calvertfan

This was one of my FAVOURITE shows when I was about 7. Basically it's about two eleven year olds - Pixie and Molly - who loathe each other and can't wait to finish grade 6 so that they can go their separate ways and never see the other again. Living in a small country town, their entire school is in the one room and once they graduate, Pixie hopes to go to a private school in the city with her equally snobby friend, while Molly wants to quit altogether and work on the farm. However their parents have a different idea altogether, and Pixie and Molly are shipped off to live with Pixie's grandmother - together, in the same room, and attend the same high school. Of course the girls do eventually grow to like each other, but overall the show is a gorgeous portrayal of Australia in the 1920s and full of wonderful moments such as their first Valentino movie, first sighting of a plane, first trip in a motor-car, etc.

Having read the book of Kipps I knew what happened which was lucky because at times it doesn't seem as likely to happen as in the book - what am I on about? The romance of course. Young Artie has a choice - snobbish Helen who won't let him be himself ("there ARE H's, you know") or dear Ann the maid who has been his friend since they were children, and the longer he takes to make up his mind, the more idiotic he makes himself look!

Briefly, Kipps is a young draper's assistant who comes into money the very day he leaves his job. He thinks that the money will solve all his problems, but how wrong he is! And suddenly everyone he meets is either in society or trying to impress, and he is almost forbidden from talking to his old friends. Ann the maid is the only real character in the entire story, the only one who likes just to be herself, in a nice simple house, with a nice homely lifestyle.

This was my 19th Phyllis Calvert film, and I must say I'm very impressed with her cockney accent! I'm hoping that another one might pop up somewhere in what I'm still to see, but I somehow doubt it.

As a big devotee of the original 'Love Affair' I recorded this one mainly out of morbid curiosity, with the intention of pulling it to pieces once I was done. I have *never* seen a good remake of a classic film (Sweet November anyone? *throws up*) but I must say, grudgingly, this one was good. Not great, not a patch on the original, but good nontheless, and worth seeing at least once. Possibly the best thing is that in remaking it, they simply re-cast the film, changed only a few minor details, managed to keep all of the good scenes intact, and did not need to throw in a lot of sex. For a change. And so, that rates it a few more points from me, because there's honestly nothing worse than remaking a classic and throwing in lots of sex, when the original did perfectly fine without it. This 'Love Affair' was in that respect definitely more mature than many recent films. It's a simple delight for everyone of all ages and in another fifty years I wouldn't mind calling this one a classic.

Well, that might be pushing it a little.

Katharine Hepburn was brilliant as always and although I've never seen Beatty or Bening before in any films, I can't find anything wrong in their casting (thank god it wasn't Adam Sandler or Keanu!). Beatty is of course no Boyer or Cary Grant but he handled the closing scene superbly, and I must say if anything of Bening's ever pops up on tv again, I might give it a look. She has to be a pretty good actress for me to stop glaring at her because she's not Irene Dunne! And I liked the scene where she was singing the Beatles' song as well, there should have been a full performance of that.

I'd give this a 7/10, because I can't help but compare it to the original. I would say to watch it because I liked it, but only if you watch the original first! And that's an order.