Rumpole Of The Bailey – The Lost Episode
(Acorn Media)
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: C- Episode: B-
Horace Rumpole (Leo McKern) is a British lawyer with a
heart and moral center who sometimes has to be a detective to solve cases. As created by John Mortimer, Rumpole Of
The Bailey became the British equivalent of all the American TV series from
the big 1970s cycle. Like some of them,
he began on another show. Play For
Today featured Rumpole & The Confession Of Guilt as a
one-shot installment in their anthology series. When the show was finished, a separate series was conceived and
became a huge hit.
The problem is that the series started from scratch and
until now, this show was lost. Now,
this new Lost Episode DVD release offers the 65 minutes installment
rarely seen and it is really good. It
may only run 65 minutes and not always be the most politically correct show,
but it is well written, well acted, and the great McKern aces the role right
away.
When a young African-Englander (Herbert Norville from Bugsy
Malone and Full Metal Jacket) is accused of murder, Rumpole takes on
the case and eventually has second thought about the guilt of the young man who
has supposedly confessed. We see
Rumpole in action in the courtroom, the old school barrister taking on the
system in his own unconventional way.
At first, you wonder if something will go wrong, but Rumpole is not to
be underestimated. He also has problems
with distance from his grown son and longtime wife. This all adds up to a pretty well rounded introduction to the
character off the bat and makes for great viewing. Director John Gorrie deserves credit for making this move so well
and the cast is on target.
The full frame 1.33 X 1 image was shot on the old analog
PAL format and look good for its age, despite some softness. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is about as good
as one can expect from the time it was made in 1975. Extras include Rumpole’s World, which should be read
through before watching the show, as it offers key glossary terms that will
make the show more accessible. There
are also brief filmographies of the cast and a text section about this
show. That is a good heads up and we
look forward to seeing the entire series on DVD, so stay tuned.
- Nicholas Sheffo
