Absolutely amazing and highly entertaining. Noel Coward was a genius. Ghosh what wit, so beautifully portrayed by this fabulous cast. Some of Britain’s finest.
So glad I found this online. Decided today that I'm auditioning for a stage version of "Private Lives" and I absolutely adore Maggie Smith. Thanks for posting.
An excellent performance by all players, especially Penelope and Alec, Noël must have been very proud. I can't believe ,I was only one when this was filmed.
Suzanne Moogan He died three years previous. I don’t think he would have cared at all for this interpretation. The banter ought to be light hearted and half in jest/half serious. They play it full emotional force. WRONG! It becomes leaden and uninteresting played through that lens. This is not melodrama. All the tension and charming frisson has been drained out of the first scene. Can’t wait to view the rest. I am sure it will improve!
I have to say Norma Shearer is my favorite. Love the comments. I just have a slight obsession with 1930's film and actors... born in the wrong time I guess, how lucky i am to have this resource ... thanks..
Oh yes! Both versions are wonderful, but the Norma Shearer Robert Montgomery version is my favorite. But then, to me, movies from the thirty's and forties are the best in every way.
First scene is curiously on the nose. I rather think that Coward intended a very different tone than that which was struck. It should sound like half serious-half-in -jest banter. Instead they give it full emotional weight. WRONG!
An excellent production. Illustrates how little choice we have in with whom we fall in love. Not my FAVORITE play - but particularly well produced, here. Not my FAVORITE playwright - but particularly well Directed, here. All the better with my own history in the rear-view-mirror.
The antagonist is our own emotions and emotional needs as we endure the complicated mysterious all too human pursuit of love. In a dramatic work the antagonist, like the hero, can be thematic material instead of a specific character. In this case, the situation and the emotions are the antagonist.
westgate35 If it is the usual songs, the credit also goes to Noël Coward. We all hum one Coward tune or another in our heads or out loud at least once in our lives. Consciously or, more importantly, unconsciously. Like Mozart tunes, Coward’s, once heard, are never forgotten.
The titles were interesting. The greatest question--does anyone really want to see anyone else's private life? Ends up being a tedious display of private life.
Both McCowen and Keith are miscast in this...these roles require glamour, which is why ladies like Lawrence, Leigh, Bankhead, Tammy Grimes, Maggie Smith have all been successful in it. In the 2002 Broadway revival, Lindsay Duncan and the late great Alan Rickman played it with a gravity that emphasized the pain of being in a bad marriage -- and still got uproarious laughs.The play is indestructible--they'll be doing it in 500 years.
I disagree this requires glamour. It requires acting skills representing the emotions, egos and power struggles between the characters. McCowen may not be my first choice for the role, but he's undeniably up to the job.
I'm with you, though "elegance" is the word I use, maybe, more than glamour. I love Penelope Keith, but I never thought she was right for Amanda. A little too.... hausfrau is too strong, but too something. Amanda needs to be sleek, willowy, stylish, an art-deco drawing come to life. Penelope just isn't those things.
They did, and still do. This play is regularly revived and enjoyed on both sides of the Atlantic. I was fortunate enough to see Maggie Smith in it in the 1970s and it was one of the funniest evenings of theater I have ever experienced. I got to perform it, myself, in a small theater in Los Angeles in the early 1990s and we had people coming back to see it again and again... groupies, if you will! A classic of the English speaking theater.
Noel at his finest in a perfect production. Thank you so much for uploading. This made my day.
Absolutely amazing and highly entertaining. Noel Coward was a genius. Ghosh what wit, so beautifully portrayed by this fabulous cast. Some of Britain’s finest.
Dame Penelope Keith is a great actress.
NOT.
What a delight!! Thank you so much for posting! ❤❤🩹💯💜💙💚🥳🥳🥳
Thank you so much for uploading this!!! You are indeed a kind soul.
So glad I found this online. Decided today that I'm auditioning for a stage version of "Private Lives" and I absolutely adore Maggie Smith. Thanks for posting.
An excellent performance by all players, especially Penelope and Alec,
Noël must have been very proud.
I can't believe ,I was only one when this was filmed.
Suzanne Moogan He died three years previous. I don’t think he would have cared at all for this interpretation. The banter ought to be light hearted and half in jest/half serious. They play it full emotional force. WRONG! It becomes leaden and uninteresting played through that lens. This is not melodrama. All the tension and charming frisson has been drained out of the first scene. Can’t wait to view the rest. I am sure it will improve!
The "lights on the yacht" look like something on the pond at your local park.
Now showing at the Utah Shakesperian Festival. July - August 2009
Cedar City, Utah
Bravo
It was so good I saw it Three Times!
