How can my memory of watching this on PBS almost thirty years ago be useful here? Maybe by comparing it to the recent remake. I was disappointed by the remake because the tone had changed. I remember the "original" as being a much darker comedy and therefore(?) a much more inspirational love story -- almost a bi-polar experience.
14 Reviews
Left me breathless
gardenwriter10 November 2005
I'm not kidding. My sister had to remind me to breathe as we sat and watched this excellent drama together. As a college theater major I had worked on this production and so was totally familiar with the plot and characters - but not done this way. The production was stunning; the acting superb - the entire thing was completely riveting. I only wish it was available on DVD as I could probably watch it again and again.
Richard Chamberlain was the perfect Thomas and one could easily see how he could entrance the Allaged witch, Jennet. I also enjoyed Kristoffer Tabori as the clerk, Richard.
It has been nearly 20 years since I saw this show but it still stands out in my mind as one of my all time favorite viewing experiences. Christopher Fry, the playwright, uses language that may sound a bit archaic to the modern ear, but it soon becomes quite normal as we settle in to be absorbed by an entrancing tale.
Richard Chamberlain was the perfect Thomas and one could easily see how he could entrance the Allaged witch, Jennet. I also enjoyed Kristoffer Tabori as the clerk, Richard.
It has been nearly 20 years since I saw this show but it still stands out in my mind as one of my all time favorite viewing experiences. Christopher Fry, the playwright, uses language that may sound a bit archaic to the modern ear, but it soon becomes quite normal as we settle in to be absorbed by an entrancing tale.
A masterful performance
frankboccia3 January 2006
Fortunately, I don't have to rely on my memory (thank God --I'd be in serious difficulty if I did) of the original broadcast because I had the foresight (aka sheer dumb luck) to tape it from the PBS showing. I was living in Washington DC then and the local PBS station offered good, clear reception, so the video was better than I'd expected. A year ago, I translated all my videos to DVD and recently watched it for perhaps the sixth or seventh time.
I would be hard-pressed to voluntarily watch another version of the play, after seeing the superb performances of Richard Chamberlain and Eileen Atkins. I was only 31 at the time, and fell in love with the divine Ms Atkins and have never really gotten over it. Those eyes...
But it wasn't only the two leads: The whole cast was magnificent, with strong performances by Scott Hylands and Stephen McHattie as the two brothers, and a wonderfully doleful Tom Lacy as the chaplain. Laurie Prange is deliciously blond as the bemused Alizon and Rosemarie Murphy will live forever through her entrancing recitation of the line: I will burst my bud of calm and blossom into hysteria." Christopher Fry's language is the bones and sinews of the play, of course. The wit; the detached, almost antiseptic (and thus devastatingly understated) sketching of the evil stemming from human ignorance and greed; the inadequacy of reason against that evil; the even greater inadequacy of despair and nihilism --all of Fry's thoughts are there, although this version does take a few liberties with the text. (I was an English Major and was thus fated to read all the major British playwrights of the 20th century, perhaps because I took a course entitled Major British Playwrights of the Twentieth Century. As I remember, I received a C. In any case, I still have the text and read along with the performance.) The fleshing out of the play comes from the cast, and the sharp, careful direction of Joseph Hardy. In particular, the interplay between Chamberlain and Eileen Atkins is both compelling and appealing. One might think that Chamberlain is too "pretty" to play the part of Mendip, a hard-bitten, disillusioned veteran, but such is not the case. In fact, if anything, his good looks make the internal bitterness come through even more convincingly than if he were a glowering, heavy-featured ruffian. As for Ms Atkins... all she needs is her eyes: expressive (of course) mutable, so large they seem almost unreal, and so full of depth and wonder that you have no difficulty believing that Mendip must eventually succumb, or that she becomes the unwitting object of desire from the Devize brothers. The only wonder is that it takes so long. Two moments among many: when she stands before the Devizes and others with an oration that begins "May I, Jennet Jourdemayne, the daughter of a man who believed that the universe was governed by certain laws, be allowed to speak?" and ends with the wonderful line: "If, as a living creature, I wish in all good faith to continue living, where do you suggest I lodge my application?" The second: (spoken to Thomas Mendip): "And do you think your gesture of death is going to change it? (the world) Except for me." The look in her eyes as she says that to him should make every man afraid of women for the rest of his life. One glance, and you are lost forever --as is Thomas.
