S14.E5

The Wings of the Dove

Name: The Wings of the Dove
Genre: Drama
Released: 1979-04-08
Duration: 1 h 21 min
Rating: 7
Cast: Elizabeth Spriggs, Betsy Blair, John Castle

Episode aired Apr 8, 1979
1h 21m

IMDb RATING

7.0/10

YOUR RATING

Drama

An impoverished woman who has been forced to choose between a privileged life with her wealthy aunt and her journalist lover, befriends an American heiress. When she discovers the heiress is... Read allAn impoverished woman who has been forced to choose between a privileged life with her wealthy aunt and her journalist lover, befriends an American heiress. When she discovers the heiress is attracted to her own lover and is dying, she sees a chance to have both the privileged li... Read allAn impoverished woman who has been forced to choose between a privileged life with her wealthy aunt and her journalist lover, befriends an American heiress. When she discovers the heiress is attracted to her own lover and is dying, she sees a chance to have both the privileged life she cannot give up and the lover she cannot live without.

IMDb RATING

7.0/10

YOUR RATING

- John Gorrie
- Denis Constanduros(dramatisation)
- Henry James(novel)
Stars

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Featured review

8/10

Late-period Henry James; not easy to like

Disc four of The Henry James Collection. This has been overshadowed by the film of 1997 with Helena Bonham Carter and Linus Roache as the unhappy lovers, a film which I found murky when it dealt with the motivations of Kate and Densher (but was crystal clear about sexual matters--that full Monty from Helena). I'm happier with this BBC version of 1979 with a cast of relative unknowns that does get into the morality of what Kate wants Densher to do, and why he feels so badly about it.

Lisa Eichhorn plays Milly very softly; her voice hardly goes above a whisper yet she manages to create an impression of integrity in the viewer. We see why Densher has a troubled conscience when he comes back from Italy. Suzanne Bertish as Kate is very callous sometimes, when she wants to impress Densher with her resolve, and vulnerable at other times with others. John Castle as Densher is the one weak link: he delivers his lines with a clenched jaw effect that is off-putting.

I admit that late-period James is not my thing. I started Wings and couldn't finish it--those sentences that seem to run on forever did me in. This is a good way to get into the story.

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