Author Topic: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Downton Abbey & Other PBS programs  (Read 118156 times)

Dana

  • ::
  • Posts: 5369
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Escape Artist, Endeavour, Poirot
« Reply #520 on: August 31, 2014, 02:11:13 PM »
 
See the 2014 MASTERPIECE schedule.  


NOW DISCUSSING


This summer (June 15 - September 7) we're talking about new and continuing series: THE ESCAPE ARTIST (June 15-22): David Tennant (Doctor Who) and Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda) star in a gripping legal thriller; ENDEAVOUR, Season 2 (June 29 to July 20): Shaun Evans returns for a second season with four all-new mysteries as young Endeavour Morse, before his signature red Jaguar...but with his deductive powers already running in high gear; HERCULE POIROT, Season 12 (July 27 to August 3): David Suchet returns as the suave Belgian super-sleuth in two new mysteries; BREATHLESS (August 24 to September 7): In this stylish and compelling new medical drama set in London in 1961, Jack Davenport (Smash, Pirates of the Caribbean) stars as a brilliant surgeon who believes he can make a difference in women’s lives. MISS MARPLE, Season VII (September 21 -28): Get a double dose of Marple as season VII kicks off on Sunday, Sept. 21! A Caribbean Mystery at 8pm and Greenshaw's Folly at 9:30pm. Check local listings.  INSPECTOR LEWIS, Season VII (October 5 - 19): Will Inspector Lewis retire and leave DI Hathaway on his own?  


ALREADY DISCUSSED

Watch Season 2 of SELFRIDGE March 30 through May 18.



Season 4 of Downton Abbey during January and February 2014.


Sherlock, Season 3, returned, starting January 19, following the 9pm broadcast of Downton Abbey. Benedict Cumberbatch (The Fifth Estate, Star Trek Into Darkness) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit, The Office UK) returned as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in three new 90-minute episodes of the contemporary reinvention of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle classic, created by Steven Moffat (Doctor Who) and Mark Gatiss. Watch episodes on TV or online after they air.


Discussion Leaders:  JoanP and marcie


Finally finished watching Happy Valley  (I think we talked about it here).  Its got that woman in it who was in Last Tango in Halifax (which I disliked, but no matter!)  Anyway, its not bad at all.  Very watcheable.  It gave me a kick that she was referred to as "granny" pretty often and went around beating her way thru doors and putting the boot in (and getting beaten up herself)....first tough granny in the movies I've seen...... very refreshing!! I get tired of seeing women portrayed as wimpy brainless screamers.  In this movie the men mostly were the brainless ones for a change......

BarbStAubrey

  • BooksDL
  • Posts: 11350
  • Keep beauty alive...
    • Piled on Tables and Floors and Bureau Drawers
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Escape Artist, Endeavour, Poirot
« Reply #521 on: August 31, 2014, 03:23:40 PM »
Saw the first episode of Breathless last night and like a bad nightmare it is still with me - I never did watch the current American series of Men something or something Men that is about the 1950s including a woman's role in the 1950s - I know how it made me feel then and it still is like a nightmare - I woke up today as tense as I used to be those many years ago - no wonder I had such bad migraines and of course the meds were narcotics and I even wanted my babies rather than being out dancing - how easy guys felt it was OK to pick up a married lady - never understood at the time thinking just wearing a ring should have sent signals and I was not even working out of the house.

This head doctor, what ever his name to me is oily - just hate this show - trying to decide if I will watch it to see if it improves tonight for episode two. I've several DVDs that I can pop in because I look forward to TV on Sunday night. I wonder if I should write to PBS - but I bet they saw the popularity of whatever that Man thing is on regular TV and decided this should work. Talk about a scary crime show this is like a scary horror show probably only because it is reliving the un-named feelings at the time with magazine articles telling us to be sexy with our husbands and simply treating them as naughty boys for leaving their clothes on the floor for us to pick up and and and. Remember the deal where we were supposed to wrap ourselves in saran wrap naked and meet them at the door when they came home from work? Gads.
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

MaryPage

  • Posts: 3725
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Escape Artist, Endeavour, Poirot
« Reply #522 on: August 31, 2014, 05:38:47 PM »
Barbara, I think PBS bought this show at this time because it was offered by BBC and it was cheap.  Cheap because it did not go over well in Great Britain, either, and was NOT picked up for a second season.

