Darcy DOES like to dance!!

Here's how it went down, one afternoon at the Gentlemen's Club...

The following 5 distinguished gents were present:

Both Fitzwilliam Darcys (1995 & 2005), John Thornton, Edward Rochester & Robert Crawley

As the gentlemen were enjoying their cigars and port, the conversation led to how they all had at one time or another been accused of not being amiable simply because they had not been inclined to dance on occasion. Upon further discussion, it turns out that the gentlemen in question all shared an interest in dancing but not of the ballroom style. Once they discovered that they all were secretly fond of hip-hop, they wasted no time in strutting their stuff.

Featuring: Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen, Richard Armitage, Toby Stephens, Hugh Bonneville

Afterward, one of the gents suggested that they should show their fancy new moves to their respective spouses in order to finally dispel their "brooding" stereotype but the idea was unanimously dismissed. After all, they do have a reputation to uphold...

Unknown to the men, their secret did get out
and their wives had their own fun...

Not to be outdone by their husbands, the wives of the men at The Gentlemen's Club had heard whisperings of the men's now infamous dance moves. The two Darcys, Rochester, Thornton and Crawley had wanted to keep their secret love for hip-hop under wraps but the ladies had tracked down the video and enjoyed a hearty laugh. Of course, the women had something to prove now - that ballroom dancing wasn't their only genre of dance either...

Elizabeth Bennett (1995 & 2005), Margaret Hale, Jane Eyre, Cora Crawley

Featuring: Jennifer Ehle, Keira Knightley, Daniela Denby-Ashe, Ruth Wilson & Elizabeth McGovern



Austen men like to boogie!

After hearing of the jolly good time had by Darcy, Thornton and pals doing their hip-hop at The Gentlemen's Club, some Austen leading men decided to try a dance of their own! Their specialty turned out to be groovy moves from the 1980's...

Mr. Knightley, Capt. Wentworth, Edmund Bertram/Knightley, Col. Brandon, Henry Tilney

(Featuring: Jeremy Northam, Rupert Penry-Jones, Jonny Lee Miller, Alan Rickman, JJ Feild)

Merry Christmas everyone!

It's Raining Men (Period Drama fanvid)

Do you have 10 minutes to spare? Ready for a little downpour?

Then get ready for "It's Raining Men"!

180 film clips,
from 135 different films,
starring 148 different raining men!!

There are more than one period drama fan videos using this same song but I had so much fun revisiting some of my favourite period dramas (and oh, let's face it, admiring the men) in this great video created by gsbohn.

Thanks for such a wonderful diversion
and I appreciate the hard work you put into it!!
[On Youtube, she explains that it took a 100 hours worth of work, wow!]

Ready ladies?

Be sure to visit gsbohn's channel to leave a comment or see her other videos...

Gentlemen To Bed! - amusing video

Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan discussing
the hearty role of a gentleman in costume dramas,
...all in jest of course.
(shown on left in Cock and Bull Story)

Taken from part of their series The Trip on BBC2.

Pride & Prejudice told through emoticons

Came across this abbreviated version of P&P on bookshop's Livejournal and thought it was clever and cute! Check it out!

Pride & Prejudice: a drama in triple i parts, as told by Yahoo! Emoticons.

PART I:

~Longbourne~

Bingley:
Darcy:

Meryton:
Mrs Bennet:
Mr Bennet:

Jane:
Bingley:

Darcy:
Lizzie:
Darcy:
Lizzie:
Darcy:


-> CONTINUED on bookshop's journal
(See entire version)

-> See also: P&P told in facebook updates, P&P told thru Twitter,
conversations between cast of N&S and P&P...

Brontë Sisters Power Dolls

I came across this video a week ago, thought I'd post it here for those who haven't seen it yet and might appreciate the humour.

Made by Phil Lord and Chris Miller
"This was a fake commercial we made in 1998 for a series of educational shorts about action figures based on historical figures. Its educational value was somewhat suspect. It was never aired."
...until now where it's making waves among Bronte fans! :)

Wonder what Charlotte, Emily and Anne would think?

Can you Place the Face? (Part 2)

Here are some older pics of some actors
that starred together in a 2001 award-winning film
about a murder that takes place in an English country house in 1932.

Can you recognize them? Can you place the face?

~ "Downstairs" characters ~

HM

EA

DJ

~ "Upstairs" Characters ~

CB

GJ and CD
(GJ not in the mentioned film but she's been in other period films)

MS

I don't think other clues are needed as this one is probably easy enough!