Somewhere, sometime, someone will see the wisdom of restoring and re-issuing this classic performance. Until then, I will slip my lil' ol' DVD in the player and fall in love all over again.
I would be hard-pressed to voluntarily watch another version of the play, after seeing the superb performances of Richard Chamberlain and Eileen Atkins. I was only 31 at the time, and fell in love with the divine Ms Atkins and have never really gotten over it. Those eyes...
But it wasn't only the two leads: The whole cast was magnificent, with strong performances by Scott Hylands and Stephen McHattie as the two brothers, and a wonderfully doleful Tom Lacy as the chaplain. Laurie Prange is deliciously blond as the bemused Alizon and Rosemarie Murphy will live forever through her entrancing recitation of the line: I will burst my bud of calm and blossom into hysteria." Christopher Fry's language is the bones and sinews of the play, of course. The wit; the detached, almost antiseptic (and thus devastatingly understated) sketching of the evil stemming from human ignorance and greed; the inadequacy of reason against that evil; the even greater inadequacy of despair and nihilism --all of Fry's thoughts are there, although this version does take a few liberties with the text. (I was an English Major and was thus fated to read all the major British playwrights of the 20th century, perhaps because I took a course entitled Major British Playwrights of the Twentieth Century. As I remember, I received a C. In any case, I still have the text and read along with the performance.) The fleshing out of the play comes from the cast, and the sharp, careful direction of Joseph Hardy. In particular, the interplay between Chamberlain and Eileen Atkins is both compelling and appealing. One might think that Chamberlain is too "pretty" to play the part of Mendip, a hard-bitten, disillusioned veteran, but such is not the case. In fact, if anything, his good looks make the internal bitterness come through even more convincingly than if he were a glowering, heavy-featured ruffian. As for Ms Atkins... all she needs is her eyes: expressive (of course) mutable, so large they seem almost unreal, and so full of depth and wonder that you have no difficulty believing that Mendip must eventually succumb, or that she becomes the unwitting object of desire from the Devize brothers. The only wonder is that it takes so long. Two moments among many: when she stands before the Devizes and others with an oration that begins "May I, Jennet Jourdemayne, the daughter of a man who believed that the universe was governed by certain laws, be allowed to speak?" and ends with the wonderful line: "If, as a living creature, I wish in all good faith to continue living, where do you suggest I lodge my application?" The second: (spoken to Thomas Mendip): "And do you think your gesture of death is going to change it? (the world) Except for me." The look in her eyes as she says that to him should make every man afraid of women for the rest of his life. One glance, and you are lost forever --as is Thomas.
Somewhere, sometime, someone will see the wisdom of restoring and re-issuing this classic performance. Until then, I will slip my lil' ol' DVD in the player and fall in love all over again.
I've actually called KCET to ask that they release this
keyspoet21 December 2003
Even though it has been thirty years, I remember this well, as do my mother and sister. I probably saw it a dozen times over it's KCET run, every time we knew it was going to be on, and loved every showing.
So many in the cast are favorites of mine that I'll refrain from going into each performance, except to say that the casting was excellent all around. Growing up in Los Angeles I was fortunate to see Richard Chamberlain on stage several times, and never better than he was in this role. Kristoffer Tabori stood out as well, as he has done so consistently throughout his career.
If you have the opportunity to see this, DO NOT MISS IT. You will not be sorry.
Message to KCET: PLEASE RELEASE THIS ON VHS/DVD!!!!!
So many in the cast are favorites of mine that I'll refrain from going into each performance, except to say that the casting was excellent all around. Growing up in Los Angeles I was fortunate to see Richard Chamberlain on stage several times, and never better than he was in this role. Kristoffer Tabori stood out as well, as he has done so consistently throughout his career.
If you have the opportunity to see this, DO NOT MISS IT. You will not be sorry.
Message to KCET: PLEASE RELEASE THIS ON VHS/DVD!!!!!