I will watch tonight, and I already know what will happen because I Googled it.  Once a show has been shown for a season in Great Britain, it is in Wikipedia with each episode described in detail.  I like a lot of the actors, but I do dislike the story itself, and also shudder at remembering how it was back in those days.  Makes me madder than a hornet that the younger generations do not appreciate how hard we fought to get them to where they are, sigh!  If they knew, they would up the ante big time and fight to get the ERA passed, among other things.  They are just clueless!

Oh, I adored every episode of Last Tango In Halifax, and will gladly watch it again.  Especially that last episode!  I am still hugging myself with glee remembering Sir Derek Jacoby's vaudeville turn!  He was about the funniest thing I have EVER seen!  Who knew?

ANNIE

  • BooksDL
  • Posts: 2977
  • Downtown Gahanna
    • SeniorLearn
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Escape Artist, Endeavour, Poirot
« Reply #523 on: August 31, 2014, 09:30:22 PM »
Oh, MaryPage, I agree about Derek Jacoby's dance in Last Tango.  I loved it and still laugh whenever I think of it. 

As for "Breathless", we didn't have it on more than 10 minutes, and we were looking to see what else was on or on our DVR list.  Horrible show and so fragmented! Who wrote that??

Tonight, we are DVRing "The Secrets of British Secret Service" .

And we are watching NASCAR'S SPRINT CUP RACE IN
ATLANTA(Hampton,GA).  We were at one race or two plus a Country Music Concert all in one day at that track!!  The best thing that happened that day was Paul Newman was there watching his car race and when he left he walked right by us.  And I was taller than he was.  Also, we left for part of the race to get out in the sun where it was warmer.
And we passed, Joanne Woodard.  She was sitting in the sun, too, calmly knitting just outside the door of their RV.  You know she helped sponsor our playhouse theatre in Marietta, GA.  She was born in Marietta.
"No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth." Robert Southey

MaryPage

  • Posts: 3725
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Escape Artist, Endeavour, Poirot
« Reply #524 on: September 01, 2014, 07:38:53 AM »
What fun!  I swooned over Paul Newman and his blue bedroom eyes.

Watched television for most of the evening and long into the night yesterday, something I rarely ever do.  Started with the ABC six o'clock news and then caught the NBC six-thirty news, followed by the CBS 60 Minutes, which was all repeat, but good.  Had an hour off until Breathless came on at nine.  Enjoyed that (for the acting, which really was worthwhile) until ten thirty, and then had half an hour to brush my teeth and get my nightie on, and at eleven caught Scott & Bailey.  MPT (Maryland Public Television) has started to do repeats of the three seasons previously shown of that show, as the 4th season will be coming to us in the spring.  Even though it is now a repeat, the excellence of the writing and the outstanding acting make it a real jewel, and I suppose it is the realistic portrayal of the harshness of real life that keeps this show from being a runaway popular hit.  As a matter of fact, I believe a lot of folks get turned off by stories that feature gritty problems and folks with poor judgment regarding handling of the same, which this show most certainly does.  Still and all, Scott & Bailey becomes addictive for the acting, which is truly the very best.

marcie

  • Administrator
  • Posts: 7802
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Breathless, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #525 on: September 04, 2014, 10:46:16 PM »
I watched about 2/3 of the second episode of Breathless and then the foreboding got too much for me. I didn't want to see what was going to happen each of the main characters. I do think that the acting is excellent. I may try again in the future.

MaryPage

  • Posts: 3725
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Breathless, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #526 on: September 06, 2014, 08:12:54 AM »
Last night I made myself finish watching American Hustle, which I made the huge mistake of buying because it has Jennifer Lawrence in it and was nominated in a number of Academy Award categories.  Have had it in my DVD player like forever now, and have piles of other stuff I would love to get to, but for self-discipline and that old waste not want not rule I was raised under, I told myself I HAD to finish that movie.  Had already turned it on three times on three different nights, only to watch for a while and turn it off in dismay.  So this fourth time I was determined would be the last, and I watched it to the crazy end.  Find myself deeply concerned that there are cultures of peoples right here in America that I do not understand at all and cannot relate to other than with a shudder of disbelief.  I swear, I think I would fit in better in a lot of foreign countries than I would in New Jersey!  Oh, by the way, Jennifer Lawrence was spectacular as a complete airhead.
THEN I indulged myself!  Watched a complete episode of Mapp & Lucia and had a ball laughing my head off.  Owned the videos for years, and finally threw them out and bought the DVDs.  One disappointment is that there are still no closed captions or subtitles, but I get around that problem these days with a new gadget made by Sennheiser:  wireless earplugs that allow me to hear every word loud and clear, with absolutely no sound in the room whatsoever!  Heaven!
So Life is Good once more, and I am going to have to do a bit more research from now on before I buy a popular favorite.  Shudder!

