Die Grenville-Tragödie

how where can i buy this movie either on VHS or DVD? both performances are incredible and the settings, the directions the whole spirit of the era are more than believable....they are....in this movie. i just want to find out where i can buy this movie to have anytime i want, and i have to write 10 lines of text to ask the questions. seems silly but i will state once again that this is a phenomenal performance buy (sic) both Ann-Margeret and Ms. Colbert. excellent supporting cast as well. and what excellent direction. the drama is as dramatic as this site even more so. how awesome it could be if CBS NBC ABC or FOX could rerun the entire movie during sweeps week

When Navy ensign Billy Grenville, heir to a vast New York fortune, sees showgirl Ann Arden on the dance floor, it is love at first sight. And much to the horror of Alice Grenville--the indomitable family matriarch--he marries her. Ann wants desperately to be accepted by high society and become the well-bred woman of her fantasies. But a gunshot one rainy night propels Ann into a notorious spotlight--as the two Mrs. Grenvilles enter into a conspiracy of silence that will bind them together for as long as they live. . . .This is by far one of the best made for TV dramas I have ever seen.I still have it on videotape.Ann Margaret is well Anne Margaret no great actress as you will see but totally drop dead gorgeous which was why she was cast in the first place.Claudette Colbert also ideally cast as the Family Matriarch.At the funeral of the grandson Billy Grenville Colbert without missing a beat says to Anne Grenville "Well maybe now you know what it feels like to lose a son."A must see and must read book and film. -R Brentnall

The plot is oft-mentioned in the reviews, so I'll go straight to my take re: the performances-frankly, Ann-Margret and Ms. Colbert rock.

They give life to their characters, making them believable in spite of the soapy elements around them. Ann Grenville is rather a pop-tart in soufflé's clothing, but Ann-Margret is an actress with ability. She brings real emotion to the character, that rises above the script and deservedly got her an Emmy nom.

Likewise, Miss Colbert, as the society icon-slash-mother-you-really-shouldn't-mess-with, deserved the award she ultimately took home.

This is a well made tv-movie with performances that make it worth wading through the sudsy but true-life subject matter.

Claudette Colbert is far and away one of the BEST actresses that ever appeared on screen, small or big. She did drama and comedy with equal incredible talent. Her roles in wartime were some of her best... "Since You Went Away", "So Proudly We Hail", just to name two. Her Oscar winner, "It Happened One Night", while a very good performance in a good movie, is not her best. She should have gotten more Oscars. Her turn in "The Egg and I" is hilarious, and yet, totally believable. I miss going to the movies because there aren't performers like Claudette Colbert. There is only one in this day and age that even approaches the talent of Claudette Colbert and that is Sally Field. Consider the similarities!

This is a highly entertaining movie from the '80s when they still made them with opulence! "The Two Mrs. Grenvilles" was originally a novel written by Dominick Dunne. The plot is based on the real-life story of the shooting of William Woodward, a New York socialite. The question asked for years afterwards was, did his wife shoot him by accident thinking he was a burglar as she claimed? Or did she deliberately kill him? The film explores this and the lives of the wealthy along the way.

In the movie, Ann-Margret portrays the chorus girl wife who marries way, way above her station. The other Mrs. Grenville is her mother-in-law, played to perfection by the still glamorous Claudette Colbert. People who knew Woodward's real-life mother, Elsie, state that Colbert was dead-on in the role. In the book, film, and real life, the elder Mrs. Grenville supports her daughter-in-law throughout but not because she believes her or can even tolerate her. She does it to protect the family from scandal.

The movie spans fifty years and will hold your interest throughout.