"THE WOMAN HE LOVED" (1988) Review

 

"THE WOMAN HE LOVED" (1988) Review

I have come to the conclusion that any movie producer willing to do a project on Wallis Warfield Simpson, later the Duchess of Windsor would eventually realize that said project is bound to generate a great deal of emotion - not only in Great Britain, but even in the United States. I have never come across a female historical figure who has polarized the public the way this 20th century American-born socialite has.

The first screen production about Wallis Simpson and her romance with Edward, Prince of Wales, later King Edward VIII and the Duke of Windsor I ever saw was the 1978 BBC miniseries, "EDWARD AND MRS. SIMPSON". But I have seen screen portrayals of both Mrs. Simpson and Edward VIII in other productions, including this television movie called "THE WOMAN HE LOVED". The television movie aired on CBS in 1988. I wish I could say this movie was the best on-screen interpretation of the infamous romance that rocked the British monarchy back in the mid-1930s. However, I would be lying if I did. But I certainly do not believe it is the worst.

"THE WOMAN HE LOVED" told the story of the famous romance mainly from Mrs. Simpson's point-of-view, via flashbacks. The movie began in 1972 with her arrival in Britain for the first time in years to attend the funeral of her third and final husband, the Duke of Windsor. While the recently widowed Duchess seeks solitude inside Buckingham Palace as a guest of the Royal Family, she reminisces about about her marriage to American-born businessman Ernest Simpson in 1928 and how it led to her entry into British high society and to her relationship with Edward Windsor. Aside from the 1972 flashbacks, most of the movie began with Wallis' marriage to Simpson and ended with her marriage to the newly created Duke of Windsor in May 1937. It also covered Wallis and Edward's affair, which began when he was Prince of Wales and continued after he became King Edward VIII. Also, Wallis' marital problems with Simpson, along with their divorce and the Abdication Crisis, which occurred during the fall of 1936 were also covered in this film. This is not surprising, considering this is the narrative formula that is used in most productions about the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

How did I feel about the movie? Well . . . I did not hate it. But I did not exactly love it. I must admit that its production values were top notch for a television film with a foreign setting. One has to give Kenneth Sharp credit for a detailed re-creation of London and Great Britain between 1928 and 1936. If there is one thing I can say about "THE WOMAN HE LOVED" is that it is a beautiful looking period drama. Sharp's work was ably assisted by Brian Morgan's sharp and colorful cinematography. Hell, his work looked better than many period dramas I have seen on both the small and large screen. Although I found Allyn Ferguson's score not particularly memorable, I thought he and director Charles Jarrott did an excellent in selecting certain tunes that added to the movie's 1930s setting. But one aspect of the movie's technical aspect that really blew my mind was Robin Fraser-Paye's costume designs. Can I say . . . WOW? Or better yet, below are images of Fraser-Paye's work:





On the other hand, William Luce's screenplay failed to have the same effect upon me. As I had hinted earlier, the screenplay for "THE WOMAN HE LOVED" was the basic narrative used for most productions about the historic couple. I would go even further to say that Luce's work was basically a paint-by-the-numbers job. There were moments that did impress me. Most of those moments featured conversations between Wallis and Simpson - especially when their marriage was breaking apart. I was especially amused by one particular quarrel between them that ended with Wallis sharply ordering their dog from her bed. Some of the biggest problems I had with "THE WOMAN HE LOVED" is that Wallis and Edward's story was treated solely as a movie adaptation of a romance novel. And I am not a fan of romance novels. I did not expect the movie to be some Charles Higham-style trashy revelation about the Windsor couple. I have seen plenty of recent productions - "UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS (Season One)" and "THE KING'S SPEECH" - that portray Wallis as some kind of gauche, gold digging whore. Unfortunately, "THE WOMAN HE LOVED" went to another extreme - painting Wallis as some kind of American-born Cinderella and Edward as this poor, misunderstood prince who had been denied some sliver of happiness due to royal tradition. The movie did offer crumbs of the couple's ambiguity - Wallis' affair with Edward and the latter's determination to steal another man's wife. But despite these moments of ambiguity, "THE WOMAN HE LOVED" was simply an exercise in romantic gloss.

