Tales of the Unexpected (TV Series) Depart in Peace (1980) User Reviews

Average tale of the unexpected.

[poolandrews · 5/10 · 9 May 2007]

Tales of the Unexpected: Depart in Peace starts as rich art collector Lionel (Joseph Cotten) is contacted by by an old friend named Gladys (Gloria Grahame) who reveals a painting of herself that she has had done by up & coming artist John Roydon (John Bennett) & also lets Lionel into Roydon's unusual working practices. Lionel then has the idea to use Roydon to paint his current girlfriend Janet (Maureen O'Brien) & use his unorthodox methods to test her love for him but the plan backfires...

This Tales of the Unexpected story was episode 10 from season 2 & originally aired her in the UK During May 1980, the second of ten Tales of the Unexpected episodes to be directed by Alan Gibson this is nothing particularly special even by this show's usually lacklustre standards. The story by Roald Dahl was dramatised by Ronald Harwood & is a pretty useless story of a plan backfiring in a spectacular fashion, during his introduction Dahl states his love for fine art & paintings & tells the story that he brought a dirty old painting in a shop in Brighton for 25p & when he cleaned it up he had an original Renoir landscape on his hands! Jesus Christ why does nothing like that ever happen to me?! Some people just get all the luck eh? This isn't the show's finest 30 odd minutes, the character motivations here are poor to none existent, the storytelling is strangely weak considering this is a Dahl inspired tale & I don't really get the ending either which just doesn't add up to me or make any sense.

This one looks OK, there's no scares or suspense & I don't really like this story much so I'll stop writing about it. The acting is alright from yet another familiar cast.

Depart in Peace, a title which means nothing in context with the story, is another instantly forgettable Tales of the Unexpected episode as if there weren't enough of those already.

You always get what's coming when you play dirty..

[Sleepin_Dragon · 7/10 · 12 February 2016]

Old fashioned Gentlemen Lionel is a very wealthy chap and a great collector of art, seeing attractive woman Janet de Pelagia. He is pursued by the brash Gladys Ponsonby, another attractive woman, with lower morals then Lionel and Janet. Gladys spouts some poison about the innocent Janet, telling Lionel the relationship was a bore etc. Foolishly Lionel takes the bait, and sets about having revenge on the innocent Janet. Gladys had proudly shown off her painting, an image of herself painted by John, an interesting artist that paints only women

Worth seeing for the dancing at the very beginning, and it's quite an enjoyable little mystery, lacking a little bit of suspense, but there's still a clever, twisted story. It's been a few years since I watched them, I'll be honest I had no recollection of this one, possibly because the title has absolutely nothing to do with the story in any way.

Fine performances throughout, definitely one of the better acted episodes, John Cotton is good fun, Gloria Grahame is great. Maureen O'Brien is particularly lovely as Janet, and John Bennett is great in his small role too.

I like this one, 7/10

The Emperor's New Clothes

[nqure · 5/10 · 14 April 2021]

Gladys (Gloria Grahame) undermines & manipulates art connoisseur Lionel's fragile ego into performing an act of revenge upon one of her rivals for his affections. Lionel, out of pique at a perceived slight, arranges for a portrait to be made of, Janet, who has apparently been talking ill of him. He is lured to hire an artist who specializes in adding the clothes to an initially naked figure. As an expert in art himself, Lionel is able to strip away the layers from the completed portrait & thus leave his victim practically naked in her hosiery and suspenders.

It is perhaps an episode which draws a portrait of a thin-skinned, gullible art connoisseur whose ego brings about his ruin.

As others have mentioned, the painting should have been even more embarrassing. Janet is humiliated in public. She initially appears forgiving but lures Lionel into a fatal trap of her own. If anything, the twist felt tacked on and the episode ended on a note of grand guignol (Madame Villefort, the serial poisoner in 'The Count of Monte Cristo')

Perhaps it may have been more interesting if Janet had somehow managed to find it in herself to forgive Lionel after he realizes that he has been the victim of a cruel prank. Maybe Lionel, in his distressed state, could have tried to restore the original artwork, painting Janet back in a beautiful dress -reminiscent perhaps of the bright pink one she wore in the beginning - and this could have acted as a visual prompt that he was genuinely contrite.

I like some of the dark/downbeat endings in the series, but feel this missed an emotional trick. Wouldn't it have been better - even adding a darker humorous tone to the palette - if Gladys' maliciousness actually backfired on her instead? Perhaps she could have opened a card announcing Lionel & Janet's impending nuptials, not with a saccharine photo but a double portrait, maybe this time with Lionel without any trousers & in undergarments and Janet looking resplendent in costume. That an act to provoke a rupture actually leads to Lionel & her rival in love seeing the funny side and to them getting engaged.

