A Woman of Substance

As "chick" movies go, this is tops. The performances are very touching, giving life to many of the characters. Jenny Seagrove absolutely shines as Emma; with all the foolish mistakes she makes, you still root for her. Peter Chelsom gives a completely heartbreaking performance as the sheltered and confused Edwin. Liam Neeson, Gayle Honneycutt are convincing; and some of the voice dubbing (particularly the children seem to have "adult" voices) sounds very uneven. The costumes and settings are fabulous. After all, this is a made for TV mini-series, so given that limitation, this is quite outstanding! Blame the book for the anti-clamatic ending, not the film makers or actors. Watch the movie, then read the book to fill in the blanks. You'll agree, the movie is a really on-target adaptation for the most part.

Even the most hard-hearted will find it difficult to resist the spell of this stylish mini-series. The audience is put through the emotional mangle as spirited heroine Emma Harte endures every setback and hardship going, yet still wins through.

Part of the fascination of the series lies in the quite remarkable cast. Jenny Seagrove splendid as the indefatigable Emma ; a young Liam Neeson and Miranda Richardson ; dear old Barry Morse ; Deborah Kerr as the older Emma ; Christopher Guard as the blackguardly villain, who gets his comeuppance in one of the most satisfying scenes ; and Peter Chelsom, who went on to direct the hit British film "Hear My Song", as well as the less successful "Funny Bones".

After decades, I preserve the powerful impression, as child behind Iron Curtain, about it. At that time, it was a good support for motivation. A delightful occasion to discover the impeccable art of Jenny Seagrove, the elegance of Deborah Carr and a beautiful moral. Barbara Taylor Carter was an obscure name and , in that last years of communist regime, this film was just an opened window to a fairy tale world. Short, after decades, fascinating, yet.

"Woman of Substance" began as a hugely successful novel by Barbara Taylor Bradford and"successful" does not simply refer to its popularity. Bradford writes knowingly and convincingly about England's most difficult historical period: the 20th Century. Beginning in the then present of 1974,Bradford tells the story of Emma Harte, who begins life as a maid in the household of a local Yorkshire Squire in Edwardian times and end her life the mistress of a commercial empire worthy of Rockefeller. Not only do we see her triumphs, we see her errors and her failures etched in fine detail. Emma Harte is both noble and vengeful, bitter and loving; she is, in fact, one of the most complex characters of modern popular literature. One can dismiss Bradford's novel as "romance fiction" but it is not: Bradford presents a woman as complex as the Yorkshire she comes from.

The miniseries based on the novel captures it perfectly. Not only is Jenny Seagrove an outstanding Young Emma Harte, we see Deborah Kerr as the older Emma and a young Liam Neeson in a brilliant comic and dramatic performance as Emma's friend, Blackie. The movie shows us glimpses of such disparate history as the lives of British Jews and the development of the ready to wear industry, with outstanding performances by the supporting cast, including Diane Baker and John Mills. For any fan of sagas such as The Thornbirds or Rich Man, Poor Man, A Woman of Substance is a must see.

I enjoyed this series from beginning to end. Jenny Seagrove was fantastic as the young Emma Harte. Deborah Kerr was magnificent as the older Emma Harte. It was wonderful seeing her again. Liam Neeson was great as Blackie. This is the story of the fictional Emma Harte, a Yorkshire girl who works her way up from lowly domestic servant to the head of her own mega empire. She outsmarts and outdeals some of the biggest tycoons in the world. She finds love and loses love, but never loses her Yorkshire country values. Unfortunately, she's the mother of a bunch of money hungry, backstabbing children who plot against her. Have no fear, she knows how to outsmart them. I won't reveal the ending. You've got to see it for yourself. It was awesome! The only part of this series that I didn't like was Barry Bostwick's portrayal of Emma's Australian boyfriend, Paul McGill. His accent was virtually non-existant. He should've played a Canadian. He was also a bit whimpy for the part. The role needed someone with more presence and strength. His performance was mediocre at best. I highly recommend this series and it's sequel, Hold The Dream. Rent them. You won't regret it.