"THE WOMAN HE LOVED" featured the screen reunion of Jane Seymour and Anthony Andrews, who first co-starred with each other in the 1982 television costume movie, "THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL". Both were outstanding in that film. I wish I could say the same about their performances in "THE WOMAN HE LOVED" . . . but I cannot. I am not saying they gave bad performances. Their screen chemistry remained intact. And both Seymour and Andrews offered some examples of their talent in a few scenes. Most of Seymour's best scenes were with actor Tom Wilkinson, who portrayed Ernest Simpson. Perhaps her performances in these scenes led to her Emmy nomination. Perhaps. However, I found it easy to question this nomination, due to Seymour being forced to portray Mrs. Simpson as an occasionally star-struck adolescent. I could blame her questionable Upper South accent (the American socialite came from an old Baltimore family), but I never believed that a bad or questionable accent could really harm a performance. Andrews had a particularly effective scene in which his Edward angrily expressed his frustration with the British Establishment, who refused to accept Wallis as his future wife. I found this scene to be a breath of fresh air, considering most of his consisted of dialogue that struck me as wooden. But in the end, both actors were simply hampered by Luce's romantically one-note screenplay.

Olivia De Havilland also received an Emmy nomination - a Best Supporting Actress nod for her portrayal of Wallis' aunt, Bessie Merryman. And if I must be honest, I find this puzzling. I am not criticizing De Havilland. I thought she gave a solid performance, considering the slight amount of screen time given to her. But there was nothing about it that dazzled me. Lucy Gutteridge portrayed Edward's previous mistress, the American-born Thelma, Viscountess Furness. By some ironic twist, Gutteridge portrayed Furness' twin sister, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, in the 1982 television movie, "LITTLE GLORIA, HAPPY AT LAST" and earned an Emmy nomination. As for her portrayal of Thelma, it was pretty solid, but not particularly mind dazzling. In fact, none of the other supporting performances in the movie - Julie Harris, Robert Hardy, Phyllis Calvert and David Waller - did not strike me as particularly memorable. I must admit I was surprised to see Waller reprise his role as Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, which he had originated in "EDWARD AND MRS. SIMPSON". Only Tom Wilkinson's wry and cynical portrayal of the cuckolded Ernest Simpson came close to really impressing me. While everyone else seemed to be a bit too theatrical or simply going through the motions, Wilkinson made the low-key Simpson a rather interesting personality.

I really do not know what else to say about "THE WOMAN HE LOVED". I cannot deny that visually, it is a very beautiful looking movie that did an excellent job of re-creating Great Britain during the two decades between the two world wars. But instead of providing a balanced and ambiguous portrait of Wallis Simpson and her third husband, King Edward VIII; director Charles Jarrott and screenwriter William Luce decided to portray their relationship as some kind of cinematic romance novel. And I believe their work may have hampered the performances of the cast led by the usually talented Jane Seymour and Anthony Andrews. If you want a realistic feel of the Wallis Simpson/Edward VIII affair, this may not be your movie. But if it is an onscreen fairy tale romance you are looking for, this might be your cup of tea.

Green Bean Casserole

 

GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE

I have an admission to make. I have only been aware of the dish called Green Bean Casserole for the past ten years. Only ten years. A former co-worker had informed me about the dish, claiming her mother had learned about it from a magazine for women. Because of this, I have always assumed that Green Bean Casserole was a dish first created around the late 20th century or early 21st century. I was wrong.

Green Bean Casserole is an American baked dish that consists of green beans, cream of mushroom soup, and french fried onions. Very simple. Chef and inventor Dorcas Reilly had created the dish, while working in the home economics department at Campbell Soup Company in 1955. Ms. Reilly created the dish for a feature article for the Associated Press. Campbell Soup required a quick and easy dish using ingredients that include one of their soups for most U.S. households. Ms. Reilly or Campbell Soup Company originally called the dish, "Green Bean Bake" when the latter began printing the recipe on their soup cans. Initially the dish did not test well within the company. However, due to Reilly's persistence, "Green Bean Bake" or Green Bean Casserole eventually earned a reputation for being "the ultimate comfort food".