BarbStAubrey

  • BooksDL
  • Posts: 11350
  • Keep beauty alive...
    • Piled on Tables and Floors and Bureau Drawers
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Breathless, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #527 on: September 06, 2014, 01:50:43 PM »
MaryPage do not know if the DVD is broken into the original series of programs but if you remember that was the video tapes - I have never found the music they used to start each program - is there anything on the DVD that includes the music or is the theme music listed on any inclosed literature - that music often pops into my head for no reason and I would love to know the name of the tune and composer.
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

MaryPage

  • Posts: 3725
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Breathless, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #528 on: September 06, 2014, 04:07:41 PM »
OK, looking for the music here:

10 episodes on 4 discs.  Music by Jim Parker.  All of the music and the shows are owned exclusively by RLJ Entertainment.  Wow, this goes back to 1985/1986, but has been renewed.

That is all I can get from the cover, etc.  Next episode I watch, I will look in the credits for any info about the music.  I agree that it is attractive and addictive.

It is on here:  http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0662353/  that he did the music for absolutely TONS of shows;  I am amazed, and Mapp & Lucia is on the list, but no further information.

Well, apparently you can buy the sheet music:  http://www.justsheetmusic.com/sheet-music/jim-parker-mapp-and-lucia/

Oh! Oh! Oh!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlBv8ytrVYA

Go ahead and Google Mapp & Lucia music;  you will get loads of sites!

BarbStAubrey

  • BooksDL
  • Posts: 11350
  • Keep beauty alive...
    • Piled on Tables and Floors and Bureau Drawers
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Breathless, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #529 on: September 06, 2014, 06:27:59 PM »
thanks you so much MaryPage - lots to look at - this is great!
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

FlaJean

  • Posts: 849
  • FlaJean 2011
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Breathless, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #530 on: September 07, 2014, 01:28:41 PM »
Love that music.  Remember seeing some of the Mapp & Lucia episodes a few years back.  Will have to check Netflix for the series.

BeckiC

  • Posts: 3079
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Breathless, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #531 on: September 08, 2014, 01:01:26 AM »
 MaryPage wrote
Quote
I told myself I HAD to finish that movie.  Had already turned it on three times on three different nights, only to watch for a while and turn it off in dismay.  So this fourth time I was determined would be the last, and I watched it to the crazy end.
I have to agree with you on American Hustle. I loved Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook and was expecting another really good movie. Both movies were a bit on the offbeat side but I found Hustle the hard one to sit through. I was expecting so much more. Maybe that is the reason. With all the buzz around the Oscars show and all the other publicity,  I just had higher expectations. I did enjoy it but felt it took some staying power to get through it. I loved the outfits and hairstyles though!! :D


MaryPage

  • Posts: 3725
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Breathless, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #532 on: September 08, 2014, 07:43:29 AM »
Have to say, Becki, that I just flat out could not, try as I did, relate to ANYone in that movie. Not a soul!  It was like they were all from a different planet with different mores and ways of looking at things and behaving.  Even THINKing!  And it was New Jersey, for crying out loud.  Well, my friends tell me I would feel the same way if I ever watched any reality shows.  Flinch at the mere thought!  Cannot abide the noisy, cattle herd quality behavior on almost any show that has an audience:  game shows, etc.  Guess my soul was born in the 18th century or something, because loud voices, shouting, rude words:  these things almost shatter me as though I were made of fragile glass.  All the SCREAMING!  Shudder!!!!

Can't attend or watch sports events for the same reason.  Now tennis or golf, THOSE I could do crowd behavior wise, but I shrink from crowds, period.

