Product Details

• Actors: Diana Rigg, Matthew Modine, Richard Chamberlain, Suzanne Neve, Edward Fox
• Format: Box set, Color, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 5
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: BBC Worldwide
• DVD Release Date: January 13, 2009
• Run Time: 858 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001GJ4U5A
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,218 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Henry James Collection (The American / The Portrait of a Lady / The Wings of the Dove / The Golden Bowl / The Spoils of Poynton)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 01/13/2009 Run time: 872 minutes Rating: Nr

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extensively verbalized dramas of the quest for marriage, February 6, 2009

By 

J. Faulk (New York NY USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Henry James Collection (The American / The Portrait of a Lady / The Wings of the Dove / The Golden Bowl / The Spoils of Poynton) (DVD)

From the inexhaustible pen of American author Henry James (1843-1916)and the well preserved archives of the BBC,two adaptations at 80 min, one at 3 hr, and two at 4 1/2 hr. The stories are laid in England and Italy, involving moneyed characters with very scrupulous attitudes, and some with manipulative and predatory cunning. Marriage is sought as the Earthly Grail, but the more the talk, the longer the delay, the worse the prospects become. The outcome is loss and resignation. "The American" is the most sensational, including a brief scene of brutal sex and a needless death in a duel. "Spoils of Poynton" concerns disputation over the contents of a house between a young man's mother, his fiancee, and a second young woman who would be a better choice. "Golden Bowl," referring to an objet d'art with a rather obscure flaw, explores a quadrangle relatonship: daughter and father are overattached, she marries an overcharming Italian count, her father marries her scheming "friend," who then resumes an amorous relationship with the count. Both "Wings of the Dove" and "Portrait of a Lady" include principal characters who are deathstruck (in Portrait, Richard Chamberlain giving a fine performance), and their generosity does not bring happiness to its recipients. In Bowl and in Portrait, note the actress Kathleen Byron whose modulated, humorously weary delivery, here and there sliding up to a musical note, is so engaging--happily, you can also see her as the nun who goes berserk in "Black Narcissus." To end, the Henry James Collection is splendid and a great buy.

104 of 117 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What is in it?, April 20, 2009

By 

M. Allen "Mio Dio, mio tutto" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Henry James Collection (The American / The Portrait of a Lady / The Wings of the Dove / The Golden Bowl / The Spoils of Poynton) (DVD)

When I bought this I had no idea what I was buying. Here is a list:
The American: 1998, 87 minutes.
The Portrait of A Lady: 1968, 264 minutes.
The Spoils of Poynton: 1970, 169 minutes.
The Wings of The Dove: 1979, 81 minutes.
The Golden Bowl: 1972, 257 minutes.

58 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Loved all but The American, May 20, 2009

By 

Little Dorrit "ldorrit" (WA state) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Henry James Collection (The American / The Portrait of a Lady / The Wings of the Dove / The Golden Bowl / The Spoils of Poynton) (DVD)

Contrary to another reviewer I LOVE the older BBC productions of great novels, they made them with respect for the original. The only modern one included in this set, the American, is simply an abomination of a James story. Be warned that it includes a graphic sex scene, I guess today's no talent filmmakers can't make a film great by sticking to the original and so have to throw some trash in to get an audience. Sad, really really sad.