Lyrical, romantic, and memorable
wyatthudson8 December 2005
I saw this performance on PBS many years ago, taped it, and watched it again several times before I lost the tape by lending it to a "friend." Chamberlain's performance is transcendent, and that's not a word I use very often. He convinced me that he is one of America's greatest actors, one of the few who is comfortable with lyrical, poetic language, such as Fry's, and who is totally convincing as a romantic lead. Eileen Adkins is perfect as the cynical Jennet, possible the equal of Pamela Brown who was closely identified with the role. This film needs to be released on DVD so that a new generation can discover the drama of Christopher Fry and see Chamberlain at his best.
I have a copy from 1987
pholmer10 September 2005
I love this play!!! I love the language, the comedy, the characters & the story. This is my most favorite play and that's saying something for a theatre person. I fell into playing a part in it (Nicolas) when I was fifteen and have loved it ever since. I've been in it twice and directed it three times. I was commiserating with the other writers in this list about the play not being available on DVD or VHS. The next day while my wife and I were (finally) cleaning out our garage, I opened a box that had old videotapes in it and there was one labeled "The Lady's Not for Burning, Nov. 1987". I taped it off the air when it was broadcast during a KCET fund-raising campaign. Using my Mac and the EyeTV unit I have, I was able to digitize it and copy it to my hard drive. The next step will be to make my own DVD. It has some video dropouts and glitches, as would be expected from a videotape made almost 20 years ago, but the soundtrack is complete and the picture looks pretty good. It runs 100 minutes, somewhat less than the length stated in IMDb and I know from watching it that there are some lines and references missing. (Thomas' claim that he also killed "a pimp", for instance.) I feel very lucky to have been able to find this lost treasure.
Has it really been 30 years?
lydy2 May 2005
Warning: Spoilers
I fell in love with Richard Chamberlain the night I saw this. If I saw it in 1974, then I was, god help us all, twelve years old. So long ago, and so different a person, and I retain a memory of it that is bright and painful, like sunlight.
"The Lady's Not for Burning" is a world-weary play about the darkness of the human soul, and about the grace that sometimes shines through that darkness and blesses the ones it shines upon.
The setting is a generic town in the generic middle ages. Jennet, a lovely woman of some property, is identified and hounded as a witch, the excuse being that the old rag-and-bones man has been found dead. The mayor of the town promises to hang her tomorrow, but just that night, he's busy with an important party. A mercenary, Thomas Mendip, who has seen too much of the world, demands to be hanged because it was he who killed the rag-and-bones man. The mayor refuses Thomas's request, and insists that Jennet must be hung on the following day. The discussion of who is to be hanged, and why, is so funny you can hurt your sides laughing, and so grim that you want to cry.
The play is, throughout, a darkly humorous portrait of the human condition. The priest who coddles his violin as if it were his only child, is utterly adrift from the world. He is unable to perform any of his proper functions as a priest, or even, really, as a human. He provides an odd counterpoint to the life and death issues that Thomas and Jennet face.
This may be Richard Chamberlain's best performance. It is intense and understated. His Thomas is grim in exactly the right ways, with his generosity and sweetness expressed in his despair, a neat trick, even for a good actor. I've seen Chamberlain in other productions, but none of those performances seem as nuanced and sharply defined as this one.
The later production, starring Branagh, is less impressive. As a general rule, Branagh is a better actor, but in this particular case, he is too arrogant. Chamberlain plays the flamboyant role of Thomas with a humility that makes the character more tragic, and funnier, and in the end, more satisfying than Branaugh's more dramatic rendition. Branaugh draws attention to himself in his role as Thomas, while Chamberlain's performance more realistically portrays what the character is trying to do, not draw attention to himself, but draw attention away from Jennet.
The spirit of this play is very similar to many of Tom Stoppard's plays. And both of them have a strong resonance of Shakespeare.
I, too, wish that they would release the PBS version of "The Lady's Not for Burning." Failing that, I wish it weren't so hard to find either of the other two productions. Surely, it's time for another production? It's such a brilliant play.
(Please note: I'm doing the plot summary from memory. I may well have some details wrong. If so, I humbly beg your pardon.)
"The Lady's Not for Burning" is a world-weary play about the darkness of the human soul, and about the grace that sometimes shines through that darkness and blesses the ones it shines upon.
