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Deborah Kerr disappoints in Last of Mrs. Cheyney
TORONTO - 1978
Considering that the play is embarrassingly dated, that it is overlong and entirely inconsequential and that Deborah Kerr is too old to play the title role, the Royal Alexandra production of The Last of Mrs. Cheyney is a passable evening of theatre.
In his time (the 1920's), British playwright Frederick Lonsdale was sort of the Neil Simon of his age - a flip writer of lightweight social comedies that rolled along on ball bearings of terse witicisms. On Approval (which played Hamilton Place last year) and Mrs. Cheyney were probably his best, but even in those he was never as prickly or funny as Noel Coward whose mind was faster and fresher.
Still, in Mrs. Cheyney Lonsdale comes up with a few gems, like the Hon. Willie Wynton who admits he's such an ass he admires anyone who isn't or the cynical observation that, "The only nice women in the world are those who have had no opportunities."
Nice woman
The nice woman in this case is supposed to be the Australian widow Mrs. Faye Cheyney (Kerr), adopted as it were by upper class English lady after they bumped into each other on a shopping spree in Paris.
Beautiful and charming, she naturally attracts the attention of the handsome Lord Dilling (Monte Markham), notable mainly for the trail of seduced women left in his wake, as well as that of the not very handsome but assiduously upright Lord Elton, a baritone coatrack in grey tux.
The butlers are insolent, the guests delight in insulting one another, the charity concert is boring beyond belief so Lonsdale injects a little intrigue involving false appearances and Mrs. Ebley's titanic diamond necklace.
Frank Dunlop's direction charges admirably through the first act, hoping to minimize the numbing effect of its mindless, endless, drivel, before depositing us in the second half where the comedy dinally flares into laughter.
And the supporting cast, it must be conceded, is excellent, playing a menagerie of uppercrust loonies. Both Markham and Stephen D. Newman (as Lord Elton) are consistent caricatures. Gavin Reed is farcicas as the scatter-brained Willie Wynton, Ruth Hunt is a silly flapper whose fits of giggling can only be halted with the application of ice and joyce Worsley plays the blimp-like Mrs. Ebley with patrician disdain.
The only disappointment, in fact, is Miss Kerr. In her time she would have made the quintessential Mrs. Cheyney. After all, she was nothing if not the good woman in Tea and Sympathy, An Affair to Remember, The King and I and a few dozen other films.
But this is not her time. And the echoes of her poise and blonde beauty only remind us of what Mrs. Cheyney is supposed to be and what Deborah Kerr once was.
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NOT MUCH THRIVES IN A CHALK GARDEN . . .
Excellent cast, stirring drama
I would recomend this movie to Hayley Mills fans - Deborah Kerr fans or fans of excellently made and performed dramas !
Miss Madrigal (Deborah Kerr) is a mystery to 16-year-old Laurel St Maugham (Hayley Mills). She has been hired by Laurel's wealthy grandmother, Mrs. St. Maugham (Dame Edith Evans), to be Laurel's governess. Laurel has driven off many governesses in the past. Her record was eliminating three in one week !
This is a very deep story of what can happen when a mother's love is denied a young girl by a grandmother who means well in her heart, but lets hateful feelings toward her ex-daughter-in-law interfere with the raising of her granddaughter. Laurel's mother wants her daughter. She is remarried and pregnant and would love nothing more than to raise Laurel in a happy loving home. But, her mother-in-law has other plans for Laurel, and because of her wealth she is able to keep Laurel to herself and away from her daughter-in-law's clutches.
Because of this, Laurel has been let to grow into a beast of a child with no fondness for anyone but herself. She does what she wants, says what she wants, and has become a spoiled brat who has started acting out by setting fires. She rules the household and is fast becoming a very disturbed young woman.
Maitland, the butler, is played by Sir John Mills, Hayley's real life father. He is wonderful in this role. You can sense his displeasure in Laurel's behavior, but frustration in his inability to do anything about it because of his position.
Once Laurel has her hooks into Miss Madrigal, she won't let go until she has the goods on her. She is relentless in her search for something that will get her fired. But what she finds is more than she could ever have suspected . . . something that burns out of control like the fires she likes to light.
This motion picture is based on the stage play by Enid Bagnold. It received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Edith Evans, British Academy Award nominations for Best British Actress for Deborah Kerr and Edith Evans, Best British Art Direction (colour) for Carmen Dillon, Best British Cinematography (colour) for Arthur Ibbetson, was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama and won a National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress, Dame Edith Evans.
Viewing Format: available on videotape
Video Occasion: Good for a rainy day
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Obituaries:
L e g e n d s
of the Silver Screen
The Day Laughter Died
Milton Berle, the acerbic, cigar-smoking vaudevillian who eagerly embraced a new medium and became "Mr. Television" when the technology was in its infancy, died Wednesday, March 27th, 2002. He was 93.
Berle was diagnosed with colon cancer last year and had been under hospice care for the past few weeks. Berle's wife, Lorna, and several family members were at his side when he died at home after a lengthy illness, publicist Warren Cowan said.
"What a remarkable man, what a remarkable career," Bob Hope and his wife, Dolores, said in a written statement. "eighty-eight years in show business, a brilliant comedian, an accomplished actor, a lifelong friend." Hope, 98, and his wife, 93, joked: "We are among the select few who could call him 'kin.'"
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Dudley Moore, the cuddly little Englishman who pined for Bo Derek in "10" and portrayed a lovably forlorn drunk in "Arthur," died Wednesday, March 27th, 2002, of complications from a rare and incurable brain disorder. He was 66.
