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Category:    Home > Reviews > Drama > Comedy > British Telefilms > Helen Mirren At The BBC (5-DVD Set)

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


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