Whatever happened to Dolores Rosedale? Is she still alive? If so, she would in her late seventies. I've come across more than one site that identifies her with Roxanne Arlen--so the IMDb is not alone in this. I'm not certain how the confusion started, unless Ms. Arlen (who died today, Feb. 22) herself did some game shows. The two women are the same physical types (curvacious blondes), but it is quite obvious, from the pictures of the two at a Roxanne-dedicated website, that they are different people. It's curious that someone who was once so famous could slip so completely into oblivion. You'd think that some TV historian would be scrambling after her story.
Reviews
4 Reviews
Mother Love
(1989)
A first-rate, but (alas) unavailable movie
18 February 2005
I don't understand why this first-rate television movie isn't widely available on DVD. Are the producers holding it back to drive up the market price? One would think that the demand is already as high as it is ever likely to get.
Anyway, this movie will give you a look at Diana Rigg that you won't soon forget. I saw it only once (back in '89), and was greatly impressed by Rigg's ability to communicate the sly, murderous, sick mind of her character. The story is well structured, the script well written, the parts well played. It is far better than most of the stuff you find in the PBS catalogs--but as I say...
I had known for a long time that Rigg was a classically trained actresses, but having seen her in nothing but _The Avengers_ before this film, I was unaware of the extent of her gifts.
Bob Champ
Anyway, this movie will give you a look at Diana Rigg that you won't soon forget. I saw it only once (back in '89), and was greatly impressed by Rigg's ability to communicate the sly, murderous, sick mind of her character. The story is well structured, the script well written, the parts well played. It is far better than most of the stuff you find in the PBS catalogs--but as I say...
I had known for a long time that Rigg was a classically trained actresses, but having seen her in nothing but _The Avengers_ before this film, I was unaware of the extent of her gifts.
Bob Champ
Our Town
(2003 TV Movie)
A fine role for Newman
28 May 2004
I don't think I've ever seen a production of this play that did not bring tears to my eyes in the last act. It is simply a powerful work and hard even for amateur players to fail in. This production follows true to form. Paul Newman is wonderful as the Stage Manager. He plays the part with such ease and conviction that one forgets all about the blue-eyed heartthrob he once was and concentrates solely on an actor at the top of his form.
I also think Maggie Lacey is very fine as Emily. She plays the young woman as breathless, open-eyed, innocent, and just darn good. That is the way Emily is supposed to be played, of course, but Ms. Lacey does it exceptionally well. (How stupid it is to think that goodness is dull!) The actor who plays George (Ben Fox, I believe) is less appealing, and comes across at times as a near-hayseed. Fox is successful at playing George's self-doubts, but not his strength.
I have stayed away from the Hollywood version of the play, the one starring William Holden, because I have heard that the ending in the graveyard is changed, that it is treated as a dream. It's hard to believe that anyone would touch the text of Thornton Wilder's play, but a change of that magnitude would certainly take away much of the play's power.
All in all, this is a likable production.
I also think Maggie Lacey is very fine as Emily. She plays the young woman as breathless, open-eyed, innocent, and just darn good. That is the way Emily is supposed to be played, of course, but Ms. Lacey does it exceptionally well. (How stupid it is to think that goodness is dull!) The actor who plays George (Ben Fox, I believe) is less appealing, and comes across at times as a near-hayseed. Fox is successful at playing George's self-doubts, but not his strength.
I have stayed away from the Hollywood version of the play, the one starring William Holden, because I have heard that the ending in the graveyard is changed, that it is treated as a dream. It's hard to believe that anyone would touch the text of Thornton Wilder's play, but a change of that magnitude would certainly take away much of the play's power.
All in all, this is a likable production.
The Blackheath Poisonings
(1992)
A Shoddy Ending
27 May 2004
Warning: Spoilers
The first two parts of this movie work well. The third part, the resolution of the plot, falls on its face. Chief among its faults is the veil/corset/ transvestite underplot--preposterous ideas all, but the veil especially so because, as the first poster said, no one could confuse the sex of the person beneath it. The device is made all the more unbelievable by the presentation of an eyewitness of the veiled personage who has, supposedly, a near-faultless memory. Another misstep, no less egregious, is the identity of the killer. One should not create an unlikable individual and then make him/her the murderer. Your unlikable individual is the red herring, the person you would like to be the murderer, but who seldom is. I must admit to disgust at the writer's choice of perpetrator.
I also found unbelievable the attitude of our heroine, Isabel, to the clergy. No Victorian lady, though there is some doubt about Isabel's fitness for that term, would have talked to a clergyman as she did in the jail. To tell the truth, I disliked Isabel a good deal and _wanted_ her to be the killer. I generally don't care for turning adulterers into heroines or heroes.
I hated Paul, our lovelorn young son, or maybe it was just the actor who played him.
I also found unbelievable the attitude of our heroine, Isabel, to the clergy. No Victorian lady, though there is some doubt about Isabel's fitness for that term, would have talked to a clergyman as she did in the jail. To tell the truth, I disliked Isabel a good deal and _wanted_ her to be the killer. I generally don't care for turning adulterers into heroines or heroes.
I hated Paul, our lovelorn young son, or maybe it was just the actor who played him.
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