Solomon Isaccs!!!
Most delisiuos treat. Thank you for sharing. Enjoying every episode enormously. Most grateful.
I have to say Norma Shearer is my favorite. Love the comments. I just have a slight obsession with 1930's film and actors... born in the wrong time I guess, how lucky i am to have this resource ... thanks..
Oh yes! Both versions are wonderful, but the Norma Shearer Robert Montgomery version is my favorite. But then, to me, movies from the thirty's and forties are the best in every way.
julie pope I watched the Shearer/Montgomery version based on your comment. Enjoyed it v. much.
its available on dvd, you can get it on netflix through the Noel Coward Collection
Love this so witty!
Fantastic!
Thank you, I am so enjoying this.
It was much fun to watch this. Thank you for uploading this.
Happy and amazed to find this. Thank you. To hell with love.
Fabulous
You rawk so hard for posting this, huge thanx!
What's the name of the theme song?
First scene is curiously on the nose. I rather think that Coward intended a very different tone than that which was struck. It should sound like half serious-half-in -jest banter. Instead they give it full emotional weight. WRONG!
An excellent production. Illustrates how little choice we have in with whom we fall in love. Not my FAVORITE play - but particularly well produced, here. Not my FAVORITE playwright - but particularly well Directed, here. All the better with my own history in the rear-view-mirror.
No way is McCowen 7 years younger than his new wife. Unless he's been doing some serious hard living and she's drunk from the fountain of youth!
I hate to say it, because I think that Toby Stephens and Anna Chancellor are both brilliant, but I prefer this version.
what is the music at the start does anyone know?
thanks for uploading :D
Nobody's private life is interesting,except one's own!
"three times please, I'm superstitious"... oh yes:)
How awful way to talk to each other in a honeymoon 👎💔😡
Thanks for sharing. Is this available on VHS or DVD?
Who is the recording of "A Room With A View" by?
@LoonyGingerLyrics im reading the plays along, for my exam tmr :D
May i ask who is the antagonist of the story?
The antagonist is our own emotions and emotional needs as we endure the complicated mysterious all too human pursuit of love. In a dramatic work the antagonist, like the hero, can be thematic material instead of a specific character. In this case, the situation and the emotions are the antagonist.
does anyone know the credits music ?
westgate35 If it is the usual songs, the credit also goes to Noël Coward. We all hum one Coward tune or another in our heads or out loud at least once in our lives. Consciously or, more importantly, unconsciously. Like Mozart tunes, Coward’s, once heard, are never forgotten.
glad so much so that i can offer anything except ............
The titles were interesting. The greatest question--does anyone really want to see anyone else's private life? Ends up being a tedious display of private life.
+Steven Torrey "tedious"?
Steven Torrey Not this one.
Both McCowen and Keith are miscast in this...these roles require glamour, which is why ladies like Lawrence, Leigh, Bankhead, Tammy Grimes, Maggie Smith have all been successful in it. In the 2002 Broadway revival, Lindsay Duncan and the late great Alan Rickman played it with a gravity that emphasized the pain of being in a bad marriage -- and still got uproarious laughs.The play is indestructible--they'll be doing it in 500 years.
HAK Your faith in Coward’s play & self expression are admirable, to my mind.
Keith can do no wrong. The roles have less to do with glamor and more to do with self absorption
I disagree this requires glamour. It requires acting skills representing the emotions, egos and power struggles between the characters. McCowen may not be my first choice for the role, but he's undeniably up to the job.
I'm with you, though "elegance" is the word I use, maybe, more than glamour. I love Penelope Keith, but I never thought she was right for Amanda. A little too.... hausfrau is too strong, but too something. Amanda needs to be sleek, willowy, stylish, an art-deco drawing come to life. Penelope just isn't those things.
I always thought Keith was very glamorous, in a toothy, very British way. McCowan is a little sexless, smart but not grand enough; a little fey.
Shearer didn't have the class or wit that Penelope Keith brings to Amanda.
unclealand Perhaps, but Keith lacks Shearer’s sex appeal. And I’m a big fan of them both.
I agree. There's this mahogany sound to her voice that makes her Amanda the most intriguing I've ever seen.
2X Ken & Barbie. Less ‘perfect’ actors are worth a try …
☕
E
Too bad to be true. Did people really like this kind of play and think it was funny?
They did, and still do. This play is regularly revived and enjoyed on both sides of the Atlantic. I was fortunate enough to see Maggie Smith in it in the 1970s and it was one of the funniest evenings of theater I have ever experienced. I got to perform it, myself, in a small theater in Los Angeles in the early 1990s and we had people coming back to see it again and again... groupies, if you will! A classic of the English speaking theater.