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"Rich men do get their way--often as not."
If you are a fan of British television costume dramas, then "The Mill on The Floss" should prove to be a satisfying find. Based on the novel by George Eliot, it's the tale of Maggie Tulliver's attempts to satisfy the demands of love and duty through the relationships with the men in her life. When the film begins, Maggie and her brother Tom are children living at the Mill House on the Floss River (hence the title). Their belligerent, stubborn father Edward Tulliver (Bernard Hill) makes a lifelong enemy of the lawyer Wakem (Nicolas Gecks) when he becomes entangled in a legal dispute with a neighbor over the issue of a new dam. Tulliver wins this initial lawsuit, but the ominous threat of losing the mill remains.
1997 vs 1978
The 1978 miniseries is over 3 hours long.The 1997 movie is 1 hour and 45 minutes long.Yet, every event in the 3 hour version is in the shorter version.The reverse, however, is not true.Five crucial events of the story are visible in the 1997 (shorter) version but are missing from the 3 hour version:
The cliff notes version of a classic
Mill on the Floss is an incredible novel, and arguably George Eliot's greatest work. All of the characters are extremely well-developed, the story is beautiful and the ending is heart-rending in its abruptness. Read more

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Reviews (5)

"Rich men do get their way--often as not."
If you are a fan of British television costume dramas, then "The Mill on The Floss" should prove to be a satisfying find. Based on the novel by George Eliot, it's the tale of Maggie Tulliver's attempts to satisfy the demands of love and duty through the relationships with the men in her life. When the film begins, Maggie and her brother Tom are children living at the Mill House on the Floss River (hence the title). Their belligerent, stubborn father Edward Tulliver (Bernard Hill) makes a lifelong enemy of the lawyer Wakem (Nicolas Gecks) when he becomes entangled in a legal dispute with a neighbor over the issue of a new dam. Tulliver wins this initial lawsuit, but the ominous threat of losing the mill remains.
1997 vs 1978
The 1978 miniseries is over 3 hours long.The 1997 movie is 1 hour and 45 minutes long.Yet, every event in the 3 hour version is in the shorter version.The reverse, however, is not true.Five crucial events of the story are visible in the 1997 (shorter) version but are missing from the 3 hour version:
The cliff notes version of a classic
Mill on the Floss is an incredible novel, and arguably George Eliot's greatest work. All of the characters are extremely well-developed, the story is beautiful and the ending is heart-rending in its abruptness. Read more

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(1.5 STARS) Shallowest Holmes
The Sherlock Holmes film `Case of Evil' is, as the tagline says, about the `past' of the greatest detective. The made-for-TV film is based on the completely original story set in Holmes's younger days when he met Doctor Watson. I admit the idea itself is not a bad one. What is terribly annoying is the way they put together the clichéd elements which you might have seen in the usual crime dramas, totally ignoring the Arthur Conan Doyle's books and our feelings towards the much-loved world of the sleuth.
PIEKENBROCK'S POPPYCOCK!
I'm afraid I must take exception with Ryan Piekenbrock's review of this sorry mess!Far from Sherlock's best, CASE OF EVIL is closer to CONAN THE BARBARIAN than CONAN DOYLE.Piekenbrock's review is rife with pithy and pretentious posturing in a sorry attempt to paint a Picasso with little more than good intentions and a pail of panda piss; the only mystery with CASE OF EVIL is why anyone would bother watching the thing...

A more Human Holmes
In this fantastic made for TV adventure, we get to meet the Great Detective early in his career, and find out the basis for many of the things we have come to associate with the character. James D'Arcy, who did a wonderful job of portraying Lt. Tom Pullings in Master and Commander: The far side of the world, presents us with a Holmes who is actually HUMAN, as opposed to the emotionless, walking deductive machine as done by Jeremy Brett and others. His Holmes has uncertainies, even faults. He drinks, smokes, and even womanizes, as evidenced by a scene where after meeting two adoring young ladies outside Baker Street, he invites them up for a drink and as he begins to kiss and cuddle with one, her companion stands up and starts removing her dress and lacy victorian undergarments until she's nude. But this is a Holmes who is also driven by vengence to get the man responsible for crippling his brother Mycroft; namely Professor Moriarty. Holmes catches up with his nemisis early in the film and aparently kills him, leading to his public aclaim, but things are not as they seem, and Holmes later learns the Proffesor is alive and well and behind a rash of murders of Opium dealers in London. The chase is on, climaxing in a sword battle high in the interior of Big Ben.Read more

