Customer Reviews

The Devil's Disciple

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I just watched this wonderful 2-hour BBC program now on DVD. The wit of Bernard Shaw is crisp and biting in the dialogue. The actors, namely Patrick Stewart and Ian Richardson, pump just the right amount of energy, sarcasm, drama, and humor into their lines to make this piece truly enjoyable. Shaw is the only playwright who has ever had the power to make me laugh and cry at the same time. This piece will undoubtedly do that for you.

The DVD transfer is nothing special, though. Some images look a bit grainy. The sound quality is fairly crisp, but everything is perfectly audible. This DVD has one extra, which is also marvelous: a program titled, "The Wit and Wisdom of G. Bernard Shaw." It is a great biography of the playwright's life with scenes and quotes recited by (a 1980s) Christopher Plummer among other fine actors. I would recommend this DVD for purchase by anyone with a remote interest in Shaw or the actors in the program. Also, if you're interested in stories set in Revolutionary War America, I would recommend this to you as well. Basically, if you've clicked on this page out of curiosity, you have what it takes to fully enjoy this program! Enjoy!

The Devil's Disciple is not one of George Bernard Shaw's best-known plays, perhaps because it lacks the cynicism and misanthropy of classic Shaw (Pygmalion, Man and Superman). The characters in The Devil's Disciple are generally likeable people who come to generally good ends. This does not mean that Shaw's satire is absent. His targets in this play are religious and class hypocrisy. The kind of class snobbery represented by General Burgoyne (Ian Richardson), who is determined to commit his atrocities in a gentleman-like manner, may be lost on modern audiences, but Shaw's attacks on religious hypocrisy are quite timely.
The play is set in New England during the American Revolution. Richard Dudgeon (Mike Gwilym) has been called back to his Puritanical home village after his father's death. Richard is in rebellion against the strict morality of his upbringing and does everything he can to shock and scandalize his neighbors and family by claiming to be the Devil's disciple. Richard also brings the news that British troops are marching toward the village arresting and hanging suspected rebels. The local minister, Anthony Anderson (Patrick Stewart), determines to reclaim Richard. The minister invites the reprobate into his home over the protests of his pretty young wife, Judith (Susan Woolridge), then leaves the two together while he answers a parish call. British troops break in, seeking not the reprobate Richard but the upright minister. The British arrest the wrong man, leaving the minister's wife torn between desire to save an innocent man and desire to save her husband. Her confusion is furthered when neither man acts the way she expected.
This 1987 BBC production boasts an incredibly strong cast. Mike Gwilym finds all the nuances in Richard Dudgeon, who is not as free of his Puritan upbringing as he would like to think. Elizabeth Spriggs is both bitter and righteous as Richard's narrow mother. Ian Richardson, as the British commander General Burgoyne, is as cold as he is well-mannered. Susan Woolridge does a competent job with Shaw's least believable part, the young wife who confuses her pity for one man and disappointment with another for a shift in her own affections. But it is Patrick Stewart, as the one man of strong principle and true charity in a town full of hypocrites, who really dominates. When Stewart is on-screen, the contrived plot (even Shaw called it a melodrama) becomes convincing and this production moves from pretty good to outstanding. Anyone who still thinks of Stewart mainly as Star Trek's Jean-Luc Picard should see this performance just to get a better sense of his dramatic range.
For those familiar with the 1959 movie version of The Devil's Disciple, starring Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, and Laurence Olivier, a word of caution. The 1959 movie took large liberties with Shaw's text. This is the play as Shaw wrote it, with each sharp epigrammatic line of dialogue preserved and without the insertion of unscripted action sequences. This is pure Shaw, well-directed, beautifully-acted, surprisingly moving. Highly recommended.

I so much wanted to like this production. I bought it because I was flipping channels not long ago and came across a film version with Kirk Douglas and, in the role of Gentlemanly Johnny Burgoyne, a fantastic actor who I realized only later was Laurence Olivier. I had missed some of Olivier's best lines and so tried to buy the film here on Amazon, only to realize that it wasn't available for purchase in DVD. So the BBC production was the next best thing.

Still, I had very high hopes for it -- with Patrick Stewart and Ian Richardson it seemed almost impossible for it to go wrong. However, if I had thought it through and noticed the date I would have realized that Stewart was playing the Minister, not Burgoyne, which is the role I foolishly expected him in. I'm sure that if it were made again with him in that part he would do it beautifully, as indeed Ian Richardson does here. But Stewart is less suited to the Minister role and I was disappointed not to be getting his Burgoyne.

All in all, the production, while generally enjoyable, was somehow rather tepid. Richard's opening scene should have some irony in it; he should be looking for a reaction in every line that he says, as the only purpose for his hamming it up is to unsettle his relatives; here it is played entirely straight, as if he wholly means what he is saying.

Similarly, Minister Anderson should always give a slight impression of a powerful man not quite placed in his life until he comes into his own at the end; instead, he is curiously bland. The acress playing Judith (the minister's wife) is very good, especially at the end, but should have been made up and costumed to denote younger and prettier; her youth and beauty are what most of the characters respond to for most of the play,and are indeed at the heart of her own self-image, so the audience needs to understand that.

In terms of acting, I actually thought that the best scene was in the last few minutes, when the actor playing Richard makes us suddenly realize just how young the character is meant to be. I was especially impressed when I looked the actor up afterward and realized that he must have been about 40 at the time of the filming. It was beautifully done.

