East Lynne

Written by Mrs Henry Wood and published in 1861, East Lynne was dramatized in 1982 and stars Martin Shaw, Emma Eichorn, Gemma Craven, Annette Crosbie and Jane Asher to mention just a few. A beautiful piece of work, East Lynne is an intricate piece of drama written by Mrs Henry Wood, and published in 1861. Archibald Carlyle (Martin Shaw) falls in love and marries Lady Isobel Vane (Emma Eichorn). Unknown to him, Barbara Hare (Gemma Craven) was already in love with Archibald, and had been for a long time. The story becomes complicated, especially when Lady Isobel sees Barbara Hare on the lawn in the moonlight with Archibald in an embrace, and naturally, fears the worst. As the story moves on, there is a horrific accident involving one of the main characters, and this leads to a completetly unexpected twist to the tale! This is a story of love, hate, jealousy, pride, hurt, gossip, illness and tension. The actors play their parts with a great amount of sympathy to the period in which the piece is set. All in all, a beautiful piece of English aristocratic drama.

I admit that I watched this film because Lisa Eichhorn was in the lead role, and frankly her astounding acting eclipsed all of the other well known names. I remember her from the great film ' Cutter's Way ' and I was astounded by her then. A great actor. As for ' East Lynne ' ( I have mercifully not read the book nor seen the 1931 film ) all I can say is that it has an unhealthy obsession with death that at times bordering on a lingering desire to see it through to the last death throes. A pornography of death which no doubt in Victorian times and even today is a cruel substitute for the pleasures of human desire. The plot begins with murder and after a long passage of time we endure facial disfigurement, the death of a baby and worst of all long, long minute of watching a boy go through mental torture about seeing his mother in heaven, and finally arching his back in the agony of a suffocating death. I cannot imagine why anyone would want to see this but a great deal have and loved it since Victorian times. The film itself is well made and Martin Shaw lends some of the scenes force, but for the truly sensitive I cannot recommend watching it.

I enjoyed pretending I was living in 1861 when this novel was written in a society which had a paucity of medical knowledge when they referred to tuberculosis as consumption.In a bitter way it was the fashionable way to go with artists and classical musicians succumbing to its deadly hold on the lungs.Death was a frequent visitor to Victorian families. On a brighter note it was pleasant to see Kenneth Connor, Rodney Bewes & Annette Crosbie in serious dramatic roles instead of clowning around in sitcoms and "Carry On " films.I also spotted Tim Woodward who played the "Ideal Husband" in a 1985 BBC production of Oscar Wilde's play.If any other users have seen the film "A Girl Must Live" (1938) starring Margaret Lockwood, there is a scene set in a theatrical boarding house where Margaret is introduced to the other guests in the profession and a Miss Pokehorne whose claim to fame was she "was the noises off in East Lynne"! IMDb rated this famous Victorian melodrama 1982 TV movie 7.5 at the time I viewed it and I too rated it at 7.