Customer Reviews

Patricia Routledge in Three Portraits (A Woman of No Importance / A Lady of Letters / Miss Fozzars Finds Her Feet)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm one of a few Americans blessed with a multi-system VHS/DVD player so I was able to view these monologues in their original UK VHS import release.

These are 3 monologues written by Alan Bennett...they were originally produced for a BBC TV series called Talking Heads.
The monologues are 30 minutes in length each and are very entertaining and engaging.

Included are:

MISS FOZZARD FINDS HER FEET:

A lady has an affair with a chiropodist

A LADY OF LETTERS:

A lonely busy body who keeps occupied by writing letters to complain about everything and everybody.

A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE:

A woman's life changes after she is 20 minutes late for lunch.

All these monologues show Patricia Routledge performing at her best...and what a range of tallent she has.

If your looking for Hyacinth...stick to Keeping up Appearances...but if you want to see Patricia in a range of emotion in some very interesting and entertaining monologues then this DVD is a must for any Patricia Routledge or British tv fan.

Just a note:

Talking Heads and Talking Heads 2 is available from Amazon UK in two 3 cd box sets and is worth purchasing also...it's a great listen with many more monologues included and performed by some of the UK's best female actors: Eileen Atkins, Thora Hird,
Stephanie Cole, Julie Walters and many more.

"I can't say the service was up to scratch. It smacked of the conveyor belt. In fact, I wrote to the crematorium. I said I thought the hallmark of a ceremony of that nature was reverence, whereas the word that kept coming to my mind was 'brisk.' Moreover, I added, grief-stricken people do not expect to emerge from the chapel of rest to find grown men skulking in the rhododendron with tab ends in their mouths. If the hearse drivers must smoke, then facilities should be provided. I'd heard good things about this crematorium but I hoped that they would agree with me that on this occasion it had let itself down." And with that, Miss Ruddock, a lonely middle-aged woman, has written another of her many letters. Soon, her letters will change her life, and not for the better.

This is one of three, 30-minute monologues written by Alan Bennett for Patricia Routledge. They are part of a series of monologues Bennett wrote for the BBC under the title Talking Heads and Talking Heads II. This excerpt is from A Lady of Letters. Another on this disc is A Woman of No Importance, where Miss Schofield is late to lunch and visits her doctor. The third is Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet. Miss Fozzard works in a department store and finds her life changed when her brother has a stroke. It changes even more when she visits a chiropodist.

In my view, Bennett is one of Britain's great playwrights to emerge in the second half of the twentieth century. His Talking Heads series may seem like an interminable idea...actors playing characters who relate their stories while talking to the camera for thirty minutes each. In fact, these stories are engrossing. If you enjoy writing that can be funny and tragic at the same time, give these a try. Bennett's characters most often are people wrapped up in their own lives, sometimes complacent, constrained by what they believe is proper behavior, often oblivious to what others think of them or how conditions are changing around them. They are people you might not like at first, or may feel pity for, but who, as they tell their stories, become touching and often sad.

Bennett's stories wouldn't work, however, unless he had extraordinary actors to use. Patricia Routledge probably is best known in the United States as Hyacinth Bucket and Hetty Wainthropp on television. She's a versatile actress who has won just about every award there is in Britain. She does a wonderful job of letting us know each of these different women. Miss Schofield comes close to heartbreaking as she keeps her illlusions. Miss Ruddock is exasperating and then almost tragic. Miss Fozzard fares the best, but is unsettled. "I've never had the knack of making things happen," she says. "I thought things happened or they didn't. Which is to say, they didn't. Only now they have. Sort of."

The three monologues were recorded over a span of more than ten years. The color looks good and the pictures are crisp. As extras there is a short television play by Bennett from 1982 with Routledge and a BBC interview featuring both Bennett and Routledge.

Many of my of you state side will no doubt recognise Miss Routledge form "Kepping up Appearances" in which she played the social climbing Hyacinth Bucket "Bouquet". These poignant and touching monologues demonstrate the range of her acting skill.
Originally shown as part of a series called, "Talking Heads" and "Talking Heads 2", they are enthralling works.
I would recommend you see all these works featuring other actors such as the late Thora Hird, Penelope Wilton and Julie Walters. The plays were considered so good and important, they now feature on the national school circulum in England for English studies.

I already was familiar with Routledge from her television roles as Hyacinth Bucket and Hetty Wainthrope, but I hadn't realized what a great actress she was until I saw the three one-woman shows in this set. Absolutely incredible! I can understand how some might find it slow. There isn't any "action" or fast clip editing ... just profound character development which showcased the talent of both Routledge and playwright Alan Bennett.

I was greatly moved by all three portraits. My only disappointment was with a fourth "bonus" performance put on as an DVD extra. The writing and acting were both sensational, but I just didn't like the character Routledge played. But other than that, this was one of the best DVD performances I've ever watched.

If you like Patricia Routledge as "Hyacinth", you will LOVE this DVD. She is fantastic playing all 3 characters. After each segment, I just went "WOW" - she is great!!!

Alan Bennett has the unusual knack of capturing moods of everyday people. Whenever I see or read any of his works I'm reminded of people I have known. These three little portraits do the same and they are brought to life by brilliant performances by Patricia Routledge.
This isn't wizz-bang viewing but comfortable armchair stuff that grips the mind and sets it pondering.

After only a few years of watching some current/recent British mysteries and drama-dies, I've managed to remember some of what I've seen. I caught several "connections" amid the multiple episodes in the "A Bit of Fry and Laurie, Series 4." Guest stars visiting during this, the final Series (a/k/a season), are familiar to viewers who enjoy "Hamish Macbeth" and "Blue Murder" and "Waiting for God." If one listens a lot, even while you laugh (or view the pieces more than once !), for viewers who are especially fond of "Keeping Up Appearances" and thus have branched out and also have seen Ms. Routledge in "Three Portraits (by Alan Bennett)," there is a nice surprise! This is all in addition to all the viewers who are happy to see these comedy shows, in order to see more of non-House Hugh Laurie. I'll have to look up some of the `other' things that Mr. Fry has been doing.

I have admired the acting of Patricia Routledge for many years. Her portrayal of Hyacinth Bucket is another amazing aspect of her abilities as a great performer. We all know a Hyacinth who puts on the airs and aims for everything to be socially successful and by the book. But my heart has always been captured by her sister Daisy. Hyacinth is horrified by everything about Daisy, but Daisy is the good hearted, down to earth, and honest person who is not caught up in trying to act like something she is not. Great characters in a great series full of many laughs. I love it.

I am a fan of Patricia Routledge but have to say that I was very disappointed in Three Portraits. I had our book club over to review the DVD today and three of the five fell asleep in the middle -- and I was one of them. ZZZZZZZZZZZ! I was not a fan of the one-woman performance. I like her interaction with other actors much better.