Rather than a review of this wonderful addition to the Masterpiece Theatre library, I'd like to single out praise for a member of the cast, the wonderful Jim Carter as Mr. Brehget, the Jewish banker.
You saw him as the father in "The Singing Detective", and as one of the actors outrageously dressed as a woman in "Shakespeare In Love". He is a big bear of a man who looks like he belongs in a wrestling ring as the villian, rather than on a stage doing Victorian drama. In the looks department to be kind ,let's say he will never be mistaken for Cary Grant or Tom Cruise. But the thing that gets me is how gracefully he moves and speaks. He very rarely has many lines to say, but listen to that glorious voice. If you taped the show, replay it to see what I mean. Here is a guy, who before he says a word, our inner computer says, "What is this big lumbering ox doing here"? Then you'll see a sweet graceful performer who never fails to delight me.
You saw him as the father in "The Singing Detective", and as one of the actors outrageously dressed as a woman in "Shakespeare In Love". He is a big bear of a man who looks like he belongs in a wrestling ring as the villian, rather than on a stage doing Victorian drama. In the looks department to be kind ,let's say he will never be mistaken for Cary Grant or Tom Cruise. But the thing that gets me is how gracefully he moves and speaks. He very rarely has many lines to say, but listen to that glorious voice. If you taped the show, replay it to see what I mean. Here is a guy, who before he says a word, our inner computer says, "What is this big lumbering ox doing here"? Then you'll see a sweet graceful performer who never fails to delight me.