JoanK

  • BooksDL
  • Posts: 8685
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Breathless, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #533 on: September 12, 2014, 05:17:33 PM »
I agree with you about crowds Mary Page. At least in person -- I've started avoiding them like the plague. But for some reason, I don't mind the crowd noise at sporting events on TV, maybe because I can always turn the volume down, or switch it off. I think it's the loss of control in crowd situations that bothers me as much as the noise.

the noise of the commercials bothers me much more. They are often louder and more strident than the shows. I always turn the sound off for them.

salan

  • Posts: 1093
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Breathless, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #534 on: September 12, 2014, 05:58:20 PM »
Was anyone else left as confused as I was by the ending of Breathless???  Very unsatisfying!!
Sally

BarbStAubrey

  • BooksDL
  • Posts: 11350
  • Keep beauty alive...
    • Piled on Tables and Floors and Bureau Drawers
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Breathless, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #535 on: September 12, 2014, 07:10:07 PM »
I think they pulled a modern switcheroo - back then no women would attempt to blackmail a guy because of her reputation and for her to have it over him because he killed the boyfriend - shoot the idea of a women then going on her own to an attorney or even the police and expect to be taken seriously - pipe dream by someone born since -
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

MaryPage

  • Posts: 3725
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Breathless, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #536 on: September 14, 2014, 09:25:10 AM »
I watched PBS all evening last night.  First one hour of Scott & Bailey (that show just gets better and better) and then Great Performances two hour live STAR SPANGLED SPECTACULAR from Baltimore.  Yesterday was the day, two hundred years ago. that Francis Scott Key wrote The Star Spangled Banner.  And it was a Great Show!  The Tall Ships, over 30 of them, were in Baltimore.  The Blue Angels flew yesterday and will do so again today.  The Vice President spoke.  Kenny Rogers sang.  President Obama was there on Friday.  Colin Powell was there.  Oh, it has been a fantastic time here on the Chesapeake Bay this weekend!  Six thousand and six hundred children were bussed in from all around and they formed a living flag down at Fort McHenry.  THAT was a wonderful thing in itself!

mabel1015j

  • Posts: 3656
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Breathless, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #537 on: September 14, 2014, 11:50:01 PM »
Did anybody watch The Roosevelts? I thought it was very well put together. There was not much new info for me since i've read a lot about all three of them, but they did admit that TR had a true bloodlust for animals AND for war.

Jean

BarbStAubrey

  • BooksDL
  • Posts: 11350
  • Keep beauty alive...
    • Piled on Tables and Floors and Bureau Drawers
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Breathless, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #538 on: September 15, 2014, 12:33:49 AM »
Did not know the background of the losses that Theodore experienced nor how Elenore was related to FDR although, I knew they were cousins and the relationship of his mother makes sense - she really was not the shrew that some historians have suggested - she was simply a very involved mother that depended on him as her only intimacy after the death of her husband. Not healthy, difficult for Elenore who may not have understood and given her background was probably hoping to feel the love from Franklin that was missing in her life so of course she would feel overwhelmed by her mother-in-law's attention to her husband - but then no more unhealthy then Teddy's lust for war that I bet came from the bottled up rage never expressed with the deaths of both parents and his first wife, all three were his closest intimates. There is no shutting down one particular feeling - a shut down effects them all and if there is a way to cover over certain feelings, the need for that stimulant becomes greater with time.

Interesting how every issue today is a mirror of the same issues at the end of the nineteenth century. Corruption in the police, money running Congress with no desire to change it, corporations needing watchdog rules, nations and leaders desiring to make a name for themselves through war - does it ever change - makes you think we are getting upset about today for no reason - if a leader comes along to change it - so be it but the people do not seem to be able to make the change and Congress does not police itself and the 'good' war is always part of the mix that includes battle field atrocities. I've been here of late watching fewer and fewer news and political re-caps or discussions - I have one vote and hearing the rest is simply getting me upset - I'm better off using my time to do something that will affect those I touch and this Ken Burns program is showing me how futile is my being upset over what I have no power to change.
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

salan

  • Posts: 1093
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Breathless, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #539 on: September 15, 2014, 06:56:11 AM »
Ken Burns has done it again!  I thought that the first part of the Roosevelt's was very well done.
Sally

MaryPage

  • Posts: 3725
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Breathless, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #540 on: September 15, 2014, 07:39:26 AM »
I think the first 2 hours of the 14 we have to view were truly well done.  One thing I never hear anymore, and wonder if my memory is totally faulty:  back in the thirties, when I was young, I was told that the two distinct branches of the family, of which Theodore and Eleanor were one and Franklin another, pronounced the name differently.  One branch called it "ruse-avelt," while the other said "rose-avelt."  The Teddy branch were the ruses and the Franklin the roses.  Well, you never hear that anymore.