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A gift of empathy
"Seeing Red" is the true story of Coral Atkins, a British actress who revolutionized foster care in the 70's. Her story starts when when she goes to a home for highly abused and disturbed children and hears a little girl named Jessica screaming and decides to open up a children's home. Some time later she buys a huge, ramshackle house and takes in the children who no one else will take, a little girl who screams from the moment she awakes until the moment she sleeps, a boy who burns down houses, another little girl who never speaks and is obsessed with washing her hands. Altogether, Coral took in 36 children in her lifetime.Read more

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Editorial Review

This handsomely mounted American-British coproduction (filmed in the picturesque Czech Republic) combines the elegance of British period productions--candlelit glow, gauzy softness, and the hazy atmosphere of light smoke and dust--with the energetic pacing, gliding camera work, and driving editing of American films. The Scarlet Pimpernel, the dashing hero played with zip and gallantry by Richard E. Grant, hides behind his secret identity of British aristocrat Percy Blakeney, society wit and court bon vivant. His callous front is so convincing he even fools his French wife Marguerite (Elizabeth McGovern), who quietly suffers the neglect and scorn of her husband. She has a secret and is soon blackmailed by the head of the French Secret Police, Chauvelin (Martin Shaw), to help track the Pimpernel, but upon discovering her husband's covert identity she risks her life in a desperate trip to England to warn him as Chauvelin's forces close in on them both.Grant cuts a larger-than-life swathe as the swashbuckling hero of the French Revolution and he brings an over-the-top enthusiasm for the calculatedly brazen social antics of Percy; he seems to be having the time of his life in both roles. McGovern's affected performance is less convincing, though she comes to life in the second half when Marguerite exhibits a fierce defiance in the face of sure death. But the show belongs to Grant. With a hearty grin on his face and a glint in his eye, he attacks the role with all the cocky confidence of a 17th-century superhero. Read more

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Highly under rated
This is for my money the definitive Scarlet Pimpernel. Richard E Grant (now surely as famous for his turns as the witch hunter in Warlock & The Doctor in Dr. Who as for his time in Withnail and I) thrives in the role. Here is Richard having fun with the craft as never before; and this excitement and enthusiasm for the written word as well as the project shine in every scene. The chemistry between Chauvelin and our hero is well worth the visit. I was hooked from the first word and can't wait to see the other two products in this worthwhile enterprise.

A BIG DISAPPOINTMENT
I usually love BBC/A&E productions, but was very disappointed by their adaptation of The Scarlet Pimpernel. A mediocre cast and bad lines ruined what could potentially be a wonderfully exciting movie. The man who played Percy showed little emotion, and just didn't suit his role well. There was little chemistry between Percy and his wife, making for a very flat romantic plot in the movie. Though it was only three hours long (very short by BBC standards!), it seemed to be monotonously slow. In my opinion, the only worthwhile performance was by Emilia Fox, who portrayed the traitorous actress Minette. The only reason I wouldn't give this drama one star is because of its excellent costume/set design, which is always an added bonus in any period film.

Yuck!
Usually I enjoy A&E's adaptions of novels (notably Ivanhoe, Horatio Hornblower, and Pride and Prejudice), but this version of The Scarlet Pimpernel was such a disappointment!Reasons for this have been given in some of the other reviews: actors didn't seem to fit the roles, or didn't enjoy what they did with the story. I really disagreed with A&E having Percy go to a brothel for info, while at the same time, encouraging his young friend to "enjoy" himself.Quite a dark version. Skip this one.If you want to see a GREAT Pimpernel movie, see the one starring Anthony Andrews, Jane Seymour, and Ian Mckellen! ... Read more

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Editorial Review

From the opening scene in which a young bride and her baron groom ride into Shrewsbury, it is clear their marriage (arranged by her guardians) is ill-fated: she throws money to the lepers gathered by the side of the road, while he lashes out at them with his whip. The couple's personality differences are not the only factor dooming their union, however; the next morning, the groom turns up dead. Suspicion immediately falls on the baron's squire--the bride's secret lover--who only makes matters worse by running off. But Brother Cadfael's years of experience have taught him never to accept the obvious solution unquestioningly, and he soon discovers that the victim had a secret life as well.Read more

