Gosford Park (2001)

Multiple storylined drama set in 1932, showing the lives of upstairs guest and downstairs servants at a party in a country house in England.

Director:

Robert Altman

Writers:

Robert Altman (idea), Julian Fellowes,

Stars:

Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Kristin Scott Thomas

Won 1 Oscar. Another 33 wins & 51 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Maggie Smith	...	Constance Trentham
Michael Gambon	...	William McCordle
Kristin Scott Thomas	...	Sylvia McCordle
Camilla Rutherford	...	Isobel McCordle
Charles Dance	...	Lord Raymond Stockbridge
Geraldine Somerville	...	Louisa Stockbridge
Tom Hollander	...	Anthony Meredith
Natasha Wightman	...	Lavinia Meredith
Jeremy Northam	...	Ivor Novello
Bob Balaban	...	Morris Weissman
James Wilby	...	Freddie Nesbitt
Claudie Blakley	...	Mabel Nesbitt
Laurence Fox	...	Rupert Standish
Trent Ford	...	Jeremy Blond
Ryan Phillippe	...	Henry Denton

Storyline

Set in the 1930's the story takes place in an old fashioned English country house where a family has invited many of their friends up for a weekend shooting party. The story centers around the McCordle family, particularly the man of the house, William McCordle. Getting on in years William has become benefactor to many of his relatives and friends. As the weekend goes on and secrets are revealed, it seems everyone, above stairs and below, wants a piece of William and his money, but how far will they go to get it?

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Plot Keywords:

servant | shooting party | murder | money | country house | 

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Taglines:

Tea At Four. Dinner At Eight. Murder At Midnight.

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some language and brief sexuality

Details

Country:

UK USA Italy

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 January 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Assassinato em Gosford Park

Filming Locations:

Ston Easton Park, Somerset, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$19,800,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$68,666 (South Africa) (6 September 2002)

Gross:

$178,641 (South Africa) (27 September 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

USA Films, Capitol Films, Film Council

Technical Specs

Runtime:

137 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

There really was a Charlie Chan in London film made in 1934 and it was indeed a mystery set in an English manor house. While it did feature Alan Mowbray and Ray Milland, it was produced by John Stone, not Morris Weissman (a fictional character).

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Goofs

Near the end, Rupert and Jeremy are about to drive away and the cigarette in Rupert's mouth disappears between shots.

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Quotes

Mary Maceachran: What will Lady Sylvia do now?
Lewis: If I were her, I'd set up in London as a glamorous widow with all the gentlemen chasin' me for my money!

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Crazy Credits

At the end of the credits it says that the real Ivor Novello never took part in the fictional events portrayed in the film.

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Connections

Featured in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #19.50 (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Keep the Home Fires Burning"
(1915)
Sung by Jeremy Northam
Music By Ivor Novello
Lyrics by Lena Guilbert Ford
© Ascherberg Hopwood & Crew Limited
By kind permission of Warner/Chappell Music Ltd.

User Reviews

AWESOME ALTMAN!!!

This film opened the London Film festival and I was lucky enough to see get tickets. Robert Altman was there and so were most of the cast.

I've seen over half of the Altman cannon of work and this has to rank up with his best. Set in the 1920's, a group of people get together for a shooting weekend at the estate of Lord and Lady Mcardle. There are two sets of characters, the Toffs upstairs and the servants downstairs. With his customary multi-streaming overlapping narrative, cross cutting dialogue and interwoven storylines, Altman sets up dynamics within and between the two classes. There are up to 32 speaking parts and each of them is invested with a clear identity. Just from a few lines, a gesture, raising of an eyebrow, we have an idea of a character's feelings and motivations.

At times the narrative moves at such a fast pace, but we never lose track of whats going on. Scenes such as the Toffs in the Drawing room having tea - many conversations happening, dynamics being set up - and another where the servants are rushing around downstairs, as the camera weeves its way through the corridors, are exhilirating cinema!! Altman has a tight grip on the proceedings and this only wavers slightly towards the end.

There is a fantastic scene, where Ivor Novello - a guest, is invited to sing for the other guests and all the servants listen covertly from whatever vanatge point they can find. Novello oustays his welcome, amongst the gentry, but the servants cant get enough.

What Altman has done here, helped enormously by the wonderfully humourous script by Julian Fellows, is invested these period characters with a modern sensibility. These are not the boring, stuffed dummy museum pieces of your typical period picture, these people are real. Rich or poor, their fallibilities, desires, disaffections and frustrations are evidently clear.

This movie is so good, I wanted to get up and cheer at certain points. Altman is well served by the 'creme de la creme' of British Actors. All are excellent; Maggie Smith, Emily Watson, Helen Mirren, Kristin Scott-Thomas and Jeremy Northam to name a few. This film may not be everyones cup of tea and i am someone who can go watch anything from Scream 3 to the latest hot film from Asia, but those that invest the time on this film, will be much rewarded. Altman deserves the Oscar that has eluded him for far too long.