A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

There are a couple of films that I recall seeing for the first time in Fox's screening room on the west side of Manhattan during my college years that have never lost their power for me.  The original Planet of the Apes was one.  Stanley Donen's Two for the Road, with its lovingly sharp dialogue and continuity from Fredric Raphael, another.  Ant then there was Ronald Neame's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

Jean Brodie was the first film that really created my respect for the great Dame Maggie Smith (yes, she was acting before Downton Abbey and Harry Potter) that remains with me some 45 years later.

Taking place in Edinburgh in the 1930s, the film, at least on the surface tells the story of the relationship between a teacher and her students.  But it is so much more.  Mix in superb performances the young women playing the students, especially Pamela Franklin (The Innocents), and add a touch of classic cinema via Dame Celia Johnson (David Lean's Brief Encounter), and the picture begins to pull together.

As offered by Twilight Time, the Fox production is never less than a perfect Blu-ray.  Imagery and audio are superb, as we've come to expect from Mr. Belston and his team.

One of the great film of the 1960s, that beautifully stands the test of time as an extremely piece of literate cinema.  Jean Brodie is a based upon the novel by Muriel Spark, and the play by Jay Presson Allen, who also provided the screenplay.

Now if we could get Two for the Road on Blu...

For those who may be fearful of being known to watch a  film about the goings on at a private girls in the 1930s, just jump in.  There are untold pleasures to be experienced.  Did I neglect to mention a title song that works...

Image - 5

Audio - 5

Pass / Fail - Pass

Very Highly Recommended

RAH

Malcolm Bmoor said:

I'm surprised at the lack of general knowledge of anything but tv & films. Maggie Smith has been a leading actress since at least the start of the 60's and, after a great deal of success in revue, was one of the great attractions of The National Theatre during its formative years. A significent glory was her Beatrice with her then husband Robert Stephens as Benedict, with whom she later did Private Lives directed by John Geilgud. She even spent several years leading the Stratford Ontario company before returning to the UK. I suggest you do a little research in order to fully appreciate her astonishing career achievements and longevity.

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Robert Harris said:

especially as the film was not yet in release, so no reviews, no advance warning, and nary a blog, tweet or Facebook posting in sight.RAH

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Malcolm Bmoor said:

Apologies for any unintended rudeness about Maggie Smith but when people with superb stage credentials, unseen by solely moviegoing & tv watching audiences, have film, or tv successes they tend to have that work alone mentioned by journalists ignorant of theatre. There was a sad example today when David Ryall died. Any London theatregoer has seen him in utterly marvellous work but the headline was HARRY POTTER ACTOR DIES.

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Malcolm Bmoor said:

Apologies for any unintended rudeness about Maggie Smith but when people with superb stage credentials, unseen by solely moviegoing & tv watching audiences, have film, or tv successes they tend to have that work alone mentioned by journalists ignorant of theatre. There was a sad example today when David Ryall died. Any London theatregoer has seen him in utterly marvellous work but the headline was HARRY POTTER ACTOR DIES.

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Bob Cashill said:

When Smith passes I fully expect many headlines to read "Harry Potter Actress Passes." That and Downton Abbey are what a broad readership know her from today.

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Allansfirebird said:

The problem is, headlines have to go for the attention grabber. A lot of the people that are going to be seeing the obituary headlines online like that are likely not going to be theatergoers. He may have had a litany of impressive stage work, but that's not as attention-grabbing as a headline involving a Harry Potter mention. Once people read the obit, then they can get the particulars of their work.

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