Patricia Routledge in Three Portraits (A Woman of No Importance / A Lady of Letters / Miss Fozzars Finds Her Feet)
by Giles Foster
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Alan Bennett, Patricia Routledge, Stephanie Cole, Steven Beard, Thora HirdDirector: Giles Foster
Brand: Warner Brothers
Writer: Alan Bennett
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Unknown; English (Original Language), Unknown
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, Letterboxed, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 123 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-02-03
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: BBC Warner
DVD Reviews of Patricia Routledge in Three Portraits (A Woman of No Importance / A Lady of Letters / Miss Fozzars Finds Her Feet)
DVD Review: Extraordinary Work By Alan Bennett And Patricia Routledge
Summary: 5 Stars
"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.
More Patricia Routledge in Three Portraits (A Woman of No Importance / A Lady of Letters / Miss Fozzars Finds Her Feet) reviews:
1 2
1 2
Description of Patricia Routledge in Three Portraits (A Woman of No Importance / A Lady of Letters / Miss Fozzars Finds Her Feet)
Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 02/22/2005 Run time: 123 minutes Rating: NrBestsellers in DVD
![The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS]Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS]by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops:
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
![Strike the Original Match [VHS] Image](/images/Strike-the-Original-Match-VHS-0001374079-X.jpg)
Strike the Original Match [VHS]New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] Image](/images/Medjugorje-The-Miracles-and-the-Message-VHS-0001373293-X.jpg)
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops:
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single Userby Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops:
Cost Accounting [VHS]by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Keeping Up Appearances: The Full Bouquet - Special Edition DVDWarner Brothers; Release date: 2011-01-04; DVD
Best price: $57.49
Price in other shops:
Snoop Sisters Complete SeriesRelease date: 2011-06-14; DVD
Best price: $29.49
Price in other shops:
Are You Being Served? The Complete CollectionWarner Brothers; Release date: 2009-08-11; DVD
Best price: $47.99
Price in other shops:
The Vicar of Dibley - The Immaculate CollectionWarner Brothers; Release date: 2007-10-09; DVD
Best price: $45.99
Price in other shops:
My House in UmbriaSMITH,MAGGIE; Release date: 2003-11-25; Published: 2003-11-01; DVD
Best price: $4.45
Price in other shops:
The Funny Ladies of British ComedyWarner Brothers; Release date: 2011-01-04; DVD
Best price: $3.40
Price in other shops:
The Uncommon Reader: A Novellaby Alan Bennett
Picador; Published: 2008-09-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.95
Price in other shops:
Maggie Smith at the BBC (The Merchant of Venice / The Millionairess / Bed Among the Lentils / Suddenly, Last Summer)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2008-05-20; DVD
Best price: $16.99
Price in other shops:
The Complete Talking Headsby Alan Bennett
Picador; Published: 2003-05-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.95
Price in other shops:
The Alan Bennett Collection featuring An Englishman AbroadWarner Brothers; Release date: 2011-03-29; DVD
Best price: $27.49
Price in other shops: