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Thanks to an overly zealous spouse on the subject matter of watching BBC Period Piece Productions, I've somehow transitioned from a completely disinterested captive male viewer into becoming addicted to watching them in all their cycles of production from the 1930's on to this date. It follows that given so much exposure to this genre that I've developed a keen interest in their original authors, their movie producers (David Lean in particular) and as a means to sort of fill in the blanks on plot lines and performances with varied strengths and weaknesses, I'm bound and determined to see all of them in order to have a more informed opinion of what their authors perhaps intended in the interpretation of their characters in the minds of their millions of readers. This production unfortunately will provide only a negative mode of comparison to the more contemporary productions. With the possible exception of Joanna David as Ms. Elinor Dashwood (also marvelous and just as quietly expressive in her portrayal of Mrs. Gardiner in the 1995 version of "Pride and Prejudice") and Milton Johns as the uxorious Mr.John Dashwood (superb in his role as Mr. Pickwick's lawyer Purger in "The Pickwick Papers"), the rest of the female cast are quite simply "Miss-Cast" in every sense of the play on the word. Claren Madden would have been wonderful eye candy in her role as Ms. Marianne Dashwood, but makes the mistake in every scen she appears in of opening her mouth and acting as though she were doing a hyperbolic, satirical job with her character, more worthy of a skit on Saturday Night Live than on the respectable studio of the BBC. Furthermore, she is too old to behave in such a manner and was the singular irritant to forming my major dislike for this BBC outing. As for the men... allow me to wax with a mixed period-piece metaphor right out of the mouth of Ms. Lizzy Bennett (Jennifer Ehle in this case),"The men are wooden and tolerable...but not handsome enough to tempt any woman to fly off in a ridiculous rage or crying jag!" In short, all the male actors were brittle and uncomfortable in their roles and displayed moments where they appeared looking off stage in hopes of either remembering their lines or seeking some muse or motivation sufficient enough to bring their characters to life. As for the direction of this misbegotten series... one must realize that back in 1971, we were capable of loading men and machinery into tin cans traveling ten times faster than a rifle bullet; land upon and stroll or ride around on the surface Moon, but in this production were constitutionally incapable of keeping a simple sound boom in any position to pick up the proper levels of conversation. The sound levels varied from an almost whisper from someone seated on a couch to ear-splitting decibels when close-up shots were done, The scene transitions were choppy and inconsistent as to character smoothness and one wonders what creative demon the director consumed with his afternoon tea and toast when he decided to allow Marianne to bang away on the spinet piano like a drunken calliope player in a circus causeway at the very moment that "Ms. Lucy Steele, as was." is dropping the not-so-subtle bombshell on Ms. Elinor Dashwood that she and Mr. Edward Ferrars were secretly engaged! But please, do buy this version, if only for the sake of the funny and quite suggestive kneeling proposal scene at the end of the series. Be prepared to burst out loud with laughter! -=Enjoy=Read full review
I purchased this dvd, because I wanted to see the only version of "Sense and Sensibility" that I had not watched. I must admit that this is the worst of all the four versions. Although the actress portraying Elinore does a wonderful job (I believe she is the youngest and prettiest Elinore, too) the others leave far too much to be desired. Marianne is portrayed as juvenile rather than dignified as she was in the book,and Edward seems a bit too happy, although he's enaged to Lucy Steele (worst ever). In about five minutes, Marianne is quickly attached to Willoughby (definately less than the best). The 1981 BBC version is my favorite, and accurately portrays the book. I assure you that you will enjoy that version so much more! I have to say that this was still good for laughs:)
This version of Sense and Sensibility might not be in everybody’s taste because it has the lower production standards common in the BBC’s production of the time period. However, the script does justice to Jane Austen’s work and the acting is generally very good, the stand out being Joanna Davis as Eleanor.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
This is an excellent story by Jane Austen... having watched the movie version I was hesitant to get this DVD, but I'm VERY glad I got it.. I Love Patricia Routledge in everything I've seen her in, and she definitely doesn't disappoint in this TV version.. All of the characters are very well acted by the stars. I recommend this DVD to anyone who loves adaptations of Jane Austen;s writings...
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
I love this Jane Austen story, and this version of it was very much enjoyed. It is very well acted especially in some of the later scenes. The actress that plays Elinor was very pretty and likable. The actress that plays Marianne is also pretty, however, her manners and maturity are below those of her sister's. She is loud at first, as some youths are. Her artistic sensitivity is not so evident in this production. I enjoyed the differences, however. The men who played the main characters were very believable. I enjoyed the dialog very much. It seemed to stay true to the original story, and highlighted different aspects of it that I had never thought of before. The clothing wardrobe is better than some of the other older British movies of the period.
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