Product Details

• Actors: Pauline Collins, Art Malik, Roy Marsden
• Directors: Na
• Format: Color, Content/Copy-Protected CD, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: KOCH VISION
• DVD Release Date: August 5, 2008
• Run Time: 287 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0008EN6O0
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #106,652 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Studio: E1 Entertainment Release Date: 08/05/2008 Run time: 287 minutes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best......, April 19, 2003

By 

Dianne Foster "Di" (USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: P.D. James - The Black Tower (DVD)

P.D. James is unequaled among contemporary mystery writers, an anachronism, a member of an older order that has sadly passed away. Like her counterpart-Dorothy Sayers-James not only provides an entertaining story filled with compelling characters and a well formulated plot, she is a realist who presents the world as it is-filled with moral ambiguity. Fortunately, the BBC dramatization of THE BLACK TOWER is faithful to James' book, and Lance Entertainment has been faithful to the BBC production-all 287 minutes. I have purchased the majority of the BBC-PBS Mystery productions and find the quality of this DVD a 10.

THE BLACK TOWER may have been the first P.D. James mystery filmed (1985?) but it is certainly one of James' better tales. She uses the country house setting-in this case Toyton Grange, a nursing home in East Anglia on the North Sea owned and run by a middle-aged man who may have been cured of MS on a visit to Lourdes. Typical of James, there is little bloodshed-her victims more frequently succumb to poison or smothering, leaving suicide as well as homicide a possible cause of death. By the end of the story, six people are dead and a more than a few have come close to the edge.

BBC television productions from the 1980s are akin to the U.S. staged television productions of the late 1960s and 1970s. The BLACK TOWER is a classic example of the era when stagecraft was more important than "special effects." The actors in this production include the wonderful Pauline Collins who played `Shirley Valentine' in the film and on Broadway where she won a Tony Award, and who was a member of the `Upstairs-Downstairs' cast. Other actors include Art Malik and Rachel Kempson from the "Jewel in the Crown" series. Roy Marsden is his usual quizzical self.

I like the video as well as the audio effects in the BLACK TOWER. Modern film makers use `fuzzy' mikes that drown out much of the background noise, which they then augment with synthetic sound. This `sound editing' is supposed to enhance the viewer's audio experience (mood altering, etc.), but what a treat to "hear" a film made before these modern advances. While it is true many of the shots where made on a sound stage, more than a few were filmed outside. The verisimilitude of the natural environment provides one with a sense of "being there" where a real breeze can be heard and it's effects seen, and real birds chirp in the bushes and trees.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dalgliesh I hardly recognize you here, March 2, 2005

By 

E. Holmes (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: P.D. James - The Black Tower (DVD)

The Black Tower is one of my favorite PD James novels. I love the way that James uses dialogue by supporting characters to make one reflect on what Dalgliesh's inner thoughts and feelings might be. This novel has some particularly cutting commentary about disability and how that affects one's perception of oneself and relationships, and some discomforting reflections on the uncomfortability of the physically able in the presence of the disabled and their (the physically able) need to de-sexualize the disabled and aged. This is one of the novels where we see Dalgliesh at his most introspective. He is questioning himself and his profession and has resolved to leave the force and stop being a detective.

However, the ITV version of Black Tower loses all of this. It is only a detective story. Yes, it's good and entertaining. The supporting cast is generally good, and Pauline Collins is really excellent (I liked her performance here even more than in 'Shirley Valentine' where she was also great). I give it 3.5 stars on the merit of the film and the performances by themselves.

But as an adaptation of the book, it really falls short. No doubt, it was the intention to focus on the detective story part of the book. But this is one PD James book that I wish would be remade with another actor giving a more introspective performance (for example Shaw who starred in the lastest PD James adaptations). Don't get me wrong; I've seen all the PD James adaptations with Marsden and I certainly enjoy watching him, but IMHO he never convincingly conveyed the poet aspect of the character. PD James herself has said as much in some of her interviews. This side of his character is at the core of this particular novel (unlike some of the others), and I barely see a similarity between the Dalgliesh being played in ITV adaptation versus the poet Dalgliesh who we get to see in the novel.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "The Black Tower (1995) ... Roy Marsden ... Koch Vision (2008)", July 26, 2008

By 

J. Lovins "Mr. Jim" (Missouri-USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: P.D. James - The Black Tower (DVD)

Koch Vision presents "THE BLACK TOWER" (2005) (287 mins/Color) -- the 1995 detective novel is the fifth book in the Commander Adam Dalgliesh series by P. D. James --- Unsettled by a brush with death and disenchanted with his job in the Force, Commander Adam Dalgliesh (Roy Marsden) responds to an invitation to visit an old family friend, the chaplain at a private home for the disabled in Dorset --- On arrival he discovers that his host has died suddenly --- Commander Adam Dalgliesh is knee deep into a another series of mysterious deaths in this miniseries based on the popular novel --- When three seemingly disparate murders and two bizarre suicides plague Toynton Grange, where Dalgliesh has gone on vacation, he won't rest until the mystery has been solved.

Under the production staff of:
Ronald Wilson - Director
William Humble - Screenwriter
P.D. James - Novel
John Rosenberg - Producer
Richard Harvey - Original Score
Kevin Waters - Film Editor

The story line deals with Adam Dalgliesh (Roy Marsden), convalescing after a severe illness, arrives at Toynton Grange (Dorset coast), the rest home for the young disabled, just too late to find out why his old friend Father Baddeley (Maurice Denham) had sent for him --- The monk-robed Wilfred Anstey (Martin Jarvis) and his staff are an odd lot, as are the few patients, all in wheelchairs --- There's already been a suspicious suicide, and Dalgleish is not satisfied that the old priest's death was caused by myocarditis alone --- Handicapped by poor health, he finally manages to unearth the secret of the grange --- Unpleasant people, but good final scenes.

the cast includes:
Roy Marsden ... Commander Adam Dalgliesh
Pauline Collins ... Maggie Hewson
Martin Jarvis ... Wilfred Anstey
Maurice Denham ... Father Michael Baddeley
Rachel Kempson ... Grace Willison
Norman Eshley ... Victor Holroyd
John Franklyn-Robbins ... Henry Carwardine
Carol Gillies ... Dot Moxon
Richard Heffer ... Dr. Eric Hewson
Harriet Bagnall ... Ursula Hollis
Andrew Hawkins ... Steve Hollis
Valerie Whittington ... Jennie Pegram
Sheila Ruskin ... Harriet
Antony Carrick ... Assistant Commissioner Parker
Valerie Holliman ... Alice

SPECIAL FEATURES:
BIO:
1. Roy Marsden
Date of Birth: 25 June 1941 - Stepney, London, England, UK
Date of Death: Still Living

Special footnote, Roy Marsden (born on June 25, 1941 in Stepney, London) is a British actor, who is probably best known for his portrayal of Adam Dalgliesh in the Anglia Television dramatisations of P. D. James's detective novels.

Great job by Koch Vision --- looking forward to more high quality titles from the BBC Collection film market --- order your copy now from Amazon or Koch Vision where there are plenty of copies available on DVD, stay tuned once again for top notch releases --- where they are experts in releasing long forgotten films and treasures to the collector.

Total Time: 287 mins on DVD ~ Koch Vision KOCV-6610 ~ (8/05/2008)