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There is always hope by God's grace and man's efforts.
A marriage of convenience is to take place between Baron Huon De Domville and the orphaned Iveta De Masssard. The Barron wants more land. Iveta on the other hand is really in love with another.
Wonderful tale of the 12 Century.
I enjoy a good murder mystery and the Brother Cadfael series is just that.The Leper of St Giles was one of my favorites of the 20 mysteries by Ellis Peters, because it captures much of the flavor of the period.Cadfael, the central character of the series, is a Dominican monk and herbalist, and Dereck Jacobi is the perfect personification of him.He has a presence which suggests strength, wisdom, and compassion.Unlike most of the other brothers, Cadfael had spent most of his life in the secular world where he participated in the crusades, had adventures, fell in and out of love, and took his order after finding the ways of the world wanting.He comes from a different culture, that of Wales, and sees that of England through an outsider's more objective eyes.His experience with life and the motives of men and his keen awareness of detail makes him the perfect sleuth, and when murder is committed the civil authorities, in the person of under sherif Hugh Beringer, are more than willing to have him clear things up for them.When a young girl is forced by her guardians to wed a wealthy but disagreeable nobleman, the young squires of the latter attempt to help her, only to become mixed in a murder.One of them is framed for it and arrested, but flees his captors.Aided by one of his fellow squires, he eludes apprehension only to be accused of a second murder, that of the young girl's guardian.It looks like curtains for the young man, until Cadfael takes on the case. Probably the most enjoyable part of the film is the byplay between the nun Alice and Cadfael.Like the latter, Alice had lived a full life prior to taking her orders and is not naive to the ways of the world.She appears again in The Rose Rent, and is one of my favorite characters.The Leper of St Giles is a thoroughly delightful film.

A huge Cadfael fan from Oz
This is probably the nicest, most romantic episode of the series. It is almost to clean cut for a medievil piece, but is nonetheless very well presented and extremely watchable. Derek Jacobi is faultless as the good brother, and the rest of the cast is also strong. Lots of mystery, murder and great sets, with an ending that will tug your heart strings. Also fantastic gregorian piecies sprinkled throughout. A must if you love cadfael, or a brilliant place to start your collection. When introducing friends to the wonderful Cadfael series,I start them on this film.It never fails to hook them !!. ... Read more

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"We have this moment for good or ill"
The Rose rent is a great mystery and in the course of being solved leads people to evaluate what has worth in life.A young widow must now face the fact that she may have killed her husband and also plan the rest of her life. Murder Blooms In Shrewsbury
After the death of her husband, Lady Judith Perle (Kitty Aldrige) deeds The Rose House to the Abbey of St. Peter's as memories are painfully moribund for her.The first Sunday of July, the monks are to pay LadyJudith annual rent of one rose from the white rosebush which stands in TheRose House's garden.Read more

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Editorial Review

Derek Jacobi's Brother Cadfael is a different kind of detective: a 12th-century monk, a healer and herbalist, and former soldier of fortune. His résumé gives him an interesting perspective on the puzzling murders that seem to plague the rural county of Shrewsbury. In "The Devil's Novice," from the second season of the television series, Cadfael defends the order's newest novice, an intense young man who harbors a haunting secret, against a murder charge. Once again he fights dogmatic superstition in the monastery's ranks and even battles the church hierarchy willing to sacrifice an innocent man to bring closure to the murder of a cleric. The generic mystery relies on familiar family melodramatics and romantic complications and even echoes elements of the more compelling Cadfael mystery "The Virgin in the Ice," but the backdrop of cloak-and-dagger intrigue and church politics infiltrating provincial Shrewsbury is compelling. Cadfael's mix of spiritual wisdom and worldly experience makes him a riveting character, and Jacobi invests him with empathy, passion, and a perceptive, clear-eyed vision of the secular world.Read more

