The Two Mrs. Grenvilles

Claudette Colbert is the only reason to watch this made for television movie. She looks fabulous and steals every scene she is in. Ann-Margaret, on the other hand, is miscast and chews the scenery up with her hysterics!

Ann Margret to me is the most under appreciated actress of our times. A brilliant actress in Drama, Comedy and Music. I can go on for paragraphs but to sum it up Ann Margret is the bestest of the best.This film also gave us the opportunity to see a real Star at work, Claudette Colbert who return to film work after a 25 year absence (Parrish, 1961, a great WB film). Ms Colbert dominates her scenes and won a Golden Globe for her fine work.

This film is based on a true murder mystery the Ann Woodward case that was the basis of the Dominick Dunne novel. A fine film ably directed but the real reason to see it is to witness the work of two great actresses Ann Margret and the one and only Claudette Colbert who won a Golden Globe for her brilliant performance. Dominick Dunne in his book The Way We Lived Then said that Bette Davis, Jane Wyman, Ginger Rogers, Loretta Young, Olivia De Havilland, Joan Fontaine all coveted the role that Claudette Colbert got, and good Colbert did! Colbert was a member of New York Cafe Society and for that reason may have had a better insight into her role than her peers.

This is a fine film and catch it for the performances of two very fine actresses Claudette Colbert and the remarkable Ann Margret

The plot is oft-mentioned in the reviews, so I'll go straight to my take re: the performances-frankly, Ann-Margret and Ms. Colbert rock.

They give life to their characters, making them believable in spite of the soapy elements around them. Ann Grenville is rather a pop-tart in soufflé's clothing, but Ann-Margret is an actress with ability. She brings real emotion to the character, that rises above the script and deservedly got her an Emmy nom.

Likewise, Miss Colbert, as the society icon-slash-mother-you-really-shouldn't-mess-with, deserved the award she ultimately took home.

This is a well made tv-movie with performances that make it worth wading through the sudsy but true-life subject matter.

Ann-Margret definitely deserved the Emmy nomination she received for her role in "the Two Mrs.Grenvilles" she is no less than brilliant. Colbert is just as good and the two on screen together is just the greatest thing ever! The movie itself is just as great!

When Navy ensign Billy Grenville, heir to a vast New York fortune, sees showgirl Ann Arden on the dance floor, it is love at first sight. And much to the horror of Alice Grenville--the indomitable family matriarch--he marries her. Ann wants desperately to be accepted by high society and become the well-bred woman of her fantasies. But a gunshot one rainy night propels Ann into a notorious spotlight--as the two Mrs. Grenvilles enter into a conspiracy of silence that will bind them together for as long as they live. . . .This is by far one of the best made for TV dramas I have ever seen.I still have it on videotape.Ann Margaret is well Anne Margaret no great actress as you will see but totally drop dead gorgeous which was why she was cast in the first place.Claudette Colbert also ideally cast as the Family Matriarch.At the funeral of the grandson Billy Grenville Colbert without missing a beat says to Anne Grenville "Well maybe now you know what it feels like to lose a son."A must see and must read book and film. -R Brentnall