Spicier Version Needed

[stephenphillips-99530 · 6/10 · 8 June 2023]

My main complaint about this story is that Lionel fails to act on his knowledge about the multiple layers of paint applied by the artist. By rubbing off the first layer from the portrait of Janet, he strips her down to her knickers. But he should have carried on and removed the second layer. Had he done so, the portrait would have revealed Janet in the altogether. Of course, that wouldn't have passed muster with the censors. But what if the producers had made two versions of the story? One for British and North American TV audiences and a spicier version for the continental European market. I think that would have satisfied everyone.

more plot holes than you can drive a bus through

[furiousfurian · 6/10 · 10 March 2022]

Managed to catch this whilst I was channel surfing one midday afternoon. I must admit I used to watch Tales of the Unexpected quite avidly as a young boy back in the day, so coming across an episode all these years later came as a surprise. First of all, it's all very of its time. Everyone is white middle class and the acting and film quality is ropey at best. In this episode we have an art collector who has a crush on someone, but due to the jealous lies of another party decides to enact revenge on her. He does this by asking a painter to paint his crush, a painter who has the dubious method of painting the subject naked and adding layers of clothing afterwards. So straightaway we are in the realm of the absurd. Upon receipt of the painting the art collector gleefully strips away the layers of paint to reveal the subject in her underwear (and I must say the layer is removed without any residual blemishes whatsoever). Then he invites his crush to a party where he unveils the painting to all the guests, her of course in her underwear. As this is 1980 she immediately faints. Later on she returns to him, apparently wanting to forgive and forget, but instead gives him a gift of poisoned caviar leading to his death. It all seems rather silly. The art collector did something that was a vulgar joke in bad taste at her expense. Did this really warrant his death, or the death of the entirely innocent butler who also helped himself to the poisoned caviar afterwards? It seems highly unlikely that she would get away with it - the poisoned caviar, the fact that she had a strong motive for the murder. Her whereabouts at the time. Any half decent detective would see her as the prime suspect straightaway. And what about the jealous minx who stirred all this up in the first place? She gets off scott free. No morals to be learnt here.

Depart in Peace

[Prismark10 · 4/10 · 23 May 2020]

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool but they do pop up in Tales of the Unexpected.

Gladys (Gloria Grahame) has a greedy eye for wealthy art collector and connoisseur Lionel (Joseph Cotten.) She spreads malicious tales that his latest girlfriend Janet (Maureen O'Brien) finds him to be a crashing bore.

Gladys shows him a portrait she has had done by artist John Roydon who painted her in the nude and built up layers of clothing.

To show Janet that he is not fuddy duddy. He commissions Roydon to do a portrait of Janet. When it is completed, Lionel laughs at the finished product but he strips down the layers and publicly unveils it thus embarrassing Janet as she has little on.

In his introduction Roald Dahl tells the audience that he learned the skills to restore old paintings and it inspired this story.

To make it more television friendly, Janet is in her underwear during the unveiling, she should have been naked.

The twist is that Janet gets revenge on Lionel by poisoning his caviar. In fact it's a 2 for 1 deal as the butler gets it as well as he tasted the leftovers.

Now I have no idea what possessed Lionel to think that Janet would be impressed by people seeing her almost starkers. It's an underwhelming story, I expected the revenge to me more than just murder.

"I'd pose for you whether you were a painter or not."

[classicsoncall · 5/10 · 1 September 2021]

The way this story started out and the way it ended felt like a huge disconnect for this viewer. If Lionel Lampson (Joseph Cotten) were truly in love with Janet de Pelagia (Maureen O'Brien), why would he humiliate her with a painting that showed her in underwear at a fancy party he throws? That didn't even qualify as a feeble joke. Granted, the manipulative Gladys (Gloria Grahame) attempted to undermine Janet with her gossip about how boring a date Lionel was, expounding on his artwork ad infinitum. Even so, a devoted admirer and reasonably astute gentleman should have been able to see through the maneuver for what it was. What really got me though was the idea of painting in layers the way John Roydon (John Bennett) did. Who would ever think of such an artistic style? Apparently writer and series host Roald Dahl did after having some experience and expertise in 'cleaning' old paintings. What he probably should have written a story about was a garage sale shopper who procures a priceless Renoir for a song. That would have been more unexpected.