Product Details

• Actors: Helen Mirren, David Morrissey, Harry Andrews, Norma West, Oliver Ford Davies
• Directors: John Gorrie
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Studio: Tapeworm
• VHS Release Date: October 16, 2000
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005BJQF
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #302,118 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The magnificent Helen Mirren soars through British TV movie Cause Célèbre, a true-life story of a scandalous murder in 1930s England. Soon after Alma Rattenbury (Mirren) hires an 18-year-old named Bowman (David Morrissey) to help around the house, she falls into an affair with the much younger man. Madly in love with her and jealous of her much older husband, Bowman rashly murders the elderly man. When the lovers are put on trial, the tabloids rant less about the murder and more about the sin of Alma's middle-aged passion. The storyline of Cause Célèbre contains few surprises, but it's skillfully written--the mordant wit of Alma's and Bowman's lawyers blithely discussing how each intends to blame the other's client is delicious--and wonderfully acted by Morrissey; David Suchet as Alma's celebrated lawyer, T. J. O'Connor; and especially Mirren, whose intelligence, sexiness, and empathy make her every scene fascinating. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Uneven is the Keyword, February 9, 2006

By 

Kino (S.F., CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cause Celebre (DVD)

Helen Mirren can always dazzle; all these Brits are so well trained but this vehicle is not up to their talents. David Morrissey looks promising, but is uneven in this part. He's good playing innocent but I didn't buy his character's evil side. It may be the fault of the screen play. They managed to take an interesting (true) story and totally muddle it. I'd love to see this re-made for the big screen.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Helen Mirren and David Suchet, Two Favorites of Mine, September 13, 2009

By 

TinaC "Tina" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cause Celebre (DVD)

And I love just about anything they star in. But then the story is quite good too. Mirren's a convincing cougar in this older woman-younger guy caper. If you like H. Mirren and D. Suchet, you'll enjoy this movie for those two reasons alone.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Atmosphere and depiction of time period is great, August 17, 2009

By 

Susan J. Lynn "SJLynn" (Southern Missouri) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cause Celebre (DVD)

I really enjoyed this movie. My husband had purchased it in a resale shop and we watch it when our cable was off. I especially enjoyed Helen Mirren. You can't go wrong when she is in a film. I looked up the actual story and I think they depicted the story well. It is another case where if these two individuals (Helen) and the young boy (George Stoner) hadn't met, there wouldn't have been a murder. Even though she was found innocent of the actual murder, the public felt she was responsible. She couldn't live with the gossip or remorse and killed herself. She had two young sons to live for but it wasn't enough for her to fight for. She seems to have been somewhat a weak individual but she also was awarded a medal for bravery in WWI. So how can you tell. Mr. Stoner (the young man) was released after 9 years and lived to the ripe old age of 83. Maybe she should have thought twice before she killed herself.