Notorious Woman

I had the extreme pleasure of seeing this mini-series on my local public television station: KERA, channel 13, Dallas TX. I made little time for television at that point in my life but this is one program I didn't miss. I only wish I had been able to tape it at the time since now I have learned that it is not yet, and may never be, available on VHS or DVD. I was truly impressed by Rosemary Harris in the role even though before I saw this I was not even aware of the author known as George Sand. The 1991 movie "Impromptu" with Judy Davis as George and Hugh Grant as Chopin accompanied by Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, Julian Sands and Emma Thompson was entertaining but entirely too short to play out the entire story. I am going to implore KERA to broadcast "Notorious Woman" again so that a new generation will have the chance to savor and I will have a chance to tape it.

I,too, remember being riveted to the TV when each episode was broadcast. Rosemary Harris as Sand sprawled under Chopin's piano is an image I can still see today...and Chakiris playing the delicate, coughing & sickly Polish pianist, always trying to make music amid the often chaotic dramas around him.

This was terrific pairing. Rosemary Harris played the often abrasive, overpowering man to Chakiris's sensitive and increasingly frail Chopin. As I recall, I first doubted Chakiris could play this role, but he was perfect. Jeremy Irons has never failed to execute. (See if you can find a wonderful movie he made called "Moonlighting," in which he plays the head of a Polish group of contractors smuggled into London to secretly work on the houses of rich elite. Of course, like most illegal immigrants they are paid nothing for their work.)

I don't understand why Notorious Woman is not available. My goodness, if you can rent Duchess of Duke Street and Upstairs, Downstairs why not this treasure?

I saw this mini-series on PBS many years ago, and it is still one of my all-time favorites. Rosemary Harris gives a brilliant and touching performance as Aurore Dupin ("George Sand"), and the supporting cast is excellent. Harris won an Emmy for her performance, quite deservedly.

The series follows George Sand's life as she struggles against the many obstacles that are placed in her path because she is a woman. She takes to dressing like a man and adopting the pen-name "George Sand" for her writings. The series depicts her friendships/relationships with famous men of her time, including Chopin and Liszt.

A thoroughly memorable and moving series. If it is not available on video, I hope it soon will be.

I remember how wonderful this mini-series was too, and have wanted to see it again. It is a fantastic film about a great artist and personality. Rosemary Harris is perfect as George Sand and the sets and costumes were gorgeous. This is a great, inspiring biography.

I urge others who feel the same way to take a few moments now and go to the BBC America website, AND the BBC UK website and to the respective Contact Us page, and tell them you would like the series available on DVD! It amazes me that this great series is sitting in an archive deteriorating and they have not rebroadcast it or released it on video after all these years!

A fascinating historical personality makes for a stellar miniseries. Yes, it was definitely in color. Rosemary Harris is indeed a wonder, and for masculine eye candy there is George Chakiris ("West Side Story") and Jeremy Irons. Oddly enough, though I currently am a huge fan of Irons I didn't realize he was in this production until I read his biog here on IMDb. George was a feminist of sorts, a woman author assuming a male first name and boldly wearing pants, though she dealt with the usual problems of women since time began (relationship woes, unruly offspring). One of my all-time favorites in the show's tenure, along with "I, Claudius" and "Lily" (Francesca Annis as Lily Langtry, the most celebrated babe of her era).