Emma, Little Dorrit, etc

Darn! It appears that Matthew Macfadyen has been cast as the Sheriff of Nottingham in the upcoming Robin Hood with Russell Crowe. I say darn, not because of MM who is an enchanting actor but because I really didn't want to see Robin Hood since Russell Crowe is one of my least favourite actors. Now that the cast includes Cate Blanchett, Vanessa Redgrave, Mark Strong, William Hurt and Alan Doyle (of Great Big Sea, love that group!), it looks like I might have to take in this flick after all! Perhaps I will soften my attitude towards the Crowster...
[thanks to Lights, Camera...History for this update!]

btw, have you heard Matthew reciting Sonnet 29?

New pics
for the current production of BBC's Emma
with Romola Garai & Jodhi May
can be found at Pemberley

Next week will be the last installment of Little Dorrit on PBS and if you haven't seen this video linked on here already, I'm mentioning it again since I thought it was quite funny especially after being terrified of Blandois...

Video of Sharp-Dressed Man

Thank you to Jane at Reading, Writing, Working, Playing for recognizing me with the Lovely Blog Award. I'm truly flattered!

Britain's Got Talent: I'm assuming most people have seen Susan Boyle's video by now. (Her video has been over 12 million views in 11 days!)

Have you see Shaheen Jafargholi's auditon? I was surprised to see Simon give a standing ovation.

Web of Films - Little Dorrit

Admittedly a little obsessed with making lists, I was looking at the cast of Little Dorrit and noticing how many familiar faces popped up that I recognized from other period films, sooooo...

Here's a list of some of the actors from Little Dorrit and their previous period films

...so far I've counted 116!!!
[thanks to feedback from others]

(If anyone would like to challenge Little Dorrit
in this "contest" of number of period films
and their score of 113, feel free to do so!)

This gorgeous wallpaper can be found at Fields of Green

I'll begin with Robert Hardy who has been more productive in his career (with 26 period films) than Mr. Barnacle ever was at the Circumlocution Office!

Robert Hardy

Margaret, Harry Potter, Agatha Christie, Le grand Charles, Bertie and Elizabeth, Shackleton, The Lost World, The 10th Kingdom, An Ideal Husband, Mrs Dalloway, Gulliver's Travels, Sense & Sensibility, Frankenstein, Middlemarch, All Creatures Great and Small, War and Remembrance, The Woman He Loved, Northanger Abbey, The Shooting Party, Zany Adventures of Robin Hood, The Cleopatras, Winston Churchill**, Twelfth Night, Elizabeth R, Daniel Deronda (same role that Hugh Bonneville played in later version), David Copperfield
[**Hardy has played Churchill in 5 different films]








Matthew Macfadyen
Robin Hood, Pillars of the Earth, Enid Blyton, Marple: A Pocket Full of Rye,
Frost/Nixon, P&P, Way We Live Now, Enigma, Wuthering Heights

Tom Courtenay
The Golden Compass, Nicholas Nickleby, The Old Curiosity Shop,
Let Him Have It, Doctor Zhivago

Alan Armstrong
Garrow's Law, Filth, Bleak House, Oliver Twist, David Copperfield,
Sleepy Hollow, Onegin, Aristocrats, Braveheart, Black Beauty

Judy Parfitt
Dean Spanley, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Ever After,
Berkeley Square, Pride and Prejudice

Eddie Marsan
Sherlock Holmes, 39 Steps, Me and Orson Welles, The Illusionist,
The New World, Beowulf & Grendel, The Last Hangman, Vera Drake,
Charles II, Gangs of New York,
The Emperor's New Clothes, Crime and Punishment

Andy Serkis
Freezing Time, Inkheart, Einstein & Eddington, LOTR,
Longford, King Kong, Oliver Twist, Topsy Turvy

James Fleet
Cock and Bull Story, Phantom of the Opera, Two Men Went to War, Young Arthur, Charlotte Gray,
The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything, A Dance to the Music of Time,
The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders, Sense and Sensibility

Bill Paterson
Miss Potter, Amazing Grace, Bright Young Things, Doctor Zhivago, Wives & Daughters, Sunshine,
Hilary and Jackie, Chaplin,The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, The Killing Fields

Pam Ferris
Within the Whirlwind, Jane Eyre, Harry Potter, Pollyanna, Nicholas Nickleby,
The Turn of the Screw, Our Mutual Friend, Middlemarch

Harriet Walter
From Time to Time, Cheri, The Young Victoria, Ballet Shoes, Atonement, Onegin,
The Governess, Dance to the Music of Time, George Eliot, Macbeth,
Sense & Sensibility, Dorothy Sayers Mysteries

Ron Cook
Loyalty and Duty, Sharpe's Honour




Related post: Six Degrees of Separation

Photos from the set of BBC's new Emma

~ I was just thinking what it was like when I used to sit down to watch a movie for the first time not knowing anything about it, save for a basic plot outline. Fast forward to the present when we hear news about the plans for the production (We offer our opinions as to who should be cast and suffer the disappointment when the BBC

ignores our pleas for Mr. Armitage) We gobble up the news about who has been cast before shooting begins, and now we get a sneak peek at pictures from on the set courtesy of those who are kind enough to share them with us!

I've heard some rumblings about those unhappy with the casting of Romola but personally seeing this pic of her gives me joy!

Now to wait for some glimpses of the new Mr. Knightley!
In the meantime I'll enjoy this earlier pic of him on the right...

(I still think Jodhi looks too young to be her governess)

On another note, thanks to "CW" at C19 for sharing her stories with us of her two days spent hanging out near the set of "Emma". I now have a cute image in my head of Rupert Evans exhibiting his boyish charm while rejoicing over the sight of sweets. I was also amused by the account of the two gentlemen who walked onto the set without regard to filming being underway and just waited for the set people to move the props to allow them into own house which was behind the set. I also got a sense of all the time and effort and the number of people involved in staging a production like this! From CW's account, there seemed to be a general sense of camaraderie among the cast and crew which was wonderful to hear and I think by her account, the moral of the story is: Never underestimate the power of candy!

Romola on set...

(Kentish Express)

Rupert Evans (in gold vest)

>>> back to main page of BBC's remake of Emma
(pictures and links)


Vote in poll about Romola's films on side bar...

Marguerite Volant (1996)

Updated: I just found a copy of this series online...

When the Treaty of Paris is signed in 1763, the French colonists of New France suddenly find themselves subjects of the British Empire. As the world around her crumbles, one young woman fights to keep her home, her heritage and her honour. When Captain James Elliot Chase, the leader of the English soldiers that must stay to protect New France, first meets Marguerite, it's love at first sight. But they will have to go through a lot of hardships before they can finally know the truth about their feelings for each other...
A breathtaking and romantic saga of a courageous woman and the man most likely to betray her.

These 11-part series came out in 1997 and was received with good reviews and sold to 50 countries. I'm still searching for a copy with English subtitles but you can watch the French series online:
Watch Marguerite Volant on Dailymotion
(although series of videos is incomplete)

Starring:
Catherine Sénart
Pascale Bussières
Michael Sapieha
Pierre Curzi
Angèle Coutu


Isabeau & Claude / Marguerite











Eleanore / Capt. James Chase / Lambert












Renaud / Jeanne / Blaise