FlaJean

  • Posts: 849
  • FlaJean 2011
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Breathless, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #541 on: September 15, 2014, 09:19:30 AM »
I thoroughly enjoyed the documentary and will be watching all week.  Ken Burns and his associates do great work.

MaryPage

  • Posts: 3725
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Breathless, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #542 on: September 16, 2014, 07:51:31 AM »
Part 2 of the 7 part series of The Roosevelts was just as good as the first.  Most Excellent!  They are sure doing a very good job of showing how Teddy R. was both a great president in some areas and a terrible one in others.  It was amazing how energetic he was, and how much he managed to get done.  Domestically, he was an almost, not quite but almost, perfect president.  Foreign policy wise, he was a disaster, and I feel very ashamed for us.  He made SOME right moves there, of course, as well as some poor ones domestically.  I was ashamed at the promises he made our Blacks, and then broke.  I was stunned at his prediction of a future war that Japan would start.  My daddy told me in 1933 that we would have a war with Japan, and I thought later that HE was amazing, but shoot, he was career Army and learned that at West Point.  Roosevelt was the first to predict it, and a quarter of a century earlier than that!

BarbStAubrey

  • BooksDL
  • Posts: 11350
  • Keep beauty alive...
    • Piled on Tables and Floors and Bureau Drawers
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Breathless, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #543 on: September 16, 2014, 10:36:49 AM »
Sure hope they plan on repeating this series at another time - Every night is a first that I can remember and my schedule just does not work with an every-night of the week schedule so I had to miss last night and will have to miss tonight as well. They are doing them back to back showing it twice a night but that only works if you are back by 9:

Thanks for the short review - it helps because it sounds like you hit the high points.
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

JoanK

  • BooksDL
  • Posts: 8685
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Breathless, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #544 on: September 16, 2014, 04:31:52 PM »
Both nights I was interrupted and managed to watch only part of the Roosevelts. But I really liked what I saw. All three are fascinating people with many contradictions. Teddy has always intrigued me. As you say, so right in so many ways and so wrong in others. The one thing you can say is that he never did things half way.

Where I left it they were talking about Eleanor's early married life. So passive then, and such a force later. I really look forward to the rest.

Two of the three have featured in detective fiction. There was a series of mysteries with Teddy as the detective, based on his time as police commissioner of NYC (I forget the author). And Eleanor's son Eliot wrote a series of mysteries with Eleanor as the detective. Both of them are lots of fun. I think the family was mad at Eliot for some of the things he "told" in his book.

salan

  • Posts: 1093
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Breathless, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #545 on: September 16, 2014, 07:38:58 PM »
I love, love, love my dvr (in spite of me protesting that I didn't want it; but my daughter insisting).  I can tape all the programs that are worth watching (somtimes more than once!), and watch them at a time that is convenient for me.  There are so few programs worth watching and invariably what I wanted to watch conflicted with my time--especially those programs that ran several nights in a row.  Now I just set my dvr and they are there for me to watch later.
Sally

mabel1015j

  • Posts: 3656
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Breathless, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #546 on: September 16, 2014, 08:55:44 PM »
JoanK - i loved Elliot's mysteries. I just kept thinking "how close is his description to the real person?" I first thought that in his early book about when Churchill came to stay at the White House. Notice that he is named for ER's father?

Yes, i agree, they are all both wonderful and flawed, but they could have been so much worse and wouldn't we all have been in very bad shape if they were, because they had so much power and were willing to use it, even Eleanor. Thank goodness they had some sense of the need to do good. They are all truly Shakespearian in this drama, and bigger then life.

I understand Barb, as much as i like reading and studying history, it can be very depressing at times to see how human beings are always just that, human. And although some progress gets made and we creep forward in many areas of life, so much seems to just keep repeating over and over. But i always taught the Roosevelts as amazing survivors, coming out of those horrible childhoods. The students enjoyed the psychology of it all and the possible psychological explanations of their decisions and behaviors.

I think it would have been horrible to have had Sara Delano for a mother-in-law. I understand her love for FDR, but she had no compassion, only condescension, for ER and just had to run everything! 