If you're looking to see a production of the play I would not hesitate to recommend this -- it was wonderful to hear the language being spoken by some fine actors. But if you know the play well and have a strong idea of the line readings, then this may disappoint somewhat; too many of the readings seem simply to miss much of the sublety that Shaw, in my view, had in mind.

Of the six DVDs in THE SHAW COLLECTION, this one by far is my favorite. Yes Ian Richardson and Patrick Stewart are excellent in the BBC Theatre Night production of THE DEVIL'S DISCIPLE (UK/Canada-1987), but the show absolutely belongs to Mike Gwilym as the title character, an insouciant fellow who always speaks his mind, no matter who is hurt along the way.

Gwilym had a minor role in the Walter Matthau/Glenda Jackson comedy HOPSCOTCH(1980). His small cinematic resumé is no indication of the man's abilities. Close your eyes when Gwilym speaks and you hear Richard Burton's tone and accent. Both were born just miles apart in southern Wales, which explains it. Gwilym has the same star power as the Welsh actor a quarter-century his senior. His rendering here of 'Dīck' Dudgeon's transformation under the most trying of circumstances from town pariah to local hero is spot on.

Shaw's scripting of Dudgeon's fearlessly aggressive attitude while facing the gallows is consistent with the character's earlier behavior. It's truly a star role capably handled, thus in this version of Shaw's American Revolution-set drama, Mike Gwilym is the one to watch!

Equally delightful is the bonus feature, THE WIT AND WORLD OF GEORGE BERNARD SHAW (TV-Canada/UK-1972). Written, produced and directed by Canadian documentarian Harry Rasky, this program is narrated by and stars Christopher Plummer. He visits GBS's birthplace and spends much time in the home where Shaw died of advanced old age in 1950. Plummer also reads from GB's library and performs a bit of MAN AND SUPERMAN. Four other actors contribute scenes, including Geneviève Bujold as SAINT JOAN (set in a modern prison).

An amusing highlight is "A Little Bit of Luck" from MY FAIR LADY, done in Japanese by a Tokyo theatrical company. Plummer demonstrates his considerable pianistic skills, playing the writer's own instrument. Shaw himself is given opportunity to speak on several occasions, and his unique thoughts close out this 54 minute show, one that should be seen by all fans of the great playwright.

NOTE: Harry Rasky is also responsible for the excellent 80 minute documentary, TENNESSEE WILLIAMS' SOUTH (Canada-1972). Highlights include interviews with Williams, plus Jessica Tandy's recreation of a Blanche DuBois scene that was severely censored in Elia Kazan's 1951 film of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE.

With a title like 'Devil's Disciple' I was expecting some kind of Satan worship or something. What I got was far different and far more interesting.

It's the American Revolution, 1777, as British general Burgoyne comes down from the north, hanging potential leaders to quell rebellion. One such unlucky fellow is the uncle of one Dick Dudgeon (Mike Gwilym) is the "devil's disciple," self-proclaimed.

At about the same time as the passing of his uncle by the British rope, Dick comes back home to his mother and family as they await the reading of the will of his recently deceased father. To everyone's surprise, Dick is given most of the money and property. His mother hates her son, curses him but she has no power over him now that the will has been deemed valid.

Despite these things, Dick is a happy guy and seems to delight in being the foil to the Puritan ideals of the townsfolk.

To throw off the yolk of British imperialism though, it will take certain people to speak out for freedom and Burgoyne's campaign of death is doing its job -- anyone outspoken enough will be hanged.

We also meet the minister (Tony Anderson) of the village, well-played by Patrick Stewart (of Star Trek fame). His eloquent speech and manner are that of a minister -- forgiving, and a solid foundation of faith.

Dick confronts him and also declares he himself is as solid in his foundation of the devil as the minister is of his faith.

The story takes a major turn when the minister leaves his wife and house on an errand, leaving Dick with the minister's wife. Just then, the Redcoats come in and arrest who they think is the minister. Pretending to be the minister, both Dick and the wife (Judith) let the Brits be fooled.

Trouble is, looks like Dick will be hanged! The further story of the trial, of Judith's hatred and then 180 degree turn of emotion is compelling. Also Gentlemen Johnny (nickname for Burgoyne) realizes that his days are possibly numbered, as Patrick Stewart comes riding to the rescue.

Inventive, and clearly a sarcastic interpretation of relations between not only men or women, but that agnostics also have a faith of sorts -- and we all have faith in freedom -- and perhaps that's the real upshot of Americans -- their renewed sense of purpose and freedom rather than the Brit's purpose (in the film at least) of maintaining a status quo.

I have not seen the old version from the Sixties, but this 1987 BBC production is a must-see for sure. The sets were made as if with a play or theater in mind (G. Bernard Shaw being a playwright, this is not surprising) -- painted backdrop, accurate historical costumes as well as in the context of the historical battle that was about to play out with Gentlemen Johnny.

Recommended!

The Devil's Disciple is a wonderful BBC production which is set during the American Revolution (1777) in New England. There are humorous moments and several interesting plot twists leading to a very satisfying conclusion. The entire cast is excellent. Mike Gwilym as the Devil's Disciple, and Susan Wooldridge as the minister's wife, are outstanding. I thoroughly enjoyed this DVD and highly recommend it.

This was superbly acted, as are things Patrick Stewart is in. It was a bit boring in spots though.

This is a great play that carries you away with wonderful acting. Don't miss Bernard Shaw's unique, thought-provoking, funny take on the American Revolution.

I recieved this product in a very timely manner and was very happy with it.