Margery and Gladys

I just saw this film. Sometimes I consult this db when planning the evenings TV-programme. When I saw this rated 7/10, I thought it had to be worth-watching. In my opinion, when a film hits 6, it's generally worthwhile.

Furthermore I find British TV-films a lot better than American. I read a review comparing this to Thelma and Louise, but I must say that I find T&L a lot more entertaining than this. This film has its moments; I like the leads, but the film tries too hard: The tempo is too high. The basic idea about the odd-couple is well-proved, but a bit trite. The plot (what gets them on the move) is outright implausible, but the neighbourwatch-theme is quite good, I think.

This film reminds me of a Simpsons episode, when Marge is at a book-club meeting with Helen Fielding. Marge tells her, that she hasn't actually read Bridget Jones' diary, HF replies that it's perfectly OK, as long as they all bought a copy, then leaps out the door in a wild police chase (on foot) in fast-motion accompanied by the music from Benny Hills ditto chases.

Not that I find British humour inferior.

This British TV movie is a must for fans of classic Britcoms who will recognize Penelope Keith from various TV series. Here, she plays a 60-something widow who lives in a posh neighborhood that has been the target a recent break-ins. While her cleaning lady (June Brown) is working one day, they catch a punk in the midst of robbing the house. Keith smashes a vase over his head. They think he's dead. What ensues is a mostly comic romp as the mismatched women run from the police. After all, a neighborhood watch meeting recently warned home owners that British laws do not favor them when they defend their homes and lives.

As the women race across the countryside in a beat-up Fiesta, they each learn a whole lot about each other, even though Brown has been Keith's cleaning lady for decades. Aside from hiding from the police, they have to deal with Brown's diabetes and the fact they left the house without any money or credit cards.

Also good are Adam Godley as Keith's repressed son with a cleaning fetish, Roger Lloyd Pack as the detective counting the days til retirement, Peter Vaughan as Brown's smarmy husband, and Martin Freeman as the dumb sergeant.

The journey is quite funny as the ladies travel by train to Blackpool with a bunch of George Formby (a major British film star of the 30s and 40s) impersonators, the perfect touch for their surreal journey. Just outside Blackpool, they make a shocking discovery that changes their lives and destinies.

Keith and Brown work very well together and are a delight to watch as they get deeper and deeper into trouble, in turn bickering with and rescuing each other. For those who know Penelope Keith only as Margo or Audrey from TV, her dramatic moments in this film will be a real eye-opener. Be sure to watch the closing credits where all the characters' stories are wrapped up in a series of post cards. Wonderful surprise ending for the Brown and Keith characters.

The music includes two George Formby songs: "Leaning on a Lamp Post" and "My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock," which is a local hard candy.

Hard to find, but I finally found this on DVD from UK.

The drama, Margery & Gladys, unfolded quickly and moved smoothly along. The casting of comic legend Penelope Keith and another great talent, June Brown was brilliant. I only came upon this by accident while changing channels. I loved watching Penelope Keith and June Brown (in something other than East Enders) together. Penelope is truly a British treasure and should be given Damehood for her contributions to television comedy. I love Penelope Keith. June Brown can hold her own against Penelope in this drama. Penelope is perfectly cast as Margery, the snobbish wealthy Kent widow, and June Brown as Gladys, her cleaning lady. They begin their usual day by doing their routine until a burglar enters and changes their lives forever. Like any good drama and comedy, there are laughs along the way when they run out of money, break into a pharmacy, etc. They are the unlikeliest of friends too. They are complete opposites. We learn their secrets along the way. It is the most entertaining drama around today. If it had been in the cinemas, Penelope Keith and June Brown would have been honored with Oscar nominations. I won't spoil the ending. I found Margery's son, Graham, to be quite amusing and interesting. He is the strangest character around. It was wonderful to see Marcia Warren again. She's another great British talent! For all it's worth, I enjoyed this team much better than Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis.

Haven't seen Penelope Keith on TV in ages. It was either this or Groundhog Day. Am glad I watched this one. You will enjoy this on TV or DVD if is available. Basically the plot is:

Wealthy housewife Margery and her rough-diamond cleaner, Gladys, disturb a burglar, knock him unconscious in self-protection, then panic and leave him for dead. But, unknown to them, he survives and escapes. Believing themselves unintentional killers, the two flee in Gladys's old wreck of a car, commencing a journey of comedic misunderstandings in which these two very different ladies embark on a shared voyage of self-discovery. The two take to the open road and a fugitive lifestyle like ducks to water. However, with money short and Gladys needing medication, the duo is forced into a surprisingly full-blown crime spree, proving more than a match for an unlikely pair of policemen, Detective Inspector Woolley and Detective Sergeant Stringer.

'Margery and Gladys' was transmitted by ITV1 on 21 September 2003. This TV film is a comedy, but it's inspired by a deadly-serious news event. In 1999, a Norfolk farmer named Tony Martin (not the American singer) shot dead a teenage burglar who broke into his property. Because the intruder was attacked from behind, a controversial court decision found Martin guilty of homicide; he served 18 months in prison before the conviction was changed to manslaughter and he was released with time served. The case still inspires angry debate.

Screenwriters Flanagan and McCulloch combined the Tony Martin incident with another real-life news item about two elderly ladies who committed a series of minor robberies across England, incurring bills at hotels and petrol stations and then bunking without paying. The British tabloid press called these women "Hell's Grannies" (after a Monty Python sketch). In this case, Hell's Grannies plus the Tony Martin affair equal hilarity.

The chief appeal of 'Margery and Gladys' is the first-ever teaming of two actresses who have been beloved mainstays on Britain's television screens for many years. Penelope Keith (classy as ever) has played society matrons and snobbish beldames in several long-running sitcoms. (In real life, Penelope Keith recently spent a year as the ceremonial High Sheriff of Surrey!) June Brown has had a long stint as chain-smoking whinger Dot Cotton on 'EastEnders': unlike Ms Keith, in real life June Brown *is* a great deal like her most well-known role.

Ms Keith plays Margery, a tetchy suburban matron -- recently widowed -- who attends a Neighbourhood Watch meeting that leaves her paranoid about burglars. Ms Brown plays Gladys, Margery's cleaning lady. The two women are an odd couple with (they think) little in common, until an intruder enters Margery's house and she coshes him (from behind) with her Waterford crystal vase. Believing that Margery has killed him, both women recall the Tony Martin case and they now realise that they can be charged with murder! Naturally, they must now go on the lam, as fugitives.

'Margery and Gladys' is (among other things) an intentional parody of 'Thelma and Louise', with two unlikely matrons as female outlaws. Instead of Texas highways, their getaway takes Margery and Gladys across the secondary B-roads of the Midlands, en route to sanctuary in (wait for it) Milton Keynes. There are some bizarre incidents, as the two women must commit other crimes to obtain funds and medications.

This TV film is quite funny, although it's a gentle character-driven humour of a typically British variety that doesn't play well in the rest of the world. The interplay between these two veteran actresses is delightful ... especially as they learn they have more in common than they'd suspected. Unfortunately, towards the end the dialogue gets all 'meaningful' in a manner more typical of American TV scripts. I laughed throughout 'Margery and Gladys', and I rate this TV movie 7 out of 10.