Product Details

• Actors: James Purefoy, Hugh Bonneville, Philip Davis, Elliot Levey, John Telfer
• Directors: Philippa Lowthorpe
• Writers: Ian Kelly, Simon Bent
• Producers: Cherry Brewer, David Edgar, Richard Fell
• Format: Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Acorn Media
• DVD Release Date: July 15, 2008
• Run Time: 78 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00180IPQM
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #26,657 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Beau Brummell - This Charming Man" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

The dashing designer of modern dress—and disgrace

As seen on BBC America

James Purefoy (Rome, Vanity Fair) delivers a captivating performance as the dandy of Regency England who changed male fashion forever. In an age when men bedeck themselves in powders, perfumes, and all manner of finery, Brummell boldly advocates simplicity, elegance, and—good heavens!—washing. His friendship with the Prince Regent (Hugh Bonneville, Iris) rockets Brummell to social prominence, but his fascination with the magnetic bad-boy poet Lord Byron (Matthew Rhys, Brothers & Sisters) eventually proves his undoing.

Directed by Philippa Lowthorpe (The Other Boleyn Girl) and based on Ian Kelly’s critically acclaimed biography, Beau Brummell tells its story with a wit, flair, and irresistible stylishness that befit England’s ultimate man of fashion.

DVD BONUS FEATURES INCLUDE "Brummell in Pop Culture" essay and cast filmographies.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous Cast Fun story, May 9, 2008

By 

S. DuRoss (Bethesda, MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beau Brummell - This Charming Man (DVD)

Who knew that Beau Brummell was the tabloid celebrity of his day. James Purefoy is just amazing as Beau - the man that changed the way men dressed. Matthew Rhys from Brothers & Sisters has a small but great role as Lord Byron.
The music is very catchy and I just had fun with this story.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good but could have been so much more, May 13, 2011

By 

D. Madsen (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Beau Brummell - This Charming Man (DVD)

(Spoilers ahead) I was just so overjoyed that someone spent some time to make a film based on "the Beau" that was not some cinematic concoction!

The film gives the major elements of Beau Brummell's life: his vanity and cockiness, his influence on the Prince Regent (played by Hugh Bonneville, now known for his role in "Downton Abbey" as the amiable Earl of Grantham) and on men's fashion, credited with getting men out of knee breeches in into trousers. We see him preen and see the pursuit of the bailiffs who come to take payment of his extravagances. We see how his familiarity with the Prince Regent has a limit, and his wit finally oversteps its boundaries, leading to his social demise. The film infers that Brummell was also a lover of Lord Byron as well as courtesan Julia Johnstone, in a brief menage a trois.

What we don't see is the sad end of this man, his dying in a charity house of tertiary syphilis. There was not too much displaying his well-known caustic wit that would no doubt render the film character unlikeable. There is not even a hint at the real end of the man. The audience is robbed of a conclusion. Maybe the director's vision was a feel-good movie, as upbeat as the catchy film soundtrack. Those not familiar with Brummell's life presume he skipped off to Paris to escape his debts and lived in obscurity. The truth is much less candy-coated.

James Purefoy makes an admirable Beau, far too confident for his own good. The costuming is well-done and the scene of the Beau's toilette for the Prince and his cronies is hilarious.

I highly suggest reading the engaging and thorough biography written by actor Ian Kelly, "Beau Brummell: The Ultimate Man of Style," on which the film is loosely based. It is well researched and makes no sweeping, unfounded assumptions about the life of Beau Brummell. It is interesting to note that Mr. Kelly had a minor role in this film as one of the Beau's "body dandiacal."

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quite Dandy!, February 16, 2011

By 

Emily D. Agunod (East Coast United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beau Brummell - This Charming Man (DVD)

Quite entertaining story of how dandyism came to be. Beau Brummel changed men's fashion from the foppish style of wearing wigs, makeup, and overdecorated clothes to the more sedate, manly style that we love in Regency movies. The story is not that deep but it does have some moral lessons like the price of extravagance and valuing loyalty and friendship. James Purefoy is perfect for the role Beau Brummel. What became of Beau Brummel was quite common during his time when men were addicted to gambling and excessive spending. He quit England to escape debtor's prison but at least he left a legacy of tasteful fashion that still evident today.