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Mostly in light of the faithfulness of the adaptation
Screenwriter Christopher Russell also adapted A MORBID TASTE FOR BONES and THE ROSE RENT. Here Russell has left the main framework of the story intact, but the characterization has been watered down, and as in the above named adaptations potential motives of passion are blown out of proportion. Little changes have been made in many background details, such as renaming several characters and compressing/combining scenes (easier on the budget and on short attention spans, but oversimplifying the story). Since the characters and the subtleties of their relationships are the key to the novel's quality, the fact that the actual events of the story have been faithfully adapted isn't enough to carry the adaptation for me.
All the films are worth seeing.
I truly enjoy a murder mystery of the classic who-done-it type, and the Brother Cadfael series is absolutely perfect.The author Ellis Peters (Edith Pargiter, 1913-1995), like Agatha Christie, Nagio Marsh and Dorothy Sayers, was popular during the early to mid-20th Century and wrote prolifically during that time.There are some 20 Cadfael books.Athough the writer is not an historian, she is remarkably well researched and has a genuine feeling for life during her character's time period. Even in the worst deed there is some good
This tape is also part of Brother Cadfael Series 2 Box Set: The Devil's Novice, St. Peter's Fair and The Virgin in the Ice (1996) ASIN: 6303969631Read more

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I couldn't get enough of this one!
Cadfael is one of my favorite shows to watch! Especially The Raven in the Forgate! Though I am only thirteen, I have watched the shows over and over again because I thought it wasn't gruesome. If you have never seen this movie and wish to purchase this item, well, I recomend it. Take it from a 13 year old. The Cadfael series have made me want to see an read more mysteries and before, I never even wanted to look at a mystery. I thought I would hate Cadfael, but now I can't turn it off!

DEATH FLOCKS TO SHROPSHIRE
Death builds a nest for itself in Shrewsbury when a new priest is sent to replace the old one, who for forty years tended his flock before passing on.Father Ailnoth, the Bishop of Winchester's choice for the parish, isaligned with King Stephen and his claim to England's throne.Those who donot support Stephen are traitors and, according to Ailnoth, deserve to die. Abbot Radulfus, who escorted Ailnoth from the legatine council, solemnlystates that in a civil war, "All men are traitors to one cause oranother."Read more

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Editorial Review

A medieval Benedictine monk with a penchant for solving mysteries using deductive reasoning, Brother Cadfael, as expertly portrayed by actor Derek Jacobi in a series of programs produced for British television, tackles a murder case that grows out of a search for the bones of a martyred saint. Traveling from the Abbey of Shrewsbury to Wales after a young monk claims to have had a vision of the martyred St. Winifred, Cadfael and his fellow monks locate the holy relics, which they hope to return to their own abbey. The locals, however, insist that their beloved saint's bones shall remain in Wales, and the monks find themselves being thwarted by a proud Welsh lord who is soon found murdered. The suspicious locals point fingers at the English monks and at a young man in love with the lord's daughter. Cadfael, with the help of a beautiful and plucky heroine (played by Anna Friel), finally figures it all out and justice is ultimately done. The plot has some intelligent and unexpected twists, and fine acting from the supporting cast provides a solid complement to Jacobi's understated performance as the detective monk. Also worth noting is the artfully rendered historical ambience that makes this film, like others featuring Brother Cadfael, worthwhile even for those who don't generally watch mysteries. Read more

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A Truly Rare Benedictine.
When the decision was made to produce for TV several episodes from her mystery series about Brother Cadfael, that 12th century crusader turned herbalist monk turned detective who has been, ever since his creation, one of the most compassionate and unusual sleuths of literary history, novelist Ellis Peters (Edith Pargeter) was not entirely happy. In fact, according to this series's star, Sir Derek Jacobi, Ms. Peters had very mixed feelings about giving up her brain child and entrusting it to other people who went about cutting and adjusting everything, from the storylines themselves to the way the protagonists speak and even the sequence of the stories, to the necessities and limitations set by the new medium. But she eventually acquiesced and at one point promised that "the next one I write, I'll make sure it's easier for you all to film."
An amazing visit to the 12th Century
I enjoy a good murder mystery of the classical type, and the Brother Cadfael series is particularly good.The author Ellis Peters (Edith Pargiter, 1913-1995), like Agatha Christie, Nagio Marsh and Dorothy Sayers, was popular during the mid-20th Century and wrote prolifically during that time.There are some 20 Cadfael books.The film A Morbid Taste for Bones, basedupon the book of the same nameis incredibly authentic and colorful.The different orders of society: nobleman, servant, military man, tradesman, artisan, abbott, monk, and priest are carefully wrought to produce a period piece with more detail and clearer dialogue than a Shakespearean play.It would be a wonderful way of introducing young people to history. Not a really faithful adaptation
This review is geared toward considering the episode in terms of its quality as an adaptation of the original story, rather than as an independent entity, so if that doesn't interest you, shoo. :)Read more

