Customer Reviews

The Lady and the Highwayman

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

When I first saw this movie, it was on a TV movie of the week, I believe on a Sunday night. I did not get in on the names of who was in it, and I wondered who that great looking, gorgeous man was who played Lucias. Well, many years later I'm watching another movie with this great looking, gorgeous man in it and find out his name is Hugh Grant. The man is a great actor.

The story is a romance set back in the days of King Charles II of England. Hugh Grant was, of course, the hero of the story. The heroine of the story, I cannot remember her real name, played Panthea Vine, the damsel in distress, who is saved by the highwayman (Hugh Grant). He takes her back to her home after killing the man who forced her to marry him. He knew the way to her home without her telling him. She later realizes this must be her cousin Lucias who is suspected of being the legendary "Silver Blade".

This movie has its group of meanies, too. Emma Samms is a spoiled, egotistical, but beautiful woman who wants Lucias. He turns her down right away, which really ticks her off. Another meanie is Oliver Reed who plays Cromwell, a well known buzzard back in that time in history.

My brother thought he wasn't going to like this movie, but when he got into it he couldn't leave it. He jumped right up out of his seat when he thought the jailers were going to chop of Panthea's head with an ax.

This is a great movie and everyone who loves romance should get it. By the way, did I tell you it is based on a Barbara Cartland novel? The same Barbara Cartland who has written over 600 romance novels.

This movie was one huge disappointment from beginning to end.

Firstly, I bought the DVD. Big mistake. The transfer was by far the worst I've ever seen and I've watched hundreds of DVDs. It actually looked worse than what I can get when taping something off of regular network television using the EP setting on my VCR. Not only was the whole thing blurry beyond belief, several scenes shake like crazy and through the middle of many of the scenes there were video tracking lines like you'd see on a over used low grade VHS tape. Which is what this transfer was probably taken from. The low list price might have prepared me for the lack of quality of the menu, but for it to be of a better image quality than the movie itself was a bit of a surprise.

Secondly, the movie itself was awful. I love a good period piece movie and I really wanted to like this one despite my misgivings as to where it got it's plot line (although I like an occasional historical romance book, I'm not a fan of Cartland). But there was just nothing to like here. The story was ridiculous, the dialog was atrocious and the acting was just plain bad. Something that I'm at a loss to explain with all the known talent that was in this movie. I'm sure I can't imagine what the director must have been doing to get such a lousy end product.

At first I wanted to give this movie/DVD zero stars, but since I could only go as low as one star I did manage to find one good thing to justify that star. The costumes were wonderful.

Fair warning: If you're thinking about seeing this movie solely because you're a fan of Hugh Grant, you can forget it. He barely strings 10 words together in two scenes and two words together in 10 other scenes. He's just not the major character in this movie that he's made out to be by the cover of the DVD.

This wonderful '80's cheesfest features Emma Samms, Lysette Anthony, and Hugh Grant, speaking in a very weird, strangled manner that is apparently meant to be sexy.

Based on a novel by the immortal Barbara Cartland, the story follows the insipid adventures of the equally insipid Panthea Vine, orphaned heiress and milk sop extraordinaire. We watch as she endures a VERY quick marriage to an evil tax collector (about half hour before he is fortuitously disposed of), meets the hunky, Robin Hood-esque Silver Blade ("Thank you, thank you, Silver Blade!"), prances around the court of King Charles II, makes a powerful enemy (Samms, paying the rent), solves a family mystery and finally winds up fending for her life while being tried for treason.

It's all very silly, and highly entertaining if you're in the proper frame of mind. Other reviewers mention the hammy acting and ridiculous dialogue, but for me that's part of the fun. Rent it if you like costume romances, enjoy laughing at bad movies, or want to feel superior to the bunch of hapless Hollywood stars forced to say things like "My lord Chancellor is like all you men, simply a big belly surrounded by self-esteem!"

If you do see it, watch for the moment when Silver Blade challenges Panthea's husband to a duel. "But he's one of best swordsmen in England!" she cries. "I know that," he replies after a decidedly uncomfortable pause. Priceless.
GRADE: C+/B-

The Lady and the Highwayman is the movie that introduced Hugh Grant to me. I know he was in other stuff before, but this was where I saw him the first time. I absolutely fell in love with him. This movie is one of those swashbuckling kind of stories about a rich man (Hugh Grant) who falls in love with a rich woman; and there's a mean, selfish woman (Emma Samms), as well as Oliver Cromwell (Oliver Reed) trying to break up the two young lovers, as well as kill the young rich woman. Oh, what a tangled web is weaved! Anyway, it's one of those "happily ever after" scenarios and I highly recommend it for all those who love a good love story, as well as those who love Hugh Grant.

