look like it had a snear
    built in.
706.13i only read good booksDECWET::JWHITEI&#039;m pro-choice and I voteTue Jul 18 1989 23:094
    
    why not? harriet vane is one of the great proto-feminist characters
    no?
    
706.14more on Lord Peter debateRUTLND::RMAXFIELDWed Jul 19 1989 17:4420
    Re: Wimsey debate
    
    It's too bad when dedication to a novel prevents enjoyment of
    a film adaptation.  Some minor events may have been changed, plot
    elements dropped due to time limitations, but the spirit
    and character of the Wimsey-Vane novels are intact in the
    current re-broadcasting of "Strong Poison," "Have His Carcase,"
    and "Gaudy Night" on PBS' Mystery.   After enjoying these well-written,
    well-directed, and above all, well-acted dramas (again), I will
    most likely re-read the books, to enjoy them on their own
    terms, for Dorothy Sayers' prose and character/plot development.
    Perhaps my mental image of Lord Peter will be somewhat clouded
    by Edward Petherbridge's visage, but no matter; I enjoy him in
    all his personificactions, even the 1940 MGM version of
    "Busman's Honeymoon", with a very American Robert Montgomery
    as Lord Peter (he got the ironic tone right, if not the accent).
    
    Had to put in my $.02.  Thanks for the opportunity.
    
    Richard    
706.15BRONS::BURROWSJim BurrowsTue Aug 01 1989 00:4818
        I never would have described Petherbridge's mouth as a "built-in
        sneer"--a "pout" maybe, but not a sneer. It seemed to me to give
        him a somewhat prissy look rather than the sour look that folk
        here have complained about. He has to me at least a good deal of
        that superficial and insiginficant look that I always associated
        with Lord Peter. I could much more readily take Ian Carmichael
        seriously than Petherbridge, which makes him feel more like
        Wimsey to me.
        
        Never having read any of the Vane stories, I can't speak to the
        faithfulness of the adaptations nor the portrayal of Miss Vane.
        
        To bring this around to a more WomanNotes topic, is there
        anything significant here in the fact that one woman at least
        sees Petherbridge as sneering and sour whereas at least one man
        sees him as pouting and prissy?
        
        JimB.