Review: McLintock! (1963)

Okay, I know. You wouldn't have expected me to review Westerns, but they are technically period dramas. My dad has been a fan of John Wayne for years and he would occasionally show me scenes from different John Wayne movies. I finally watched a John Wayne movie all the way through, and that was McLintock!

Box Art

Synopsis
George Washington McLintock (also known as G.W.) is the richest man in the town of McLintock. After being away for two years, his estranged wife, Katherine/Kate, returns after living in the capital.


Characters
There are some famous actors/actresses in this movie. Most notably is John Wayne, who plays G.W. Maureen O'hara, who has been in a couple of John Wayne's movies, plays his wife Katherine. Hired hand Devlin Warren is played by John Wayne's real life son, Patrick Wayne. G.W.'s newly hired cook, Mrs. Warren, is played by Yvonne De Carlo, who was also in The Ten Commandments and the TV show The Munsters. There also may have been a number of the cast that were character actors from other Westerns, but I can't say for sure.

One of the slapstick scenes ended in a mud fight in which
Katherine gets involved.

There are two levels to this movie. There is a comedic side to it and there's the serious side to it. A good deal of the comedy is slapstick, but there are some funny quotes too. The acting was hilarious where it was supposed to be. Maureen O'hara was hilarious as the feisty Katherine who tried to control everything and would not let anyone outdo her. There were also a variety of town characters that were in the movie for comic relief.

The more serious scenes were about moving the Comanche to a reservation: G.W. translated the Comanche chief's wishes in a moving speech. G.W. also had a good deal of quotes that were moving and "life lesson" quotes (but he also had some funny quotes).


Scenery

G.W. at his ranch.

The scenery looked nice, but the whole movie was probably a set in a movie studio as a lot of movies at the time were (but I can't say for sure); even if it was filmed on a set, the scenery did look nice. The entire movie took place in the town of McLintock, which in the movie was a working town filled with people who worked with cattle or farmland (picture a Western movie set).

Becky McLintock

Costuming
I would estimate the year based on the costuming to be sometime in either the late 1890s or the early 1900s. This guess would be based off of Kate's wardrobe since she lived in the capital for a while and would have more access to the current fashions. I probably shouldn't take the costume accuracy too literally since westerns don't necessarily have accurate costuming, but you all know me! The costuming was still very nice. Kate's clothes, since she has been in the city, are more current and fashionable than the rest of the cast members. Becky, her daughter, in contrast to Kate who wore bolder colors for her clothes, had lighter colors, probably since she was young. Most of the men in the movie had work clothes on, though a couple of male characters had fashionable menswear.


Overall: 4/5
I really enjoyed this movie! There's some slapstick and there are some memorable quotes. I honestly don't know why sites have rated this movie TV-14: comparing it to what is rated TV-14 today, there really isn't anything so objectionable that it earns that rating. Honestly, I would rate it TV-PG. There are a couple of fights, but nothing is graphic. Some one in one scene is in public wearing Victorian/Edwardian undergarments (which to today's standards isn't that horrible), and there is some light swearing. Overall, McLintock is an enjoyable film and I would watch it again.

McLintock is available on DVD. It runs for 127 minutes.

Review: The Duchess of Duke Street - Series 1 (1976)

A while ago, my mom and I began to watch The Duchess of Duke Street. The show was made up of two seasons and was from the 70s. Normally, I don't particularly watch period dramas from the 70s since they aren't up to the standards of period dramas of today are (costuming and scenery wise), but I gave this show a try. I was not familiar with the Edwardian era and had never seen a period drama from the early Edwardian era (Downton Abbey was a little bit past the Edwardian era, and though it is referred to as an Edwardian period drama, it technically isn't.). This weekend, my mom and I just finished Series 1 of The Duchess of Duke Street.

Series 1 Box Art

Synopsis
Louisa Leyton (later Louisa Trotter) wants to become the best chef in England. She first gets a job in a fine house and eventually goes on to buy the Bentinck Hotel. The story is loosely based on the life of Rosa Lewis, a real life cook that was the best cook in London during her time.


