Spoonatects Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Stephan Hammond It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Bob Taylor I borrowed this set from the public library. I am one of the few people, it seems, who did not see this series when it first aired on TV over fifty years ago. I can say that it gave me quite a bit of pleasure.The performances are generally fine. Paul Daneman does a great job as Richard III, really funny and menacing. He reminded me of Olivier. Since the discovery of Richard's bones recently, we can see that he was really deformed and that Shakespeare's making him a hunchback is only just. Mary Morris as Henry VI's queen is wonderful; wide-eyed obstinacy and toughness directed at all who don't respect her husband. Sean Connery in one of his very first roles is very funny and moving as Hotspur--love those sarcastic exchanges with Glendower. And Eileen Atkins as Pucelle in Henry VI is great--sexualized, passionate, unforgettable. (Pity the director chose to give a tight close-up on Atkins's eyes at one point to show a dancer reflected in her pupils.) The rest of the cast is occasionally memorable. You're probably not going to remember who is a Yorkist and who a Lancastrian, and does it matter that much anyway? There are so many individual moments that will please you: Jack Cade's aide saying "First thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers!" is one, and there are many others.

phytodoer As is true of so many, I loved this series and hope ! hope! hope! that it will be issued on DVD. It was far superior, in my view, to the subsequent Wars of the Roses. Please, BBC - make us happy and take our money! In addition to the fine actors mentioned by the others, I add Paul Daneman - unfortunately now dead - who was the perfect Richard III. When I read Shakespeare now, these are the voices I hear, the phrasing I remember. Daneman saying "So wise so young they say do ne'er live long" Or Jack May as the Duke of York - "Cold news for me, for I had hopes of France ..." Or Robert Hardy chuckling at the thought of old men remembering "with 'vantages" their deeds on St. Crispin's Day. I want to see it again!

hilarynu Saw this series when it was broadcast by the BBC in UK when I was a child. (All in glorious Black and White 405 line transmission). Very good introduction to the history plays of Shakespeare, and in retrospect I now realise that this was the 'cream' of classic acting of it's day and certainly not wooden or histrionic. Many of the performers went on to make splendid films/theatre/videos/radio. Viz among them Sean Connery(James Bond) would you believe.

dleet Watched this on KQED, with Frank Baxter commenting, as I recall. Have never seen it since, but would like to find out where it is available.It is amazing how good something can be, but be in black and white, and have zero special effects. In fact, amazing how much BETTER something like that is!