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Editorial Review

Wonderfully preposterous as whodunits go, Read more

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We learn more of Cadfael's past
"No man is measured by the love he gives to others, but how he is loved by others."
Well adapted
This is a very good adaptation of Ellis Peter's Monks Hood.If you have read the book, then you will not be disappointed. The acting was brilliant, Derek Jacobi as cadfael and Mary Miller as Richildis were wonderful. Julian Firth as brother Jerome is brilliantly sycophantic, and also quite funny. The plot is well crafted, Gervase Bonel in a fit of pique disinheirits his stepson Eedwin Gurney, and gifts his land to the Abbey. Bonel then dies violently, and his stepson appears to be the only one with the motive and oppertunity to kill, or was he? Cadfael is drawn in to this because his medicine has been the cause of death.Bonel's wife just happens to be Cadfael's former fiancee...

Past Passion + Poison = Problems
Brother Cadfael, having fought in the Crusades and seen the world, now lives contentedly in the Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul.He takes pleasure in healing the sick with his herbs and tending his garden.Butlife becomes thorny when Richildis, whom Cadfael loved as a teenager, comesto dwell within the abbey's confines.Her second husband Gervase Boneldeeds his property to the Benedictines and soon afterward is murdered. Edmund Gurney, Richildis' son, may very well be the killer as he and hisstep-father fought bitterly.The boy prefers the company of commonfolk andtradespeople, disdaining the lord's more leisurely life.Gervase hasdisinherited Edmund, leaving Mannerly manor and its lands to theBenedictines in Shrewsbury.Read more

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"Under the certainty of Heaven nothing is certain."
When the town's goldsmith is robbed and left for dead, falls on a young juggler who was performing at the wedding feast of the goldsmith's son.
A very good Cadfael movie
This is a very good movie.The story is true to the book, and I really liked the book.The reason I gave it four stars instead of five is because a few of the memorable lines from the book that were spoken by charactersother than Cadfael were split up in the movie so that he completed some ofthem.For example, when the crowd comes chasing after the minstrelLilliwin, it really was more appropriate for the ABBOT to say, "Put upyour weapons or court your soul's damnation."I think it would havebeen presumptious for a lay brother to say such a thing unless he was anordained priest, who had the power to excommunicate.But other than that,the movie was as good as the book in every respect, and it's worth seeing. ... Read more

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A very different Christmas
Although the video doen't precisely follow the book, the visual presentation is a stunning feast for the eyes! The depiction of 12th century England in the depths of a pre-Christmas storm awes the viewer with the contrast between the beautifully stark, harsh Between friends there is no owing.
This film is part of "Brother Cadfael Series 2 Box Set: The Devil's Novice, St. Peter's Fair and The Virgin in the Ice (1996) ASIN: 6303969631 A SON'S RETURN
Can you imagine Oswin caught up in the arms of a woman? Picture him kissing her softly then flying into a rage wherebye he rapes and kills her. To make matters worse, she is a nun and her body is found frozen in a pond just a mile away where she and Oswain were sleeping together. Sound incredulous? Poor Oswin confesses his vile sin when ravaged by fever. Cadfael has a challenging mystery to solve in clearing the name of a man whom he holds dear in his heart.Brother Oswin has always been like a son to Cadfael. Although he has broken numerous pots and stumbled and bumbled his way through Cadfael's hut, he still remained Cadfael's favorite among all the monks of Shrewsbury. Once again trouble hits the area of the monastery. Two children have been lost and their uncle, an enemy of King stephen, has dispatched an emissary to find and return them. Oswin gets involved by helping the nun and her two charges. Their separation during the storm brings upon more troubles than can be imagined.Read more

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Editorial Review

Ellis Peter's intrepid sleuthing monk solves a grisly puzzle in Read more

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