Search - Edward the King on DVD

Her Majesty Annette Crosbie

Jay Dickson | Portland, OR | 07/15/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Phillip Magnus's magisterial biography of King Edward VII was deemed worthy of a miniseries by the BBC, so this exceptionally lavish (and, unfortunately, exceptionally long) miniseries adaptation was commissioned of it by the BBC in the mid 1970s. Very little expense was spared, and the costumes faithfully replicate the court dress of every decade between 1842 (when the miseries begins, at Queen Victoria's realization of Edward's conception) and 1910 (when Edward dies); many scenes are shot at the actual locations, including Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's Cathedral. You should be warned from the get-go that, due to its extreme length, the miniseries sags quite a bit in the middle, between Edward's marriage to Alexandra and his accession to the throne. For whatever reason, the BBC decided that Edward's numerous extramarital affairs could be mentioned but that "Bertie" (Timothy West) could be shown giving nothing more passionate to his many illicit loves other than a kiss on the cheek--and then only once, in parting with Lillie Langtry (Francesca Annis). So the rest of the middle section of this miniseries is pretty dull, with far too many bluff and hearty dinner parties, and with far too many minor sexual and social scandals, most of which could have been easily cut, since Edward's protests to his mother and wife of doing nothing more indiscreet than admiring the beauty of these women is borne out entirely by what we see on camera. Also, the children of Victoria and Albert (and their childrens' spouses, the heads of European royalty) are so nice and well mannered that not much of anything seems to happen in the middle. Yet the miniseries is more than worth seeing for the three episodes at the beginning and the three episodes at the end. The latter sequences are worth seeing for what happens when Edward finally is enthroned, close to age sixty, and has the ability to do what he has long dreamed of doing, and can brokers a European peace by dint of his influence upon his two nephews, Kaiser Wilhelm II and Czar Nicholas II, who are the actual rulers of two of the most important empires on Earth. This latter triad of episodes also shows this series' Edward and Alexandra at their absolute best: as Edward VII, Timothy West is never quite so likable as when playing with his many royal grandchildren and happily making a fool of himself, while Helen Ryan, as the deaf, forgiving, kindly, yet surprisingly patriotic Alexandra, shows herself at her most eccentric and lovable. And the first triad of episodes is worth the entire series, because they give the great Annette Crosbie her fullest showcase as Edward's mother, the inestimable Queen Victoria.

Although Queen Elizabeth I has been the proverbial role for giving actresses a great showcase for their talents, nearly as many have had a go at the Last of the Hanovers, from Helen Hayes and Anna Neagle to Irene Dunne and Judi Dench. But none of them have been allowed further range than Annette Crosbie is here over the course of a full ten episodes, and she so dominates the series that for all of these first ten episodes she is deservedly given top billing. Hers is the performance that far and away makes the greatest impression, perhaps because Victoria is the most interesting person in the entire series. From her first scene, screaming "'MUST'... TO ME!" at her former governess in outraged disbelief, Crosbie's Victoria makes us laugh almost constantly. Trained from an early age to see the entire world subject to her whims, Crosbie's Victoria is so surprised when the universe does not obey her that her whole body reacts in outrage; often she is caught so by surprise at the expressions of willpower in other people that she freezes in shock before she can quite make up her mind whether to explode in fury, burst into tears, or erupt in laughter. I can't remember the last time an actor's performance caught me so repeatedly off-guard, and made me chuckle so often in delight. Even in the long later years of her reign when she mostly does walk-ons during the dreary events of the middle episodes devoted to her sons' scandals with his mistresses, she keeps a wonderful comic routine going with her dismaying prime minister William Gladstone (Michael Hordern), who always says exactly the wrong thing to her. You look forward to Annette Crosbie's every appearance on camera; it is one of the true triumphs of Seventies British acting, and makes the whole thing a kind of classic."