The Woman in White (TV 1997)

Based upon Wilkie Collins Victorian mystery, the gothic tale tells of a pair of half sisters whose lives end up caught in a grand conspiracy revolving around a mentally ill woman dressed in... See full summary »

Director:

Tim Fywell

Writers:

Wilkie Collins (novel), David Pirie

Stars:

Tara Fitzgerald, Justine Waddell, Andrew Lincoln

3 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tara Fitzgerald	...	Marian Fairlie
Justine Waddell	...	Laura Fairlie
Andrew Lincoln	...	Walter Hartright
Susan Vidler	...	Anne Catherick
John Standing	...	Mr. Gilmore
Adie Allen	...	Margaret Porcher
Ian Richardson	...	Mr. Fairlie
James Wilby	...	Sir Percival Glyde
Ann Bell	...	Mrs. Rideout
Anne Etchells	...	Liza
Timothy Carlton	...	Glyde's Lawyer
Simon Callow	...	Count Fosco
Tony Spooner	...	Glyde's Servant
Sean Gleeson	...	Glyde's Servant
Kika Markham	...	Madame Fosco

Storyline

Based upon Wilkie Collins Victorian mystery, the gothic tale tells of a pair of half sisters whose lives end up caught in a grand conspiracy revolving around a mentally ill woman dressed in white. As the story unfolds, murder, love, marriage, and greed stand between the two women and happy lives. Their only hope is the secret the woman in white waits to tell them.

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Plot Keywords:

sister | love | half sister | gothic | secret | 

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Taglines:

Not all villans wear black

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Genres:

Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

WGBH Masterpiece Theatre page

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 April 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

A fehér ruhás nő

Filming Locations:

Holdenby House, Holdenby, Northamptonshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Carlton Television, WGBH

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Version of The Twin Pawns (1919)

User Reviews

Entertaining enough but lacks subtlety

This film adaptation is a real missed opportunity. The cast is good and does its best with the screenplay but the subtlety of Collins's novel is largely lost. It is quite possible to see why the format of the original novel would require some structural changes but quite why the makers of the film felt it necessary to change so much in the plot is frankly a mystery.

It feels like they had decided who they wanted to play the parts and changed the story accordingly. Marian Holcombe is portrayed by Collins as having an ugly and masculine face; Tara Fitzgerald has anything but so they changed the character. Why change her name to Marian Fairlie? Sir Percival Glyde is too young and Fosco too thin.

Ah well, it's entertaining enough but like so many adaptations, you will be disappointed if you know the book. Out of curiosity I must now try to find copies of the other adaptations to see how they fare.