"Noble House" (1988) TV mini-series

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Gary Nelson

Writers:

Eric Bercovici (writer)
James Clavell (novel)

Release Date:

21 February 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama

Plot:

Ian Struan Dunross is chairman of Struan & Co, the oldest and largest of the British-East Asia trading companies...

Plot Keywords:

Hong Kong | British Colonial | Communist Infiltrator | Spy | TV Mini-Series

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Pierce Brosnan	...	Ian Dunross
Deborah Raffin	...	Casey Tcholok
Ben Masters	...	Linc Bartlett
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Keith Bonnard	...	Tip Tok-Toh
Tia Carrere	...	Venus Poon
Eric Chen	...	Hotel Consierge
Khigh Dhiegh	...	Four Finger Wu
Richard Durden	...	Paul Havergill
Denholm Elliott	...	Alastair Struan
Brian Fong	...	Goodweather Poon
John Fujioka	...	Baldhead Kin
Helen Funai	...	Mrs. Kwang
David Henry	...	Bruce Johnjohn
John Houseman	...	Sir Geoffrey Allison
George Innes	...	Alexej Travkin
Gordon Jackson	...	Supt. Armstrong
Nancy Kwan	...	Claudia Chen
Burt Kwouk	...	Philip Chen
Harris Laskaway
Steven Vincent Leigh	...	John Chen (as Steven Leigh)
Kay Tong Lim	...	Brian Kwok
Leon Lissek
Lisa Lu	...	Ah Tam
Choy-Ling Man	...	Mary Li
Pip Miller	...	Insp. John Smyth
Julia Nickson-Soul	...	Orlanda Ramos
Bennett Ohta	...	Richard Kwang
Edward Petherbridge	...	Jason Plumm
Duncan Preston	...	Pugmire
Nicholas Pryor
John Rhys-Davies	...	Quillan Gornt
David Shaughnessy		(as David Shaughnessy)
Michael Siberry	...	Linbar Struan
Dudley Sutton	...	Commissioner Roger Crosse
Damien Thomas	...	Lando Mata
Irene Tsu
John Van Dreelen	...	Jacques DeVille
Vincent Wong	...	Lim Chu
Ping Wu	...	Paul Choy
Ric Young	...	Tsu-Yan
Galen Yuen	...	Smallpox Kin

Also Known As:

"James Clavell's Noble House"

Runtime:

355 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG)

Trivia:

James Clavell, author of the novel "Noble House" is represented in that book by a writer named Marlowe. Marlow is not portrayed in the film, but his wife is--she's the pregnant woman who jumps off the burning restaurant with Linc Barlett.

Quotes:

Ian Dunross: [reading from the legacy of company founder, Dirk Struan, in the family Bible] "To whomsoever gives me the other half of any of these coins, I will grant one favor."

Movie Connections:

Follows Tai-Pan (1986)

One of Brosnan's Best

This is a surprisingly good mini series. The story is cast in Hong Kong, and there's dynamics in doing business there that we people of the west don't quite understand. Noble House captures that and then some. The glamor and opulence of belonging to the richest elite in Hong Kong's business circle sets the tone for the entire story. Things that will be taboo in the west is permitted there like having concubines, and going to parties with them (instead of your wife !), and old guys are actually flaunting it to show off their wealth and virility ! But of course all this has price to pay and everyone is paying in this story. Pierce Brosnan is at his best as the Tai Pan of the Noble House (Struan's), and cast of characters surrounding him are equally glamorous (like Tia Carrerie, Julia Nickson). Overall, a great fun to watch, but make sure you set aside enough time because it's 6 hours of non-stop entertainment.