Customer Reviews

The Catherine Cookson Collection - Set 1 (The Wingless Bird / The Moth / The Rag Nymph / The Fifteen Streets)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Presented in dramatic and superbly crafted productions, The Catherine Cookson Collection: Set One is a four disc DVD collection of film adaptations from Cookson's four powerful novels: The Wingless Bird which is an interesting tale of three eccentric families during a period in which war is nearing, all intertwined with the daughter of a shopkeeper who is hard set on making for herself a better life. The Moth, based in 1913 about a carpenter who leaves his home for work in a small village where his encounter with a peculiar young girl changes his life and understandings. The Rag Nymph is the engaging story of a prostitute's daughter being taken into the home of the main character, a rag and bone lady living in the slums of Victorian Newcastle. The Fifteen Streets depicts a rugged dockworker's love for a wealthy local shipbuilder's daughter and the struggle between the social contrast they share. A welcome and popular addition to community library Video/DVD collections, The Catherine Cookson Collection is very highly recommended to fans of the work of Catherine Cookson, as well those with a particular interest in British drama.

I am glad to welcome the Catherine Cookson Collection-Set 1 into my period film library, and while I have not read any of Ms. Cookson's books, the films are vastly entertaining and will hopefully open up a new legion of fans. The boxed set contains four films: The Wingless Bird, The Moth, The Rag Nymph, and the Fifteen Streets.

The films, produced by Granada television, are well done overall, however they are not quite as sumptuous as many of the BBC productions everyone loves so much; they also tend to be a little bit darker. Despite this, I believe the Catherine Cookson films educate viewers on the behaviors and conditions of England's lower and middle classes and are for the most part highly realistic. They also boast many fine actors: Juliet Aubrey, Sean Bean, Justine Waddell, Honeysuckle Weeks, Jack Davenport, and Crispin Bonham-Carter, to name a few.

My favorite movie out of the collection was The Rag Nymph, the story of a prostitute's young daughter being taken in by a rag and bones lady. Afterwards, The Moth followed by the The Wingless Bird, and finally, The Fifteen Streets.

Catherine Cookson was a master storyteller. Her books continue to sell well. Her movies were hard to find. Now...GREAT NEWS, the British television adaptations of some of Cookson's best stories are here on DVD.

There is usually some violence involved in these Victorian stories as Cookson wrote about the common and poor people of the Victorian era, not the aristocrats. Their life style was much harsher, dirty, and troublesome. Cookson was able to show romance, love, and family value in many of her characters as well. You will get quite a mix of characters, and many will be as unforgettable as the story itself.

The settings for all these story portrayals will give you the urge to travel to the Newcastle area of England to see the sights for yourself.

Warning: Keep this set on the adult shelf. Almost all of the stories, because of the people and region portrayed in the tale, offer segments unacceptable to younger children due to language, sexuality, violence, nudity, or content. But the other 97% is "BANG-ON."

5-stars for each movie in this set.

I am a long time fan of Catherine Cookson and have probably read most of her books. The film adaptations have been pretty faithful to the books and the production values have been top notch. It looks like a whole studio has been created just for her books! Any Cookson fan would be pleased with the transiton of her books to film.

I don't understand why Catherine Cookson is not well known and appreciated in the US. Her novels are fine, gritty social commentary. Her characters are strong and often face difficult moral dilemmas. She is similar to Charles Dickens in her ability to bring characters to life and provide social criticism only with more realism and less sentimentality. Cookson is not for the weak of stomach. The fact that her characters tend to come out on top in the end makes them watchable.

The Wingless Bird is set just before and during WWI. A strong female character of ordinary birth wins the hearts of two successive upper class brothers.

The Moth follows the story of a dock worker who becomes a carpenter then a laborer at an estate. He wins the hearts two upper class sisters on the estate. Jack Davenport is wonderful in this role.

The Rag Nymph follows the life of Millie, a girl with an upper class upbringing as her mother falls into prostitution after the imprisonment of her father. She is taken in by grumpy "Raggie Aggie" the rag seller. Aggie is also raising the cheeky Ben Smith, Jones, or Robinson, a deformed street child of unknown parentage. Aggie and Ben seek to protect Millie from the local Pimp, Boswell, who feels the suicide of Millie's mother has robbed him of his due. Boswell wants to place Millie as a child prostitute serving upper class customers. Aggie uses her savings to place Millie in a convent for her protection. Millie then gains employment on an estate as a nanny. This exposes her to upper class men who seek first to rape then to make her into a mistress. She flees this situation only to fall into the hands of Boswell. Only the efforts of Ben can save her now...

The Fifteen Streets is classic Cookson, set in Tyne Dock, Cookson's home country. The role Sean Bean plays as the promiscuous and jealous brother was the start of his acting career.

I've only just discovered Catherine Cookson's films recently. Being in the US, I never realized just how popular they are and luckily for me, they've adapted many of them to film. Of the 4 films in this 1st box set, I've only seen The Moth and The Wingless Bird. But those 2 have been such great productions, I can't wait to finish the rest. The production quality and actors are surprisingly first rate. Though not as grand as typical BBC productions, these films still capture that authentic feel for these periods. What I like most is that these stories and characters offer more than the typical romances. They always manage to also capture real issues of the day. I'm definitely going to look up the 2nd box as well.

I bought this set for my mother and she loved it, so much so that I bought the next set. If you enjoy period drama then you can't really go wrong with this collection

I purchased this DVD set for mymother-in-law. She was overjoyed with it and has raved about it. She is a huge fan of Catherine Cookson and really enjoys anything she has produced.

These movies are wonderful and done in the most realistic fashion as only the BBC can do. They stick very close to Ms. Cookson's books and I will look at them over and over. This set is very nice and in some of them the ending is happy and some not so happy....but that is the way life really is. Also it was even harder in the UK in the past centuries for the poor. They knew their "place" and did not expect much. Just buy these if you like romance and history and you will not be disappointed.

After watching the semi-porn, violence infested, vulgarly spoken American trash, it was wonderful to watch adult stories presented tastefully.