Filmed for British cable in the early 90's, this was one in a series of four movies based on the romantic period novels of Dame Barbara Cartland. Set during the reign of King Charles II, THE LADY AND THE HIGHWAYMAN is the tale of a love affair between notorious criminal Silver Blade (Hugh Grant) and Lady Panthea Vyne (Lysette Anthony). When the king's jealous mistress Barbara Castlemaine (Emma Samms) discovers the romance, she decides to send them both to the gallows. Swashbuckling adventure and breathless romance abound in this enjoyable tale. The cast also includes Oliver Reed, Gordon Jackson, Sir John Mills, Claire Bloom, Christopher Cazenove and Michael York.

I'll be honest... You'll either like it or hate it! I happened to really like it. One thing viewers/readers need to keep in mind is that there were several video and two DVD releases of this movie. I own several releases and depending on which you buy, the picture and sound quality varies. In some cases, the DVD transfers are worse than some VHS releases. Remember though that this was made in Britain and unfortunately they did not do a good, quality filming. Even when it was shown on television back in the 80s, the picture was lousy. One release of the film that I found had pretty good sound and picture quality, plus I even saw scenes that I hadn't seen before! If you can get past all that, it's a pretty good story!

Another thing people need to realize about Barbara Cartland stories, as this movie was based on one of her hundreds of books, is that they are "light romances". Not heavy, trashy, gothics. I think of them as being more of an adventure that happens to always have a boy-meets-girl (or lady meets Duke) sub-plot.

So you put all that together and you get a pretty good swashbuckler romance. It's not the greatest, but I've certainly seen worse. If you're a Hugh Grant fan, this is one of those rare glimpses of him before he made it to Hollywood. It's a serious role and I'm not comparing it to "Sense and Sensibility"! I laughed out of embarassment at his role as Edward in that film. But here he plays a highwayman who saves a damsel in distress. Lots of famous faces make appearances in this made-for-TV movie, plus there is a lot of sword play, beautiful costumes, and a 'Robin Hood' theme about it. The location filming is wonderful... Lots of English manors and coutryside! Give this one a try! It's well worth it!

I could not believe that with such a great cast list I could be so totally bored! There is not a single rectifying statement I can make about this film. Oliver Reed, Michael York and John Mills - acting greats, all - are totally wasted in this venture into Cartland insipidity. The dialogue and "action" are filled with cliches, and there could not be a flatter relationship than that between Grant and Anthony - not one spark! Don't waste your time and money.

A romance set in 17th century England should be irresistable to me; especially one with such gorgeous costumes and scenery as this. However, this movie not only suffers from an insipid, silly storyline but from bad dialog as well. All you have to do is watch the very first scene of the movie for a shining example of truly awful dialog. I read Barbara Cartland novels when I was in my early to mid-teens and the story reminds me of some of the romantic tales my gal pal and I would cook up just for fun. Even so, I will give the movie two stars for its beautiful and mostly accurate costumes, especially the women's. It is also nice but rather surprising to see revered veteran actors like John Mills, Robert Morley and Gordon Jackson playing smaller roles in the movie.

Unfortunately the video tape quality is awful and was almost unwatchable in the beginning. Luckily the tape was a gift and I didn't spend a dime on it!

A great movie adapted from the novel by Barbara Cartland starring Hugh Grant, Lysette Anthony, Emma Samms, Claire Bloom, Oliver Reed, Michael York... the list goes on. The story of a highwayman (Grant) who saves a damsel in distress (Anthony) in 17th century England. Lavish costumes, good sword play, and an intriguing story. One of my favorites, even if it is from the 80s. This is one of Grant's earlier films, before coming to Hollywood.

I wasn't expecting high art when I bought this movie but I was at least expecting good acting considering the cast. This movie was so bad it was funny. I watched with a friend and we ended up making comments similar to those on Mystery Science Theater just to stay mildly entertained. The story was lame (to be expected) but the acting was lousy with the exception of Oliver Reed who was pretty good as the bad guy. All this on top of a truly hokey sound track. I have seen other movies in this genre, but YIKES this one takes the cake as the worst by far!