Male of the Species

When The Male of the Species aired, I was a college student, home on vacation, and watched with my mother. We were positively glued to the TV set. Sean Connery, known at that time (1969) to American audiences only as 007 in the early James Bond films, showed a bit of his acting range to good advantage. Michael Caine had a big hit in the USA a few years earlier with Alfie, but it was this television role that made him one of my favorite actors. If you were to ask me about any other television shows, specials, or series from 1967-1971 I would be hard pressed to come up with even one. If anyone can find a tape of this outstanding show, please make it available for airing or for purchase!! I believe James Mason was also in this one, in a small role at the end...can anyone confirm?

This 1969 TV movie starred Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Paul Scofield, and a female British actress whose name I do not remember. Connery was the father of the young woman and he was a master carpenter. Paul Scofield was a prominent businessman (and perhaps a minor government minister--very distinguished). Michael Caine was a cockney office worker who was somewhat bumbling, awkward, unskilled and appeared to lack a promising future. The movie centers around the young woman and her relationship and interaction with each of the males in the story. Broadcast on public television before VCRs, I stayed home to watch the repeat broadcast two weeks after the original. Each of the males was perfectly cast because their offscreen persona are, in my opinion, very much like the characters they played.

I would love to get my hands on a copy of this TV movie and have searched the New York Public Library and the Internet for quite some time. It would be well worth your while to help me find it so you, too, can enjoy this wonderful story.

Originally, "Male of the Species" consisted of three half hour plays made for television. The three stories were written by Alun Owen and involve the same woman, Mary (Anna Calder-Marshall). Each story show her interacting with significant men in her life.

The first play, "MacNeil", is the saddest one. It features Sean Connery as Mary's father and he is a dreadful man....a sexist jerk and a habitual liar.

The second play, "Cornelius", features Michael Caine as a bit of a playboy...a decent one, mind you, but a playboy. He and Mary date a bit...and why each is interested in the other is odd.

The final is "Emlyn" and it stars Paul Scofield as a very successful middle-aged barrister (an English trial lawyer). He becomes smitten with Mary and they begin to date...and they are a most unusual couple.

The acting in these plays is top-notch and although Anna Calder-Marshall acts against three of the best British actors of the time, she definitely holds her own. As for the stories, they vary in enjoyability, though they are all well written. The first isn't all that enjoyable...but isn't meant to be since Mary's father is a jerk...and an unredeemable one. Overall, a very interesting experience watching the same woman and three important men in her life. Worth seeing and available on YouTube.

By the way, there IS an unintentionally funny line in "Cornelius". At one point, Caine's character complains about an Indian woman he dated, saying he 'doesn't want curry for breakfast'. Well, a few years later, Caine married Shakira...though from Guyana, a woman whose heritage is Indian.

A wonderful mini series with fine acting all round. Memorable performances from Connery, Caine and Schofield. The film covers a range of a females encounters with the 'Male of the Species' in the persons of her Father, boy friend and an older suitor. There have been a many fine mini series over the years which have been repeated, however, this one was an outstanding piece of work and seem to have disappeared. I sincerely trust that it has not been lost for it is of exceptional quality. There are so many light weight 'efforts' around at this time it would be a change to re-visit this drama. I saw it many years ago and would really appreciate the opportunity of obtaining DVD.

I also saw Male of the Species once as a teenager and I have never forgotten the movie or how enchanted I was with Michael Caine. I remember it being funny, sad, and terribly romantic. I always wished I could have seen it again. If ever it is released on DVD, run to the nearest store and buy it. I know I will.