Mrs Henderson Presents (2005) or, Wartime Swinging London

10/04/2021

Mrs Henderson Presents (2005) or, Wartime Swinging London

♥♥♥♥

Kelly Reilly steals the gaze on this festive poster for Stephen Frears' Mrs Henderson Presents with a cheaky tag-line top-right

The distinguished Mrs Henderson becomes a widow in 1937, and she decides to purchase a London theatre, which she succeeds in making a popular venue with variety shows featuring nudity.

Mrs Henderson Presents is written by Martin Sherman (Alive and Kicking (1996)), based on an idea by Kathy and David Rose (The Kid, TV-series (1986, producer), both), and directed by English master filmmaker Stephen Frears (Gumshoe (1971)). It is based on the true story of Laura Henderson's Windmill Theatre in London.

It is a cheerful and life-affirming story about hanging onto life during WWII, which especially lives on Judi Dench (Nine (2009)) and Bob Hoskins' (Don Quioxote (2000, TV movie)) infectious performances. Will Young (Highland Park (2013)), Kelly Reilly (Joe's Palace (2007, TV movie)) and Christopher Guest (Heartbeeps (1981)) are also good and well cast.

Mrs Henderson Presents is a sporadically funny, sporadically moving film with a natural relationship to bodies and nudity.

Stephen Frears: Top 10: Best dramedies reviewed by Film Excess to date

Top 10: The best biopic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

2016 in films - according to Film Excess

Florence Foster Jenkins (2016) - Streep, Frears and Co. drop us a delightful present

Top 10: Best UK movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

Philomena (2013) - Dench astounds in Frears' powerful true-story drama

Dirty Pretty Things (2002) - Good performances anchor Frears' flawed, overrated illegal immigrant drama

Watch a trailer for the movie here

Cost: 20 mil. $

Box office: 27.8 mil. $

= Big flop (returned 1.39 times its cost)

[Mrs Henderson Presents premiered 9 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 103 minutes. Shooting took place from October 2004 - ? in France and England, including in London. It opened #41 to a 55k $ first weekend in 6 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #17 and in 522 theaters (different weeks), grossing 11 mil. $ (39.6 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 7.1 mil. $ (25.5 %) and Australia with 4.3 mil. $ (15.5 %). The film was nominated for 2 Oscars: Best Actress (Dench), lost to Reese Witherspoon in Walk the Line, and Costumes, lost to Memoirs of a Geisha. It was also nominated for 4 BAFTAs, 8 British Independent Film awards, a David di Donatello award, 3 Golden Globes, and won a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Frears returned with Le Court des Grands (2005, video documentary) and theatrically with The Queen (2006). Dench returned in with 4 voice and TV series credits prior to her theatrical return in Casino Royale (2006); Hoskins in Stay (2005). Mrs Henderson Presents is fresh at 67 % with a 6.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Mrs Henderson Presents?

No comments:

Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (17-24)

10/04/2021