Characters/Episode Plotlines
Most recognizably, Louisa is played by the well known Gemma Jones, who is also known for her roles in Sense and Sensibility and Jane Eyre. Robert Hardy (Sense and Sensibility, Middlemarch) makes an appearance in one episode, and so does Joanna David (Pride and Prejudice, He Knew He Was Right). Other than those members of the cast, I didn't recognize anyone else.

Louisa is a very interesting character. She is feisty, sassy, and determined to become the best chef in England. She sometimes gets involved in bad situations, but she keeps going. Small Spoiler Early in the series, she catches the attention of the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII): in order to keep the prince looking respectable, Louisa is pressured to marry the butler of the house she is working at, Augustus "Gus" Trotter; she relents and marries Gus (on a side note, Gus became a slimy character after they got married; luckily, he was only in the first couple of episodes). I felt that Louisa giving into the pressure was out of character for her: she didn't seem like a person that would give into peer pressure like that and then she does. But after that incident, Louisa doesn't give into peer pressure like she did during that incident. A slip of her character, perhaps? End of Small Spoiler There were ups and downs to Louisa's character. There were some times where I really liked her as a character: she was determined to protect her hotel and her staff and friends. But other times, it was hard to like her: she would become really bossy in some episodes, or really jealous in others. Well, I suppose all characters have their good points and their bad points.

The staff of the Bentinck Hotel

The staff of the hotel is also involved in the main plot too. As the viewer, you get a good glimpse into the lives of Mary, the hotel's maid and Louisa's friend that she met at her first cooking job, Merriman, the hotel's butler, Mr. Starr, the head porter, and his dog Fred, and the other recurring staff members. In a way, the story has some similarities to Upstairs, Downstairs since both the staff and the higher class people are involved in the plot. What is interesting is that in some episodes, you get to hear what the staff thinks of the situation the hotel is in in a particular episode.

Most of the episodes revolve around Louisa, Charles "Charlie" Haselmere (her friend), and the hotel staff, but there are a couple of episodes that focus more on the guests of the hotel. The episodes that were mostly about the hotel guests seemed as if they could have taken place at any point in the series, while with the episodes about Louisa, Charlie, and the hotel staff, they seem to play in chronological order for the most part. Since this story is based off of the life of a real life cook, there are some references during some of the episodes to events in history. Series 1 takes place between 1900 and 1910. There are references made to the death of Queen Victoria and the rise of the Prince of Wales to power and his death.


Scenery

Louisa at her first job

Unlike most shows from the 70s and 80s, this one didn't seem like it was on a sound stage all the time. Now, the video cameras that they used look like they came out of the 70s (I've noticed that with any 70s show, if a candle is lit there's this red streak that follows the flame around -- that streak is present in here), but the set doesn't appear to be a sound stage. There are some outdoor scenes, but most of the time, scenes take place within the Bentinck Hotel.


Costumes
I've never really seen a period drama with fashions from the early Edwardian era (at least before 1910) and I was quite unfamiliar with Edwardian fashions, so the costuming was all new to me. The costuming is very well done. Many of Louisa's outfits are very fancy and pretty, as are some of the guests' outfits. The staff usually has their usual uniforms on (which is to be expected), but sometimes the female staff members go out in nice dresses.


Music/Sound
Love the theme song! The theme song has the style of music that music at the turn of the century would have. Other than that, there really weren't any other songs (save for the alternative credits song, which had a similar style as the theme, but was slower). The sound was mostly clear (though I found Louisa hard to understand at times, but that was probably due to her accent).


Overall: 4/5
I would recommend this show. It's very enjoyable and not dull like some of the other period dramas from the 70s and 80s. There are some implications said about some of the characters, but nothing is shown (there was one scene that could have lead to a bad scene, but nothing happened at all). Louisa does sometimes use some bad language, but it's not that frequent. If I were to give The Duchess of Duke Street a TV rating, I would probably rate it TV-PG. If you're not familiar with the Edwardian era, this would be a good place to start with period dramas.

The Duchess of Duke Street: Series 1 is available on DVD either in the complete collection with both of the shows seasons or on it's own. There are 15 episodes in Series 1 that are about 50 minutes long each.