Customer Reviews

Rumpole of the Bailey, Set 3 - The Complete Seasons 5, 6 & 7

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am very glad that all the Rumpole's are on DVD. Now I can toss my ageing collection of tapes pieced together from PBS broadcasts over the years when the series was on TV--and not a complete collection at that. "Mystery!" host Vincent Price once said, "We may not have had all the Rumpole's we'd like, but we've liked all the Rumpole's we've had." Amen. I've always felt that the series was basically about friendship and a humorous acceptance of human shortcomings: things we need throughout life. I think that is why the episodes retain their freshness no matter how may times you see them. The slipcase packaging makes it easy to select an individual disk from the set.

Rumpole is as good as ever in Set 3.Photography,acting,story line
are all excellent.Sound could be louder-but at least is fairly
consistent.As uaual,Rumpole wins many of his cases (right at the
end),while often patching up relationships of chambers members.In
turn,he is sometimes helped (re relationships)by one of the two
female barristers.The London scenery is a plus for me. You'll
want to read the reviews of Moore and Behrens of Set 1 regarding
McKern's acting career.Their reviews are just as applicable to
Set 3. Happy viewing!

Here are the (alas) final three seasons of Rumpole of the Bailey. Despite the fact that Leo McKern had been playing Horace Rumpole for over ten years, and that John Mortimer had been writing Rumpole stories for longer than that, these episodes are all fresh and funny. The usual suspects are all present, of course: She Who Must Be Obeyed, Soapy Sam, Miz Liz Probert (played by Abigail McKern, who provides some nice reminiscences of her father and of filming the Rumpole series) and sundry petty-criminal types like the Timsons.

Longtime Rumpole aficionados will wonder from time to time about some of the continuing questions of the series: Why does Phillida put up with her always-unsuccessfully-trying-to-philander husband Claude Erskine-Brown? Where do all these highly bred but incompetent barristers Soapy Sam keeps trying to make room at Equity Court by squeezing Rumpole into retirement for come from? (etc, etc,) We'll never get all the answers, but it will always be fun to watch and wonder.

The episodes in these last three series are usually set in and around London in various courts, but occasionally Rumpole goes further afield and tries cases in the shires. Once he even takes on a Prosecution! (He regrets it almost at once, of course.) The last episode is one of the best: when Rumpole gets in trouble yet again with Justice Oliphant and gets a complaint lodged against him that could result in his disbarment, She Who Must Be Obeyed and Miz Liz make common cause with Soapy Sam to save the day.

Although the seven series were filmed over a period from the late 70s to the early 90s, they remain timeless and undated, like Rumpole himself. What a wise decision John Mortimer made not to seek another actor to play Rumpole when Leo McKern retired!

A perfect example of how to do "who done its." The stories are complex but credible, the acting top rate as one expects from British television pros. Leo has passed away, there will be no more Rumpole stories, so enjoy these.

The picture is wonderful, but I don't understand why there is no closed captioning. I know the last episodes when shown on PBS had it, but that's A&E for you - won't add captioning. Too bad HBO in conjunction with Warner Brothers didn't continue putting the Rumpole series out on DVD. Then we'd have captioning. I'm glad my set one is the HBO/WB set, as THAT at least is captioned.

The product arrived within about 10 days of my placing the order which was in the early portion of the projected window. The box and the DVD's were all in perfect condition (no damages during shipping). Though I have not watched all of the discs yet, the ones I did view had good picture and sound quality.

The protagonist of the show is a British barrister named Horace Rumpole who has a dry wit and a fondness of drinking claret and smoking cigars. Rumpole's clients range from these often accused of petty larceny to ones accused of murder and unlike some shows involving lawyers, he does not always win in court. Though a bit rough around the edges, Horace Rumple is ultimately a lovable character who often likes to quote Wordsworth and Shakespeare both in court and in chambers with the other barristers.

I hadn't gotten to watch these when they first came out. Part of the time during which they appeared, I was busy going to school and working full time and part of it I was travelling between NYC and Minneapolis weekly. I'm an avid murder mystery enthusiast, though, and when I came across the series, I decided to purchase them as a "classic" collection. They are a superb and very well acted presentation.