The comic actor died at a friend's home in Plainfield, N.J. of pneumonia stemming from progressive supranuclear palsy, which is similar to Parkinson's disease and effects one of every 100,000 people. He was diagnosed with the disease in 1999.
His film career peaked in 1981 with the smash "Arthur," in which he played a rich drunk who falls for Liza Minnelli. He was nominated for a best actor Oscar. Co-star Sir John gielgud, who played Arthur's valet, won the supporting actor Oscar.
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Queenie Leonard: She died January 17th, 2002 of natural causes at her West Los Angeles home. She was 86. During the 1950s she debuted a cabaret act at the Deauville on the Sunset Strip and later headlined at the Blue Angel in New York. She also appeared in TV shows including "Bewitched" and "I Dream of Jeannie."
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Mary Stuart: She died on February 28th, 2002 in New York City of complication from a stroke. She was 75.
Miss Stuart, dubbed "Queen of Soaps," enjoyed a 35-year run on "Search for Tomorrow," was inducted into the Soap Opra Hall of Fame in 1995, she received a special lifetime Achievement award for her role as Joanne Tate on "Search for Tomorrow." In September, 1951, she was cast as the leading lady in "Search for Tomorrow" and remained with the show until its cancellation at the end of 1986.
She appeared in about 20 feature motion pictures including "The Girl from Jones Beach" with Ronald Reagan, "The Adventures of Don Juan," "The Hucksters" with Clark Gable and "The Big Street."
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JEANE DIXON - 1918 Died in Washington, D.C. on January 25th, 1997
read about her in Current Biography - Feb., 1973
WALTER KERR - July 8th, 1913 died in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. on October 9th, 1996 - read his obituary in The New York Times October 10th, 1996.
PEGGY WOOD - Died in Stamford, Connecticut March 18th, 1978
PETER CUSHING - 81, died in a hospital in Canterbury, England on August 11th, 1994
JIMMY DURANTE - Died of pneumonia in Santa Monica, California on January 29th, 1980
ALFRED HITCHCOCK - Died April 29th, 1980 at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 80. He was ailing with arthritis and kidney failure and had been in declining health for a year
LILLIAN ROTH (actress and singer) - She died May 12th, 1980 after a long illness. Her struggle with alcoholism and mental illness, which she related in her 1954 book I'LL CRY TOMMORROW was later, in 1956, made into a motion picture with Susan Hayward, and was popularly and critically acclaimed
BEULAH BONDI: 92, died of pulmonary complications on January 12th, 1981 in Woodland Hills, California
RICHARD BOONE: 63, died of throat cancer, January 10th, 1981 in his home in St Augustine, Florida
RACHEL ROBERTS: 53, died of acute barbiturate intoxication on November 26th, 1980 in her home in West Los Angeles, California
TORIN THATCHER: 76, died of cancer March 4th, 1981 in his home in Newberry Park, California
MAE WEST: 88, died of natural causes November 22nd, 1980 in her home in Los Angeles, California
EVE ARDEN: 83, died on November 12th, 1990 of heart disease at her home in Beverly Hills, California
PEARL BAILEY: 72, died on August 17th, 1990 in Philadelphia after collapsing at a local hotel. She had a long history of heart ailments
MARY MARTIN: 76, one of the most acclaimed stars of the American musical theatre, died November 4th, 1990 in Rancho Mirage, California of cancer
JAMES CAGNEY: 86, March 30th, 1986 at his Duchess County farm in Stanfordville, NY after a long series of illnesses
LEIF ERICKSON: 74, January 29th, 1986 of cancer in Pensacola, Florida
VIRGINIA GILMORE: 66, March 28th, 1986 of complications from emphysema in Santa Barbara, California - she was married to actor Yul Brynner from 1944 to 1960, and is survived by their son, Rock Brynner
EDWARD ANDREWS: 70, March 8th, 1985 of a heart attack in his home in Palisades, California
RICHARD BURTON: 58, died of a cerebral hemorrhage August 5th, 1984 in Geneva, Switzerland. He was in residence in his villa near the city
TRUMAN CAPOTE: 59, August 25th, 1984 in Bel-Air, California
MARGARET HAMILTON: 82, May 16th, 1985 of a heart attack in a Salisbury, Connecticut, nursing home, where she had lived for the past year
JAMES MASON: 75, July 27th, 1984 in Lausanne, Switzerland
WALTER PIDGEON: 87, died after a series of strokes on September 25th, 1984 in Santa Monica, California
Sir MICHAEL REDGRAVE: 77, died March 21st, 1985 of PARKINSON'S disease
JAN CLAYTON: 66, cancer August 28th, 1983 at her home in West Hollywood, California
ROLAND CULVER: 83, died February 29th, 1984 of a heart ailment in his native London
IRVING BERLIN: 101, died in his sleep at his New York townhouse
LAURENCE OLIVIER: 82, July 11th 1989 in his home in Steyning, West Sussex, England
JOHN CARRADINE: 82, heart and kidney failure in Milan, Italy, on November 27th, 1988. He had appeared in over 500 films and 180 plays
JOHN HOUSEMAN: 86, died of spinal cancer October 31st, 1988 at his home in Malibu, California
King Solomon's Mines - 1950 OSCAR Pages - 1949, etc., etc., etc. Sir John Mills Gets BAFTA Honour 'John Mills' PICTUREGOER-09/14/46 HAYLEY MILLS-'A Wonderful Child' The Washington Times
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