Steed-2

First of all, I must admit I'm not a big fan of David E. Kelley. Some of his famous TV shows are average in my opinion, just to enjoy one episode on a lazy Sunday afternoon and that's all. I would never buy them on DVD because all the TV shows I own on DVD must be above average, have to be something special. And Picket Fences was something really special!!!

The show was broadcasted in 1992 and run for 4 seasons. In my home country only the first 3 seasons were shown on TV so you can imagine my surprise when 20 years later I saw the new episodes. Unfortunately, Season 4 has nothing to do with the rest of the series....The absence of Mr Kelley just made the show flopped. Nothing is right in Season 4....characters behaving in a different way, stupid plots and dialogs, etc. So, my advice...enjoy Season 1-3 and forget Season 4. Season 3 had a perfect ending for the show so it's better to be remembered that way

I was lucky to watch the show again 20 years later....time enough to check if it has aged well. The answer is YES!!! The show still rocks. That strange combination of black humor, tenderness, provocation and moral dilemmas still Works perfectly. No wonder the show was a favorite one from critics and won several Emmys.

I am almost 40 and I'm not ashamed to confess I have the complete DVD collection at home. Extremely popular in Europe this TV show is just as charming and lovely as it was back in 1975. Maybe the animation isn't as great for today standards but it doesn't matter, it works perfectly. I don't know in other countries but here in Spain the show got even better thanks to a wonderful dubbing cast who just captured the real magic of each character. And of course we cannot forget that wonderful intro song that it's known for everybody in Spain...You only have to start singing the first lines and probably somebody will join you. Wanna try? :-)

From time to time I like checking IMDb on some of my favourite directors, actors, writers, or even some adaptations from stage to screen. It's funny how some titles from some great artist have fallen into oblivion.....and FOLLOW ME! is a clear example of how unfair this is. Carol Reed, Mia Farrow, Topol, John Barry, Peter Shaffer,...so what went wrong? Nothing, sometimes it just happens. TV stations never show the movie, no DVD release and time goes by and nobody remember this little gem. It doesn't mean that the movie bombed in the box office or anything like that. Furthermore, the movie played OK that year.

Thanks God I was lucky to watch this movie in youtube and just let me say that when the movie ended I was grinning from ear to ear. It's not the best movie of all time; it's not the movie that changed my life...but at the same time I understand Belinda and the way she thinks love and marriage must be. It is a well done film that tells a simple story....and Carol Reed knew how to tell ordinary stories and make good films on them.

It's a beautiful love story with excellent locations of London and with a superb job by the three leading actors, especially Topol who is just wonderful in this movie. What a surprise to know that Topol had another leading role after The fiddler on the roof. I always thought that he never got one after the musical.

Mia Farrow (not one of my favourite actress I must say)is perfect for the role thanks again to her physical appearance. She looks so sad at times, wondering around London that she is totally credible on her role.

The script by Peter Shaffer based on his play works perfectly on the screen thanks to director Carol Reed and the use of beautiful locations all around London. Oh, don't you love how London looks in the early 70's? I do! And what about the music? Some people have criticized it...well, it's a beautiful tune with different variations through the movie. Sometimes it sounds like perfect for a James Bond movie. And the song "Follow" I didn't like it at the beginning but after watching the movie it was in my head for days and now it's a favourite of mine.

I am so happy that both Mia Farrow and Topol were awarded in my home country for this movie. Difficult task to get the San Sebastian International Festival award for both leading actors of a movie. But I suppose the International Jury just fell in love with the story as well as the audience. As a reviewer mentioned before there is a lot of dialogue in the film and you can find some of the most beautiful lines ever said in a movie. The dialogue between Belinda and the detective at the end of the movie in the garden is just wonderful. It makes you cry and smile at the same time.

So my final advice you can guess......it's worth it! If almost 95% of the users on IMDb describe FOLLOW ME! as a gem, they can't be wrong