Each episode is preceded by a short discussion by their author, who was himself an English barrister, and these provide a good insight into some of the issues confronting the court during the period each was written. It also provides some degree of insight into how authors take what is occurring in their environment at the time and render it into a literary work that focuses the reader on the significance of events, making us more alert and aware.

While each story has a great deal to teach the viewer about reality and life in general, they never cease to have a good substrate of humor, if for no other reason than that Rumpole himself prevents anyone, including the audience, from taking themselves too seriously. He always sees the pretence and the foolishness of human behavior, pricking the balloon of pomposity where it deserves it. More importantly he insists upon due process and the rights of even society's villains. Members of the Timson family, recognized and self acknowledged "villains," are often defended by Rumpole, and one of the most impressive of this series, Children of the Devil, deals with one branch of this extended family. It reveals the extent to which officialdom--and we, who are represented by them--despite its best intentions, can be bigoted and myopic when it comes to the fate of a portion of society about which it actually knows very little.

The returning cast members are a delight. I find it difficult to actually decide which of them I enjoy most. Phyllida--Portia as Rumpole refers to her--played by Patricia Hodge is a work of art. She shows the degree to which our job shapes us, especially if we try to do it well, and puts us into positions that we might not personally chose as individuals. She is also a throughly realistic person who accepts the loser that her husband is yet still arranges for him to achieve his greatest goals despite himself. Her ability to achieve her ends by manipulation and ruse has the balance, skill, and poise of the fencer and the forsight of a chess master!

For pure inanity, Claude Erskine-Brown played by Julian Curry is without compare. Almost everything he attempts is so repeatedly revised and censored that even he is confused about his intentions. His waltz around the issue of sexual harassment, until he himself is accused of it, is absolutely priceless. The audience can see him unwittingly digging himself deeper and deeper, knowing that the acute embarrassment he is going to suffer is just around the corner. That it is only Rumpole, to Claude the absolute paragon of everything off shade, who is the only one able to see to the core of the issue and save him from himself is so "hoisted on his own petard" that it makes the whole story. In fact, having seen the thing twice, it was the only part of it that I could remembered well because it was so fitting. One cannot help but see a little of Shakespeare's Malvolio Twelfth Night (No Fear Shakespeare) in the character, he is so often "set up" by his own defects to become the source of amusement.

Head of Chambers Ballard is an equally perfect theatrical creation. The roll is very tightly controlled by the actor Peter Blythe, producing a character that is so pious and priggish, that he reminds one of a comic spinster. His exchanges with Claude Erskine-Brown about harassment in Eternal Triangle is classic British humor at its best. In many instances, it's not what he says that makes one laugh but the way he says it or the context in which he says it.

Another well crafted character is Guthrie Featherstone played by Peter Bowles. His earnestness and his desire for approbation make him rather pathetic but also thoroughly funny as he struggles to be the person he thinks society expects and believes is "successful" and "ideal." His wife and friends see him as he truly is, and it reminds us that we are none of us perfect either. His capacity to put his foot in his mouth is astounding as is pointed out to him in a very amusing scene in Miscarriage of Justice and again in The Tap End.

Rumpole originally irritated me more than anything. I suppose that was because of my own pomposity! As I saw the world from his point of view, in short with the clarity of the true realist, I could see that we do a lot of damage to ourselves and others often times with the best of intentions. It's as though no one actually thinks things through to their logical conclusions. The actor, Leo McKearn, was a perfect choice for the character. I suspect the actor tolerated fools just as gladly! His curmudgeonly ways are indeed irritating, but his heart really is in the right place, as his decision to take dancing lessons reveals. More than any other aspect of the character it is his capacity for saying something totally outrageous about someone under his breath only to be called to repeat it by the person who occasioned it. His more flattering repeat is so close to the original, it's a delight.

Each entry is a gem of British theater.

This is a very fun conclusion (sadly) to this most entertaining series. Some of the best acting in the series occurs here. Watching the entire series gives one a real insight into the British justice system. Leo McKern is as always excellent. Some of the other actors give very excellent portrayals.

The series was a bit slow in the beginning but vastly improved as the series continued.

Leo McKern is perfect in this role and these stories are addicting.Rumpole of the Bailey, Set 3 - The Complete Seasons 5, 6 & 7