Cousin Bette

After seeing the 1998 "stinker," I can't help longing for a video release of this outstanding production. Wry, bitter, and brilliant! Margaret Tyzack's performance as Bette is so beautifully nuanced and only underscores the terrible miscasting of Jessica Lange.

I saw a couple of episodes of Cousin Bette in the early 70's on a cheap b/w TV, and now the chance has come to see it again digitally restored and in colour. What splendid entertainment it is. The sets and costumes are not out of the top drawer, and the lighting is occasionally wayward, but the performances are excellent, especially those of Margaret Tyzack as Bette and Helen Mirren as Valerie. The melodrama which is essential to most Balzac stories is given its full value here: there is even a professional poisoner to whom one character has recourse in a desperate moment.

The secondary roles are well filled. Oscar Quitak, looking like Ian Holm in a villainous part, is good as Marneffe, the man who rises in the world by renting out his beautiful wife. Thorley Walters, John Bryans and Edward de Souza are the three men who can't get enough of the lovely Valerie. Walters is fascinating as the man whose sexual drive has catastrophic consequences for his family.

This is a great series from BBC but there is a problem here. I can hardly believe no mention here of the star, Margaret Tyzack. As if she didn't exist. She has such a long career in TV and movies. As Cousin Bette her performance is remarkable. Now at age 77 or so she should have been given credit. I believed I saw this on PBS sometime during the 80s. I must be mistaken as it's dated 1971. But it could have been a re-run. It seems to have just come out on DVD so I just rented it. There exists another version with Jessica Lange. This arrived in 1998 but I have not seen it. I can't imagine any other Cousin Bette than Tyzack but when I finish watching all 5 episodes of this version I'll rent the Lange one.

I was so impressed with 1971's Cousin Bette that I based my senior term paper on its author, Honore de Balzac. (You should have seen my teachers' face when I told her who I was doing the paper on!!) Why this PBS treasure isn't on VHS/DVD after 31 years is a mystery to me!!

If you ever get a chance to see this 1971 mini-series, please do:

A classic never goes out of style!!