Lillie
(1978/British TV Mini-Series/Acorn Media)
Picture: C Sound: C+ Extras: C- Episodes: B
What is
it about beautiful women of the far past that fascinate us so? Is it because photography barely existed
then, or that there was some glamour that has been lost in time and/or is it
the way said lady is talked about at the time with limited evidence to verify
the beauty? It almost becomes
supernatural, or it is about the elusive nature of love? Lillie
is a remarkable, enduring 1978 British TV Mini-Series about a woman so
celebrated: Lillie Langtry.
From
humble beginnings to the realm of money, power, position ands fame in what was
very much a man’s world, her pre-feminist tale is a remarkable one. David Butler and co-director John Gorrie adapted
their long teleplay from James Brough’s novel take on this history The Prince & The Lily with fine,
well-realized results as Lillie (Francesca Annis) pulls off the role very, very
convincingly throughout the 13 hours here.
With that
time period, nothing is rushed, the results are surprisingly unstuffy,
especially taking place in the Victorian Era at its height. The leisurely pace pays off in fine character
development and an excellent unspooling of events that become immediately
engrossing from the first show. Yet
again, here is another gem of British TV’s last golden age long unseen that
Acorn is thankfully issuing on DVD. It
should be added that the clothes and set design are so top rate, they hold up 30
years later and counting.
There is
also the impressive supporting cast, including Anton Rodgers, Peter Egan,
Christopher Bramwell, John Barcroft, Christopher Brown, Vernon Dobtcheff,
Anthony Head, Joseph Horovitz, Philip Voss, Terence Davies (who revisited this
territory later as director with the underrated feature film House Of Mirth) and Desmond Llewellyn. These productions always had so many great
actors to pull upon and in that respect, this does not disappoint there
either. The mannered approach is
authentic all the way, making Lillie
a must-see TV classic.
The 1.33
X 1 image has 16mm filmed footage for outdoor scenes and analog PAL videotape
for the indoors, but it all comes from a digital copy of the analog PAL
videotape with more than a few aliasing issues and some other slight digital
noise. The source still has good color
and you can see how handsome this production is, but too bad they could not
find the original film materials. A
disclaimer warns of flaws in the source on the back of the case. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is better with
good-sounding dialogue for its age and music not bad. The few extras include text cast bios and a
paper essay in the case on Lillie in media and history, including her
influences.
- Nicholas Sheffo