Jean

MaryPage

  • Posts: 3725
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Breathless, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #547 on: September 17, 2014, 08:16:16 AM »
I honestly believe she looked upon Eleanor as the necessary wife her beloved son HAD to acquire from among the crop of suitable debutantes to be the mother of HER GRANDCHILDREN!  She owned those children, Sara did!  She took over and ruled the roost!  No wonder Eleanor only found herself outside of the home!  She was not a person at home, but only the means to achieve Sara's legacy:  the children!

I thoroughly enjoyed the third installment last night.  I was surprised they were so open about the Lucy Mercer affair.  Did you know Lucy, who was now Lucy Mercer Rutherford, was with FDR when he died in Warm Springs in April 1945?  Yes, she was there.  And Eleanor was in Washington.  Right there, upon news of his sudden death, Eleanor learned he had not kept his promise to her.  How devastating!

FlaJean

  • Posts: 849
  • FlaJean 2011
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Breathless, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #548 on: September 17, 2014, 12:53:40 PM »
And didn't the Roosevelt daughter arrange for Lucy to come to Warm Springs?  But I'm getting ahead.  Much to come in the next few nights!

MaryPage

  • Posts: 3725
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Breathless, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #549 on: September 17, 2014, 05:17:07 PM »
I kind of sort of doubt Anna went THAT far;  but who am I to possibly know?  What I DO remember, in this old leaky head of mine, is that she had been complicit for years, along with a number of other friends and family members, in keeping all knowledge of the ongoing romantic liaison from her mother.  And it was Anna, finally, who had to tell Eleanor, before she found out in some other manner, that Lucy had been with FDR in Georgia that week and at the fateful hour.  The press was very quiet about it at the time, but hey, this was back during a war time in which the entire media was careful what they said so as not to hurt public morale.  Her name WAS listed as part of the group present down there, but nothing more was said about her AT THAT TIME.  We had no televisions in those days:  only radio, newspapers, and news magazines.  The news was not so instant all over.
I will always remember I was cleaning shrimp in our home in Bunkie, Louisiana.  They were grey and slimy, and I was taking the hulls off and knifing the guts out;  preparing them for shrimp gumbo with rice for supper.  Um, um good!  Don't remember another thing about that day, just these moments:  for the front screen door slammed, and I could hear footsteps coming through the living room and dining room of our bungalow.  Poo-doo Goux, (his real name was Gladford), the 15 year old boy from next door came into the kitchen, stopping in the living room to turn the radio on.  President Roosevelt is dead, he announced.  I bout died, and that is all I remember.  Fade out.  Close the curtain.  For all of eternity I will be cleaning shrimp when I hear mention of the death of FDR.

BarbStAubrey

  • BooksDL
  • Posts: 11350
  • Keep beauty alive...
    • Piled on Tables and Floors and Bureau Drawers
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Breathless, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #550 on: September 17, 2014, 05:32:37 PM »
An eyewitness account of the death of FDR - http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/fdrdeath.htm
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

mabel1015j

  • Posts: 3656
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Breathless, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #551 on: September 17, 2014, 06:07:49 PM »
I believe it was in Doris Kerns Goodman's book No Ordinary Times - altho i could be wrong because that covers the WWII timeframe, but in some book of the FDR's- i read that both ER and FDR had a really bad time on their 3 month European honeymoon. The implication was that both were very uneasy with having sex, Eleanor simply because she knew nothing about it and was a very Victorian lady and FDR having psychological issues related to his relationship with his mother. He got hives, had anxiety attacks (not called that then), both had stomach problems,etc. Of course, Burns ignored that, as he probably should have in this series.

I'm rereading Fall of Giants for a f2f book group, so the WWI parts were interesting to review last night.

I think it was inevitable that at some time F would have an affair. His psychological need for being adored was huge. He was very handsome, powerful, charming - 3 powerful aphrodisiacs for a young woman. I would assume he created a very good story about an unemotional, very busy E, which a young woman would sympathize with.

They are just such fascinating people.

Jean

MaryPage

  • Posts: 3725
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Breathless, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #552 on: September 17, 2014, 07:19:22 PM »
Tully had been his secretary for only 17 years, and the affair with Lucy Mercer, later Lucy Mercer Rutherford, had been going on much longer than that.  Therefore I am forced to believe Tully had to have been party to the secret, and was continuing, for love of her boss, in not mentioning Lucy by name.

