Where was I back in 1997, when this wonderful two-part, Masterpiece Theatre production was broadcast on PBS-TV? Asleep, or out of the country? Clearly, I was not paying attention. But thanks to a reminder from Drew Lebby, I just rented Painted Lady from Netflix.
The mini-series was written (by Allan Cubitt) for English actress Helen Mirren after the success of her initial Prime Suspect series. And Mirren is riveting in a role for which you might not have thought to cast her. She plays Maggie Sheridan, a former rock star, who, at age 50, has been reduced by drink and drugs to living rough on the streets of New York City.
Maggie is rescued by a childhood friend, who takes her to his father’s estate in Ireland. There, all hell breaks loose, involving art theft, murder, and one of the scariest screen heavies I’ve seen in a long time, played brilliantly by John Kavanagh. There’s also some lovely glamour and romance as Maggie takes on the identity of a rich Polish countess and becomes involved with an Italian count (Franco Nero).
Really, who could ask for anything more?
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment