Heavy Weather

Wodehouse's more eccentric characters are often notoriously difficult to render on screen, as witness David Niven's bland and lifeless Bertie Wooster. In Peter O'Toole and Richard Briers, however, we finally have the perfect renditions of the Earl of Emsworth and his younger brother, the Honourable Galahad Threepwood (respectively). It's clear that both actors spent a fair amount of time reading the Wodehouse stories to get their characters down, and it's paid off.

Wodehouse frequently describes the Earl as "dreamy," "lanky," "boneless" (in more ways than one), and, when visiting his prize pig, draping himself over the fence "like an old sock" or "an unused pair of overalls." He is also forgetful, placid, and inattentive. The Hon. Galahad, on the other hand, is small, dapper, quick witted, and inordinately fond of alcohol, bar maids, and chorus girls. If possible, the Hon. Galahad is even more difficult to render than the Earl. But in "Heavy Weather," O'Toole and Briers have brought them to life without making them either foolish or ridiculous. On first viewing it, I thought Briers was perfect but that O'Toole may have gone a bit overboard on the ninth Earl of Emsworth. So I re-read the Blandings Castle books and, no, O'Toole had it exactly right.

In short, "Heavy Weather" is a real gem that should be available on DVD and isn't. Petition the producers to release it and, in the meantime, try to catch it on your local PBS Masterpiece Theater. In the meantime, check out Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry as Bertie Wooster and Jeeves, another perfect pairing that is available on both VHS and DVD.

'Heavy Weather' is one of the funniest Wodehouse adaptations out there. Douglas Livingston's version for television surpasses even the excellent 'Jeeves and Wooster' series with Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry, a 4 season set that falls down badly in the last two seasons.

Peter O'Toole is almost over the top as Lord Emsworth, the owner of the Empress of Blandings, his prize sow, but he is so convincingly dotty and his timing so perfect that any quibbles are instantly erased from memory. He is partnered by a wonderfully droll Galahad Threepwood (his brother) played by Richard Briers and their gorgon sister Connie, a hilarious Judy Parfitt, her neck muscles alone speak volumes. Samuel West is a perfect Bertie Wooster-like airhead, always a central Wodehouse character. There are two secondary characters who consistently steal their scenes, David Bamber's oily P.I. Pilbeam and Richard Johnson's irascible Lord Tilbury.

I agree with another commentator here that further Blandings Castle books should be dramatized with this same cast if possible.

I eagerly await the release of 'Heavy Weather' on DVD and urge others who feel the same to write to Acorn Media and urge them to come up with it soon.

This is surely one of the most hilarious films ever made. It's a comic masterpiece. The casting is perfect in every way. The story--well, it's Wodehouse. Why on earth doesn't someone have the sense to make this available on VHS? I'm using a grainy film I recorded from Masterpiece Theater.

This is Wodehouse film at its best. One cannot cavil at the slight alteration of sequences, etc., because the characters are so finely honed. The problem with filming Wodehouse is that so much of his appeal is his language, and without a narrator the actors, director scriptwriters, etc. seem to lose their nerve and thing they have to mug, or at least give their audience demonstrative signs that what they're doing is supposed to be funny -- which it usually isn't. But the makers of Heavy Weather knew their stuff. The book is closely followed. The actors are all uniformly wonderful. Peter O'Toole is Lord Emsworth. Richard Briers is Galahad Threepwood. And the sincere vapidity of Samuel West so perfectly captured Monty Bodkin's character that he instantly became one of my favorite actors. This was as close to Wodehouse on film as we're likely to get, and I would like to see the entire Blandings Saga done just this way, while O'Toole and Briers are still with us. I would recommend Rupert Everett as Psmith.

I am a Wodehouse addict. I have all his books and I know some of the dialogues in his short stories by heart. This is a very good adaptation. All the actors are great ... except for - and I really hate to say this - Peter O'Toole. How could he get it so wrong? There is too much O'Toole in his acting, and not enough Emsworth.

Yes, Lord E was dreamy and absent-minded to a degree. But that does not mean he was mentally deficient or that had a speech impediment! Peter O'Toole speaks as if he has a hot potato in his mouth, or cerebral palsy, or something along those lines, and most of the time, he acts as if he can barely move. He barely enunciates his words and hardly closes his mouth when he speaks. That is NOT what Lord E was all about at all! In fact, when his patience was sorely tried, he could express himself with a great deal of energy.

It's a real shame because the rest of the cast is very good. But IMO, Peter's "interpretation" of Lord E is so jarringly bad it completely distracts my attention from everything else.