Helen Mirren At The BBC (5-DVD Set)
Picture:
C Sound: C Extras: C+ Telefilms: B+
As they
recently did for Judy Dench, the BBC has dug deeply into their vaults and
created a DVD collection of the many works in their vaults featuring Helen Mirren. Helen
Mirren At The BBC covers nine dramatic telefilms she made for the network
between 1974 and 1982. It shows us that
the camera always liked her and she was talented and able to carry off amazing
work early on. The programs here
include:
The Changeling (1974) with Brian Cox and Stanley
Baker.
The Apple Cart (1975) with Nigel Davenport, from
the George Bernard Shaw play.
Caesar & Claretta (1975) with Robert Hardy.
The Philanthropist (1975) with Charles Gray and
Colin Higgins, by Christopher Hampton.
The Little Minister (1975) with Ian Ogilvy, from the
J.M. Barrie story.
The Country Wife (1977) with Anthony Andrew &
Bernard Cribbins.
Blue Remembered Hills (1979) by Dennis Potter (Pennies From Heaven)
Mrs. Reinhardt (1981) with Ralph bates & Brad
Davis.
Soft Targets (1981) with Ian Holm, Nigel
Havers, Desmond Llewellyn, plus Julian Sands & Rupert Everett.
All well
made, they hold up remarkably well for their age, reminding us once again that
the U.K. had a golden age of TV movies at the same time the U.S. did. The acting is exceptional in each case, but
it is hard to tell how many of these gems made it to the U.S. and if so, you
can imagine they have been out of circulation or a very long time. Now that Mirren is a big Oscar winner and international
star, any curiosity interest will be more than replaced with the sheer quality
of these shows.
The 1.33
X 1 image in all cases has more digititis than a recent such show should, but
is this way and is likely from digital copies of the PAL masters that were done
a while ago or not done properly, while some other material originated on 16mm
film, though those elements are here in PAL form. Wonder if the 16mm elements were
destroyed?. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
is mono-like in all cases, even when it seems to start to have some good
separation, but it is still better than the picture. Extras include a long new interview with
Mirren on all these broadcasts and an older interview she did in 1975 with
Michael Parkinson on the BBC, plus the case comes with a good booklet.
- Nicholas Sheffo
