Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris (TV 1992)

Ada Harris, a London charwoman in the 1950's, sees a Dior dress and decides that she's going to own one. First, she scrimps and saves her money, but when she has enough, and takes a trip to... See full summary »

Director:

Anthony Pullen Shaw

Writers:

Paul Gallico (novel), John Hawkesworth (teleplay)

Stars:

Angela Lansbury, Diana Rigg, Lothaire Bluteau

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Angela Lansbury	...	Mrs. Ada Harris
Diana Rigg	...	Mme. Colbert
Lothaire Bluteau	...	Andre
John Savident	...	Mr. Armont
Lila Kaye	...	Vi Butterfield
Tamara Gorski	...	Natasha Petitpierre
Omar Sharif	...	Marquis Hippolite
Barbara Barnes
Tamsin Olivier
Trudy Weiss
Jason Carter
Alex Knight
Mel Martin
Toby Whithouse
David Sterne

Storyline

Ada Harris, a London charwoman in the 1950's, sees a Dior dress and decides that she's going to own one. First, she scrimps and saves her money, but when she has enough, and takes a trip to Paris, she learns that buying an original couture creation is a little harder than simply plunking down cash. Along the way to her goal, she manages to befriend a count, unite young lovers, and dodge customs.

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Plot Keywords:

young romance | fashion | rhyme in title | widow | haute couture | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 December 1992 (USA)

Also Known As:

I ka 'Arris sto Parisi

Filming Locations:

Budapest, Hungary

Company Credits

Production Co:

Accent Productions, Bonneville Producers Group, Corymore Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This movie is based on the book "Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris" by Paul Gallico published in 1958. Paul wrote a series of four books about Mrs. 'Arris - "Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris", "Mrs. 'Arris Goes to New York", "Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Parliament", and "Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Moscow".

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Quotes

Mrs. Ada Harris: I'll be right with you in two shakes of a duck's whisker.

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Connections

References To Catch a Thief (1955)

User Reviews

Not always believable, but very touching!

The title of this movie makes it sound like some kind of child's movie where some little old woman has a series of events in a strange town. Well, it is all true, but I don't know if children would find this story as touching as it is.

Ada Harris wants to buy a Dior dress and "scrimps and saves and slaves" for three years to get it. But upon arrival in Paris to buy a dress from "Dior's dress Shop", she begins to encounter all sorts of mishaps, including the Dior director who refuses to let her have a dress because she is common.

To get these out of the way, there are many parts of this film that are unbelievable. For instance, it supposedly takes place in 1953 but there are many scenes in the film where it seems like modern times. It is also highly bloody unlikely that that many things could happen to the same woman and her naivete, while being likely, is overcome way too easily in the film, but that's HOLLYWOOD!

But every little petty detail in this film can be easily overlooked by the delightful presence of Angela Lansbury! She is just absolutely terrific in a role that, while supposed to be lightly entertaining and kind of frivolous, she makes touch your heart. She is so wonderful and makes you feel so sorry for this old lady!

And then she is backed by a wonderful supporting cast, most wonderfully, Diana Rigg, as the show director at Dior, as well as the characters of Natasha, Andre, and, of course, Omar Sharif as the Marquis who befriends Mrs. 'Arris.

Fan of Lansbury or not, you cannot go wrong with this movie and you will love it!