By Mary Jo
In a summer where most of us have not been getting out as much as usual, I decided it would be fun to dig out older movies we've enjoyed watching on Saturday nights. In the nature of things, many have had historical setting because, not surprisingly I like historical movies. (Most of what we've seen has been DVDs, which I consider a more reliable technology than streaming, which is fine when it works--until it doesn't.)
So the first we watched was The Scarlet Pimpernel, a great romantic adventure story. It's been filmed several times, but the version I love (and own) is the 1982 film starring Anthony Andrews and Jane Seymour. Andrews plays Sir Percy Blakeney, a fop by day and a rescuer of French aristocrats from the guillotine. He's a Georgian super hero, brilliant, Sneaky, gorgeous, and a passionately in love with his wife, the French actress Marguerite St. Just, whom he can no longer trust.
Marguerite is played by Jane Seymour, who is also gorgeous and baffled by why her doting husband has turned cold. This version diverges in some ways from Baroness Orczy's books, and I don't care. <G> It's rousing a great fun.
BONUS: did I mention that Anthony Andrews and Jane Seymour are both gorgeous?
As a side note, the easiest way to tell when a movie was made is by the hair styles of the women. Jane Seymour has a lot of '80s hair!
Another historical movie I love is Shakespeare in Love, (1998) which I consider the
perfect English major's movie. (And indeed, I was an English major. <G>) A somewhat neurotic young Will Shakespeare is played by Joseph Fiennes. Gwyneth Paltrow plays Viola de Lesseps, a stage struck young woman of good birth. At the time (1593) it was illegal for women to appear on a stage, so she disguises herself as a young man and wins the part of Juliet in the new play Shakespeare has written, which is fumbling its way to being produced.
Will and Viola have a brief passionate affair which has no future. The mistaken identities and cross dressing and misunderstandings are typical of Shakespearean comedies, and the writing is very witty, full of writer and theater jokes. The movie won masses of awards, including 7 Oscars, and is funny, clever, and romantic. The ending is not a traditional HEA, but is satisfying.
BONUS: Judi Dench as Queen Elizabeth the Great! (She won an Oscar in the role.)
A particularly favorite historical movie of mine is Amazing Grace (2006), the story of William Wilberforce, the British reformer and politician who spent decades fighting in Parliament in eventually successful effort to ban the slave trade.
One reason I like the movie so much is the accuracy of the history, which I know because I researched it for one of my historicals, A Distant Magic (currently out of print, but an ebook version will be coming.) A Distant Magic is built around the 18th Century British abolition movement and included many of the same historical figures.
BONUSES: Three gorgeous actors: Ioan Gruffudd as Wilberforce, Rufus Sewell as the enormously important Clarkson, and Benedict Cumberbatch as Wilberforce's friend and ally, Prime Minister William Pitt!. There is also the charming romance of Wilberforce and his future wife, Barbara Spooner.
Another favorite was Chariots of Fire, inspired by the true stories of two British athletes competing in the 1924 Olympics, which were held in Paris. Scottish missionary Eric Liddell born in China and intends to return to China to take up missionary work, but as one line in the movie says, "God made me for a purpose and that purpose is China, but he also made me fast!." The other lead character is Harold Abrahams, a Jewish anomaly in the lily white precincts of Cambridge, but he's a talented and determined athlete who runs as a way to combat prejudice. Some liberties are taken with the facts, but the overall story is true and very entertaining.
BONUS: The Oscar winning musical score by Vangelis. The opening scene of the movie shows a group of athletes in training along a beach and the thrumming beat of the music is stunning.
We also watched again two blockbuster comedies that would be considered contemporary except that they're now old enough to be almost historical. <G> Beverly Hills Cop (1984) is a comedy adventure that instantly made Eddie Murphy an international star because of his versatile brilliance.
Sister Act (1992) stars Whoopi Goldberg as a Reno lounge singer who witnesses a mob hit and is placed in a San Francisco convent for protection. The movie is hilarious as Whoopi first horrifies, than transforms the convent through music.
BONUS: the music is great!
I believe all of these movies have trailers on youtube.com, and are available as DVDs or for some of them, streaming services.
Have you enjoyed any of these oldies but goodies? Or would you like to suggest some of your old favorites?
Happy watching!
Mary Jo