The setting is a generic town in the generic middle ages. Jennet, a lovely woman of some property, is identified and hounded as a witch, the excuse being that the old rag-and-bones man has been found dead. The mayor of the town promises to hang her tomorrow, but just that night, he's busy with an important party. A mercenary, Thomas Mendip, who has seen too much of the world, demands to be hanged because it was he who killed the rag-and-bones man. The mayor refuses Thomas's request, and insists that Jennet must be hung on the following day. The discussion of who is to be hanged, and why, is so funny you can hurt your sides laughing, and so grim that you want to cry.
The play is, throughout, a darkly humorous portrait of the human condition. The priest who coddles his violin as if it were his only child, is utterly adrift from the world. He is unable to perform any of his proper functions as a priest, or even, really, as a human. He provides an odd counterpoint to the life and death issues that Thomas and Jennet face.
This may be Richard Chamberlain's best performance. It is intense and understated. His Thomas is grim in exactly the right ways, with his generosity and sweetness expressed in his despair, a neat trick, even for a good actor. I've seen Chamberlain in other productions, but none of those performances seem as nuanced and sharply defined as this one.
The later production, starring Branagh, is less impressive. As a general rule, Branagh is a better actor, but in this particular case, he is too arrogant. Chamberlain plays the flamboyant role of Thomas with a humility that makes the character more tragic, and funnier, and in the end, more satisfying than Branaugh's more dramatic rendition. Branaugh draws attention to himself in his role as Thomas, while Chamberlain's performance more realistically portrays what the character is trying to do, not draw attention to himself, but draw attention away from Jennet.
The spirit of this play is very similar to many of Tom Stoppard's plays. And both of them have a strong resonance of Shakespeare.
I, too, wish that they would release the PBS version of "The Lady's Not for Burning." Failing that, I wish it weren't so hard to find either of the other two productions. Surely, it's time for another production? It's such a brilliant play.
(Please note: I'm doing the plot summary from memory. I may well have some details wrong. If so, I humbly beg your pardon.)
Well done!
thatsme4014 November 2001
This play to film was very well done. Not only did it have elements of drama but of comedy as well. I loved the character of the mother. You could very well understand her confusion. I also liked the ending. I prefer pleasant outcomes.
Don't Miss It.
bldd29 September 2011
This is simply one of the finest plays written, performed, and produced. I have seen both versions. I first saw the Richard Chamberlain and Eileen Atkins version as a girl and later was shown the John Gielgud version by a friend who by some slight of hand had it. It is simply exquisitely written and exquisitely performed. If you haven't read or seen this work don't miss out. It does more for the human heart, mind, body and soul than any other work I've read or seen in theater or television and those number quite a lot. It celebrates language and spirit and intelligence and wit. It provides hope which, speaking for myself, is in shockingly low supply.
Richard Chamberlain and John Carradine
kevinolzak13 July 2017
This videotaped adaptation of Christopher Fry's 1948 play "The Lady's Not for Burning" was a PBS broadcast for Hollywood Television Theatre on Nov 18 1974, long revered as the finest filmed version to be produced. Richard Chamberlain as Thomas Mendip is the soldier seeking death rather than a life filled with dreariness, Eileen Atkins the comely Jennet Jourdemayne, falsely accused of witchcraft, both finding a kind of solace in each other's presence after a pair of brothers make unsuccessful passes at her. Thomas wants to be executed for the murder of Old Matthew Skips, happily confessing to the incredulous mayor (Keene Curtis) who refuses to take him seriously. Jennet's connection to Old Skips is to have turned him into a dog, a servant making the charge of witchcraft after hearing the cry of a peacock, assuming it was the devil himself. Prejudice in the Middle Ages has seldom enjoyed a better showcase, capped by the final reel appearance of the man in question, Old Skips, played by the venerable Shakespearean John Carradine, quite a hoot as the drunken sot whose absence is explained by his being away visiting his daughter: "peace on earth and good tall women!"
Perfect production of a perfect play, & Found on DVD
spenycjo30 June 2006
My 2006 review is below, but for the small band of us crying out for this to be on DVD, I found it! Only I can't include the info here--it's against IMDb rules--so Google the title + Chamberlain and look among the results. Yippee!
The review:
This broadcast positively transported me when I saw it on PBS, and I would buy it in a minute if someone had the good sense to issue it on DVD.
There's a version starring Kenneth Branaugh (much of whose work I love) that's very watchable, but it doesn't reach the heights this one does.
If you've never seen or read anything by Chrisopher Fry, as I hadn't, you'll be astonished that it was written for 20th century audiences. It's a serious look at life disguised as a romantic comedy set in medieval England. The cast is uniformly excellent, and Chamberlain and Atkins are magical. (After playing Dr Kildare on American television for several seasons, Chamberlain went to Britain to study and work; he ended up playing Hamlet in a major production. This performance shows what he can do when allowed to.)
They say life's a comedy to those who think..."The Lady's Not for Burning" is a comedy *for* those who think.
The review:
This broadcast positively transported me when I saw it on PBS, and I would buy it in a minute if someone had the good sense to issue it on DVD.
There's a version starring Kenneth Branaugh (much of whose work I love) that's very watchable, but it doesn't reach the heights this one does.
If you've never seen or read anything by Chrisopher Fry, as I hadn't, you'll be astonished that it was written for 20th century audiences. It's a serious look at life disguised as a romantic comedy set in medieval England. The cast is uniformly excellent, and Chamberlain and Atkins are magical. (After playing Dr Kildare on American television for several seasons, Chamberlain went to Britain to study and work; he ended up playing Hamlet in a major production. This performance shows what he can do when allowed to.)
They say life's a comedy to those who think..."The Lady's Not for Burning" is a comedy *for* those who think.
I miss this movie!
chloecat8 January 2005
Take a world-weary mercenary, and throw him into a household of mayor-uncle, convention-bound mom, two lusty, empty-headed sons, a servant, a naive girl just out of the convent and an accused witch about to be burned, put them in a setting of about 1400 AD and stir, and you get this wonderful work.
The elegant poetic language carved its way into a romantic nineteen year old's brain when I first saw this. Later versions just fall flat compared to this performance, partly because so much text was cut out of the later version I saw (a movie with Kenneth Branagh in it) that it lost its internal rhythm (yes, I READ too, and actually read the play later.) Oh, for it to be released on video or DVD!!!
The elegant poetic language carved its way into a romantic nineteen year old's brain when I first saw this. Later versions just fall flat compared to this performance, partly because so much text was cut out of the later version I saw (a movie with Kenneth Branagh in it) that it lost its internal rhythm (yes, I READ too, and actually read the play later.) Oh, for it to be released on video or DVD!!!
Perfect
cgc-1421 February 2012
Fry wrote this in the aftermath of world war II and this production was made as the US left Vietnam. In these post Iraq days it needs to be re-released, as it catches the best and worst of humanity in a single play. There are other versions, but they miss the ache and reality that this production brings forth.
If you can see it, do so.
Our hero is war weary, our lady is an educated woman who speaks French to her poodle and kept a peacock whose cries terrified one of the serving girls such that she was sure it was the Devil himself.. Our hero wishes to die, our lady's wish is to live, and they meet in a justice's home on a memorable spring day.
If you can see it, do so.
Our hero is war weary, our lady is an educated woman who speaks French to her poodle and kept a peacock whose cries terrified one of the serving girls such that she was sure it was the Devil himself.. Our hero wishes to die, our lady's wish is to live, and they meet in a justice's home on a memorable spring day.
A stunning play in a stunning performance
hmd43214 December 2004
One of the great poetic drama works of the 20th century, this has been televised three times; in 1954 with Christopher Plummer, Richard Burton(from the original Broadway cast that starred John Gielgud)and Mary Ure, this version and a later one. Would that this one could be on DVD. Fry has been trying to get this one done again definitively. It is known for the paraphrase Margaret Thatcher made of it when she said, "The lady's not for turning!" Set on a sunny rainy afternoon,and evening in the Middle Ages,the play is a whimsical-serious parable of the aftershock of World War Two, the meeting of a soldier wanting to end it all and a lovely young woman accused of witchcraft and sentenced to burning. It's for people who love language and the interplay of rich comic characters (the townspeople are hysterical).
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