-> Answers

-> more posts "Just for Fun"

Can you Place the Face? (Part 1)

I came across this photograph of this lovely actress and wondered who she was,
only to discover that she was one of my favourite characters
in one of my all-time favourite period dramas! I didn't recognize her which led me
on a scavenger hunt of other images of favourite actors in their early years.

Can you recognize them? Can you place the face?

The first 4 actors pictured can all be seen in the same mini-series
based on the unfinished work of British author "EG".
I'll give you their initials...

Clues:

In the mini-series MG and PW were married to each other,
FA played the 'evil stepmother'
and BLH was the 'Lady of the Towers' with a humorous lisp...

MG & FA can also be seen acting in another acclaimed series
based on another novel by the same authoress EG.

MG

PW


FA


BLH

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The next 3 actors all acted together in a mini-series.

Clues:
The series was based on a novel by American author "EW".
(It's one of the pics shown in my header.)

MK and CL's characters were romantically linked
and RL was the matriarch of an aristocratic family in the series.

These 3 actors also share a connection with actor Nicholas Farrell (shown):
MK acted with Farrell in Foyle's War
CL acted with Farrell in Casualty 1906, 1907 and 1909
RL acted with Farrell in Jewel of the Crown


MK


CL


RL

-- > answers

Motivational Posters - Emma edition

I was just thinking how fun it would be to have a calendar
made up of Period Drama Motivational Posters...

Thanks so much to Shelly for sharing her creations
based on the latest adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma!

>>>More motivational posters here

One degree of separation...

The Brady Bunch ~ Family Ties ~ Partridge Family ~ The Waltons

Star Trek

What's the common thread of these 4 (make that 5!) television series
that is related to period drama?

Answer: Louisa May Alcott!

Eve Plumb (Jan in Brady Bunch),
Meredith Baxter (Mom in Family Ties)
and Susan Dey (Laurie in Partridge Family)
played Beth, Meg and Jo March respectively in a series of Little Women in 1978.

Thanks to Phylly for pointing out that William Shatner (Capt. Kirk in Star Trek)
played Frederick Bauer in this adaptation. Hmmm, that does sound interesting!

Ellen Corby (Grandma Walton) also was featured in an adaptation of Little Women,
She played Sophie, Mrs. Kirke's maid in the 1949 film that featured June Allyson as Jo.

Meredith Baxter can also be seen in The Inheritance (1997) based on an Alcott novel.

>>videoclip of 1978 series

>>Six Degrees of Separation

It's All Relative - January 2010

Updating to add more acting couples to "It's All Relative" section of the blog
...including one couple who I'm sure most people know are married,
especially if you reside in the UK. I've been meaning to add them but kept forgetting!
And they're two of my fave actors!!
The other two couples are in two movies that I just watched and enjoyed this past week!

Matthew Macfadyen and Keeley Hawes
Can't believe I hadn't added this lovely couple before now!
They married in 2004 and are parents to Myles, Maggie and Ralph.

Keeley in 'Wives and Daughters', 'Our Mutual Friend' and 'Under the Greenwood Tree'
Matthew in 'Little Dorrit' and 'Pride and Prejudice'

Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber, shown on left in The Painted Veil
are a couple with two children: Samuel and Alexander

Peter Sarsgaard and Maggie Gylennhall
Maggie shown in 'Mona Lisa Smile' and Peter in 'An Education'
They married in 2009 and have a daughter Ramona.

More related actors have already been added to
IT'S ALL RELATIVE

Chat between N&S and P&P

With the comparisons that have been made between the dramas of 'Pride and Prejudice' and 'North and South', it's no wonder that someone has allowed us to "eavesdrop" on conversations between the leading characters. Thanks to the creative minds who wrote these exchanges for providing a chuckle! (These have been around for a while but I haven't posted them on here before now.)

Conversation between Mr. Darcy and Mr. Thornton
(found on Foolish Passion)

Conversation between Margaret Hale and Elizabeth Bennett
(found on What Would Lizzie Bennett Do?)

Thanks to Peri for alerting me to the second one!

POLL - Period Movies of 2009

Which of these period dramas from the past year have you seen? (poll below)

Which ones would you like to see??
If you're like me, I'm waiting for the chance to see a lot of these films!

As we approach the end of 2009, I was surprised to see how many period films made their debut this year. Many of them are smaller films or made-for-tv so they're not as well known. And some have only debuted in December so many of us haven't yet had the chance to catch them!