The origin of the Green Bean Casserole truly began with the Campbell Soup Company's creation of their Creamed Mushroom Soup in 1934. When Ms. Reilly created the dish twenty-one years later, her ingredients included the soup, green beans, milk, soy sauce, ground black pepper and French-fried onions. She mixed the beans, soup, milk, and seasonings together, with a portion of the onions, and baked the mixture. Then she topped the dish with more French-fried onions and baked it for a few more minutes. Over the years, similar recipes have "updated" or "upgraded" the original recipe to use fresh green beans, homemade cream sauce, and fresh mushrooms, as the convenience-food based recipes of the 1950s and 1960s have become less fashionable.

The Campbell Soup Company had originally marketed the casserole as an everyday side dish. But it became popular for Thanksgiving dinners during the 1960s, after Campbell's placed the recipe on the Cream of Mushroom Soup cans' labels. The recipe popularized the combination of the soup with green beans and Campbell's Soup now estimates that 40 percent of the Cream of Mushroom soup sold in the United States goes into making Green Bean Casserole. Culinary historian Laura Shapiro called the recipe's use of the crunchy fried onion topping that gave the side dish a bit of "glamor", a "touch of genius". "Food & Wine" magazine called it "iconic". "Good Housekeeping" had declared that "few dishes are 'iconic'" as the Green Bean Casserole. In November 2002, Ms. Reilly, donated the original recipe card to the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio, while representing Campbell's Soup. A meal featuring the dish followed the donation.

Below is a recipe for the Green Bean Casserole from the Campbell Soup Company website:


Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients:

*1 can (10 1/2 ounces) Campbell’s® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup or 98% Fat Free Cream of Mushroom Soup or Condensed Unsalted Cream of Mushroom Soup
*1/2 cup milk
*1 teaspoon soy sauce
*4 cups cooked cut green beans
*1 1/3 cups French's® French Fried Onions (amount divided in recipe steps below)


Preparation:

Step 1 - Heat the oven to 350°F. Stir the soup, milk, soy sauce, beans and 2/3 cup onions in a 1 1/2-quart casserole. Season the mixture with salt and pepper.

Step 2 - Bake for 25 minutes or until hot. Stir the bean mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining 2/3 cup of onions.

Step 3 - Bake for another 5 minutes or until the onions are golden brown.

"MURDER AT 1600" (1997) Photo Gallery

 

Below are images from the 1997 action thriller, "MURDER AT 1600". Directed by Dwight Little, the movie starred Wesley Snipes and Diane Lane:

"MURDER AT 1600" (1997) Photo Gallery

"MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS" (2001) Review

 

"MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS" (2001) Review

There have been more adaptations of Agatha Christie's 1939 novel, "And Then There Were None" than any of her other novels. That is quite an achievement. The only other novel that comes close to producing this number of adaptations is her 1934 novel, 'Murder on the Orient Express".

Christie's 1934 novel managed to produce four adaptations, as far as I know - two movie releases and two television movies. The least famous of this quartet of adaptations was the television movie that aired on CBS in 2001. This version is famous or infamous for one thing - it is the only one that is not a period drama and set in the present day. "MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS" made a few other changes to Christie's narrative. The television movie's beginning established a complicated romance between Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot and a sexy younger woman named Vera Rossakoff. The number of suspects was reduced from twelve to nine. And the Orient Express was stalled by a mudslide due to heavy rain and not a snowbank caused from an avalanche. Due to the film's setting, some of the characters' backgrounds and professions had been changed to reflect the late 20th century and early 21st century setting.

"MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS" begins in Istanbul, Turkey; where private detective Hercule Poirot had just solved the murder of a dancer at a local nightclub. After a brief quarrel with his lady love, Vera Rossakoff, Poirot sets out to fly back to London. But an encounter with his old friend Wolfgang Bouc, an executive with the the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits, leads Poirot to return to London via the famed Orient Express train. During the eastbound train journey, an American millionaire named Samuel Ratchett tries to hire Poirot to protect him from a potential assassin who has sent him threatening letters. However, Poirot refuses the job due to his dislike of Ratchett. During the second night of the journey, heavy rain causes a landslide, blocking the train to continue its journey. And Rachett is found stabbed to death inside his compartment, the following morning. Bouc recruits Poirot to solve Rachett's murder.

I have a confession to make. I had disliked "MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS" when I first saw it on television all those years ago. My main reason for disliking the television movie was the fact that it had a modern setting, instead of one set in the 1930s. It was not a period movie. And for a story like Christie's 1934 novel, I resented it. However, I do believe the film's modern setting provided one major flaw for its narrative. Since the late 20th century, passengers for the Simplon Orient Express have to book passage on the train long before the date of its departure - six months to a year, more or less. The idea of Poirot managing to get a compartment aboard the Orient Express at such short notice in 2001 strikes me as pretty implausible. And when one adds to the fact that the train travels to and from Istanbul at least once a year, makes this narrative in a modern setting even more implausible. Another problem I had with "MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS" was it made the same mistake as the 2010 adaptation from "AGATHA CHRISTIE'S POIROT". They used the wrong rail cars. The 2010 television movie used the blue and cream Pullman cars for the journey from Istanbul to Calais. The 2001 movie used the brown and cream Pullman cars, usually reserved for the Orient Express from London to Folkstone, as the main train, as shown below:



Do I have any other problems with "MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS"? Well . . . yes, I have one further problem. But I will address it later. Aside from these problems, did I enjoyed this recent re-watch of the television movie? Yes, I did. More than I thought I would. Which is ironic, considering that I disliked the movie so much when I first saw all those years ago. I finally realized that I had automatically resented the film for not being a period drama. And over the years, I had erroneously believed that the movie was set aboard a modern train and not on a restored one from the past. It took my recent viewing of the television movie for me to realize I had been wrong. However, I did noticed that the sleeping compartments did look surprisingly bigger than usual. Despite some modern updating in the film's visual look, the characters' background and dialogue; "MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS" did a first-rate job of adapting Christie's novel.

What many might find surprising is that screenwriter Stephen Harrigan and director Carl Schenkel did not inflict any drastic changes to Christie's plot, unlike some recent Christie adaptations from the "AGATHA CHRISTIE'S POIROT" series and one or two miniseries produced by Sarah Phelps. Harrigan and Schenkel did not drastically change the movie's narrative, aside from reducing the number of suspects and having the train delayed by a mud slide, instead of a snow drift. Yes, the backgrounds and professions of the characters were changed due to the modern setting. And characters also change nationalities - like Bob Arbuthnot, an American tech CEO (British Army colonel in Christie's novel); Senora Alvarado, a widow of a South American dictator (a Russian princess in the novel); Phililp and Helena von Strauss, a German or Austrian couple traveling the world (the husband was a Hungarian diplomat in the novel); and even Wolfgang Bouc, the Franco-German Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits executive (who was solely French in the novel). This version of "Murder on the Orient Express" was not the first or last time when some of the characters' backgrounds and nationalities were changed. All four adaptations (including the highly regarded 1974 version) were guilty of this. But despite these changes, Harrigan and Schenkel stuck to Christie's narrative. And thanks to Harrigan's direction, this version proved to be a lot better than I had originally surmised.

I certainly had no problems with most of the film's performances. "MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS" provided solid performances from Amira Casar, Kai Wiesinger, Dylan Smith, Nicolas Chagrin, Adam James, Tasha de Vasconcelos, and Fritz Wepper, who managed to create an effective screen team with star Alfred Molina as the investigative pair of Poirot and Monsieur (or Herr) Bouc. I thought David Hunt did an excellent job of conveying the aggressive, overprotective and slightly arrogant traits of American CEO, Bob Arbuthnot. I enjoyed Leslie Caron's colorful, yet autocratic portrayal of Senora Alvarado, the widow of a South American dictator. Meredith Baxter was equally colorful as an American character actress, traveling around Europe as a tourist. Her portrayal of Mrs. Hubbard reminded me of a younger version of a character she had portrayed in the 1980 miniseries, "BEULAH LAND" - but without the Southern accent. And I was really impressed by Natasha Wightman's performance as British tutor Mary Debenham. What really impressed me about Wightman's performance is that her portrayal of Miss Debenham was the closest to the literary character than any of the other versions. There was one performance that fell flat with me and it came from Peter Strauss, who portrayed the victim, Samuel Rachett. If I must be brutally honest, I found it rather hammy. Strauss, whom has always struck me as a first-rate actor in other productions, seemed to be screaming in nearly every scene. However, there is one scene in which I found his performance impressive. The scene involved Rachett's attempt to hire Poirot as his bodyguard and with a performance that permeated with subtlety and menace, Strauss reminded audiences of the excellent actor that he had always been through most of his career.

