The Lady's Not for Burning

Take a world-weary mercenary, and throw him into a household of mayor-uncle, convention-bound mom, two lusty, empty-headed sons, a servant, a naive girl just out of the convent and an accused witch about to be burned, put them in a setting of about 1400 AD and stir, and you get this wonderful work.

The elegant poetic language carved its way into a romantic nineteen year old's brain when I first saw this. Later versions just fall flat compared to this performance, partly because so much text was cut out of the later version I saw (a movie with Kenneth Branagh in it) that it lost its internal rhythm (yes, I READ too, and actually read the play later.) Oh, for it to be released on video or DVD!!!

I love this play!!! I love the language, the comedy, the characters & the story. This is my most favorite play and that's saying something for a theatre person. I fell into playing a part in it (Nicolas) when I was fifteen and have loved it ever since. I've been in it twice and directed it three times. I was commiserating with the other writers in this list about the play not being available on DVD or VHS. The next day while my wife and I were (finally) cleaning out our garage, I opened a box that had old videotapes in it and there was one labeled "The Lady's Not for Burning, Nov. 1987". I taped it off the air when it was broadcast during a KCET fund-raising campaign. Using my Mac and the EyeTV unit I have, I was able to digitize it and copy it to my hard drive. The next step will be to make my own DVD. It has some video dropouts and glitches, as would be expected from a videotape made almost 20 years ago, but the soundtrack is complete and the picture looks pretty good. It runs 100 minutes, somewhat less than the length stated in IMDb and I know from watching it that there are some lines and references missing. (Thomas' claim that he also killed "a pimp", for instance.) I feel very lucky to have been able to find this lost treasure.

I saw this performance on PBS many years ago, taped it, and watched it again several times before I lost the tape by lending it to a "friend." Chamberlain's performance is transcendent, and that's not a word I use very often. He convinced me that he is one of America's greatest actors, one of the few who is comfortable with lyrical, poetic language, such as Fry's, and who is totally convincing as a romantic lead. Eileen Adkins is perfect as the cynical Jennet, possible the equal of Pamela Brown who was closely identified with the role. This film needs to be released on DVD so that a new generation can discover the drama of Christopher Fry and see Chamberlain at his best.

How can my memory of watching this on PBS almost thirty years ago be useful here? Maybe by comparing it to the recent remake. I was disappointed by the remake because the tone had changed. I remember the "original" as being a much darker comedy and therefore(?) a much more inspirational love story -- almost a bi-polar experience.

Even though it has been thirty years, I remember this well, as do my mother and sister. I probably saw it a dozen times over it's KCET run, every time we knew it was going to be on, and loved every showing.

So many in the cast are favorites of mine that I'll refrain from going into each performance, except to say that the casting was excellent all around. Growing up in Los Angeles I was fortunate to see Richard Chamberlain on stage several times, and never better than he was in this role. Kristoffer Tabori stood out as well, as he has done so consistently throughout his career.

If you have the opportunity to see this, DO NOT MISS IT. You will not be sorry.

Message to KCET: PLEASE RELEASE THIS ON VHS/DVD!!!!!