From everything I have ever heard, I believe it to have been a case of true love.  True Love.  I believe he really had a deep family blood love and friendship for Eleanor, and respected her and wanted rather desperately not to hurt her.  But his own children knew!

I think if FDR were here with us today for a minute, he would say he loved Eleanor but was IN LOVE with Lucy.  I mean, ALL THOSE YEARS!

MaryPage

  • Posts: 3725
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Breathless, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #553 on: September 18, 2014, 09:10:12 AM »
They overlook and undervalue women without so much as a flicker of guilt;  it is all par for the course on a daily basis, century after century after century.
You take this latest great Ken Burns series:  The Roosevelts:
Do you know, that blankety-blank Burns is just as bad as the rest of 'em!
It burns me up that he chose to go on and on and on about Teddy Roosevelt urging all 4 of his sons to get into the war;  and they did.  And he details how they came out of it and the heroism of Quentin, who did not.  We are even treated to a photograph of the dead pilot lying on the ground.  Strong flashes of patriotism and grief pour through us.
But Theodore had another child.  Yes, a child born of his marriage, a sibling to these 4 boys. And that child got to France in World War I ahead of all the rest of them, and worked tirelessly in a WAR HOSPITAL there as a nurse for the duration.  Helped save many an American life, did SHE!
Google Ethel Roosevelt Derby's biography, and be amazed!
But oh, shoot!  She was just a GIRL, and her service does not deserve even a passing mention.  Girls don't matter.  Girls don't count.
I despair.

JoanK

  • BooksDL
  • Posts: 8685
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Breathless, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #554 on: September 19, 2014, 05:11:14 PM »
MARY PAGE: I had no idea. Thank you for  sharing that!

I remember a friend of mine toured Hyde Park. Franklin had a huge bedroom, next to his mother's huge bedroom. Eleanor had her own bedroom, a tiny windowless room that had been a closet. She had to go through her mother-in-law's room to get to franklin's!!!!

In spite of all this, they managed to have all those children. Then it stopped. Pure speculation: E didn't know enough to use contraception (and maybe he didn't care enough?) and she started refusing him. So he went elsewhere. He was spoiled and used to the world bending to him.

In any case, it was the start of her becoming her own person.

mabel1015j

  • Posts: 3656
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Breathless, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #555 on: September 19, 2014, 09:15:01 PM »
John was born in March 1917, so would have been a toddler when Eleanor found out about Lucy Mercer. I think that was what ended their having children.

Jean

marcie

  • Administrator
  • Posts: 7802
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #556 on: September 21, 2014, 02:09:12 AM »
I've been enjoying The Roosevelts series too and I'm looking forward to the start of Season VII of Miss Marple tomorrow night.

Frybabe

  • Posts: 10032
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #557 on: September 22, 2014, 06:22:54 AM »
I watched the two Miss Marples last night and was surprised in the first one to see Ian Fleming and one James Bond in the cast of characters. Off I went on one of my researches. A Caribbean Mystery was published in 1964. Ian Fleming died the same year, so I expect that was her memorial tribute to him.

MaryPage

  • Posts: 3725
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #558 on: September 22, 2014, 07:38:58 AM »
Well, Agatha Christie did not write the screenplays, and each version of A Caribbean Mystery has been different from the other by quite a bit.  I have no memory of ever having seen that bit before, so I assumed it was added for fun in this new script.  I must confess, though, that I just do not know.

Frybabe

  • Posts: 10032
Re: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis
« Reply #559 on: September 22, 2014, 08:03:58 AM »
You are probably right MaryPage. Off I went to IMDB. No Ian Fleming or James Bond in the 1989 production. According to this article, Charlie Higson wrote the script. He also played the part of the ornithologist James Bond in this version. http://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/tv-radio/407780/Miss-Marple-returns-to-our-screens-to-solve-a-Carribean-case

There was a real James Bond, an American ornithologist, known to Ian Fleming, who was a avid birder. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bond_%28ornithologist%29 I did not know this.

Here's the Telegraph article which indicates that the Ian Fleming/James Bond bit was added by Higson. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/10121866/Agatha-Christies-Marple-A-Caribbean-Mystery-ITV-review.html Interesting to note that Higson writes/wrote a series of  children's books about a young James Bond. Some subtle self-advertising going on there methinks.