I have never come across any real criticism of Alfred Molina's portrayal of Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. Well . . . I did come across one article that discussed Molina's performance from Vulture magazine. But the critic seemed more focused on the movie's modern setting and Poirot's relationship with Vera Rossakoff, than Molina's performance. Personally, I thought the British actor did a superb job in portraying the detective. He managed to capture all of Poirot's intelligence, mild eccentricities, slight pomposity and talent for emotional manipulation. One thing I can say about Molina's portrayal is that his performance as Poirot was probably the most subtle I have seen on a movie or television screen. Whether someone would regard this as good or bad, is in the eye of the beholder. But I feel that this subtle performance suited Molina's style. Some have commented that Molina's Poirot was more "youthful" than other portrayals. Hmmmm . . . how odd. Molina was in his late 40s when he shot the television movie (perhaps 47 or 48 years old). Yet, Albert Finney was a decade younger when he portrayed Poirot in the 1974 film and his Poirot came off as a middle-aged man. David Suchet was five or six years younger when he began his twenty-four years stint portraying the detective for ITV's "AGATHA CHRISTIE'S POIROT". And during those early years, his Poirot also seemed slightly middle-aged. Because of this, I find this observation of Molina's Poirot as "youthful" rather questionable.

It is a pity that the "official" opinion of "MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS" is so negative. I used to share this opinion until I did a re-watch of the television film with a more open mind. Like others, I had been dismissive of the 2001 version, due to its modern setting. I now realize I had been rather narrow-minded and prejudiced. Despite its flaws - and it had a few - "MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS" proved to be a lot better than I had originally surmised, thanks to director Carl Schenkel, Stephen Harrigan's teleplay and an excellent cast led by the superb Alfred Molina. I hope that one day, other Christie fans would dismiss their prejudices against the movie's setting and appreciate it for the entertaining production it truly is.

Top Five Favorite Episodes of "CHARMED" - Season Four (2001-2002)

 

Below is a list of my top five (5) favorite episodes from Season Four (2001-2002) of "CHARMED". Developed for television by Constance Burge and produced by Brad Kern, the series starred Alyssa Milano, Rose McGowan and Holly Marie Combs:

TOP FIVE FAVORITE EPISODES OF "CHARMED" - SEASON FOUR (2001-2002)



1. (4.15) "The Fifth Halliwell" - In this slightly perverse episode, new half-sister Paige Matthews feels like a fifth wheel among her happily married sisters and their husbands, but becomes firmly convinced that one brother-in-law, the demonically possessed Cole Turner, is still evil and a demon. Meanwhile new (temporary) Source and The Seer secretly plot to impregnate Phoebe using Cole's possessed body.

2. (4.03) "Hell Hath No Fury" - Piper, who remains angry over the death of oldest sister Prue and Paige's recent actions, becomes a member of a supernatural band of vigilantes known as the Furies. Meanwhile, Paige takes the Book of Shadows into her work to cast spells, which help her co-workers.

3. (4.10) "A Paige From the Past" - With whitelighter brother-in-law Leo Wyatt as her guide, Paige goes back in time to her teen years, in an attempt to resolve her feelings about the accident that killed her adoptive parents. Meanwhile, ghosts have taken possession of Phoebe and Cole's bodies and Piper must prevent them from fulfilling a mission.

4. (4.07) "Brain Drain" - The Source sends Piper into a deep coma, where she perceives an alternate reality. Phoebe, Paige, Leo and Cole must find a way to return her to reality and save her from giving up her powers, while she is delusional.

5. (4.13) "Charmed and Dangerous" - The Source breaks an age-old agreement between good and evil by stealing an ancient grimoire called The Hollow, which he uses to absorb Piper and Paige's powers. Meanwhile, Phoebe must allow Cole to help them, despite her having a premonition that involves Cole sacrificing his life to save her from evil.

"VICTORIA" Season Two (2017) Photo Gallery

 

Below are images from Season Two of the ITV series, "VICTORIA". Created by Daisy Goodwin, the series stars Jenna Coleman as Queen Victoria:

"VICTORIA" SEASON TWO (2017) Photo Gallery