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Margery & Gladys [DVD] [Import]

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This film reminds me of a Simpsons episode, when Marge is at a book-club meeting with Helen Fielding. Marge tells her, that she hasn't actually read Bridget Jones' diary, HF replies that it's perfectly OK, as long as they all bought a copy, then leaps out the door in a wild police chase (on foot) in fast-motion accompanied by the music from Benny Hills ditto chases. Margery and Gladys is a one-off television drama/film, broadcast on 21 September 2003. Starring Penelope Keith and June Brown as the title characters, it was produced by Carlton Television for ITV and directed by Geoffrey Sax. [1] Upon first broadcast, it was watched by a total of 7.91 million viewers. [2] As the women race across the countryside in a beat-up Fiesta, they each learn a whole lot about each other, even though Brown has been Keith's cleaning lady for decades. Aside from hiding from the police, they have to deal with Brown's diabetes and the fact they left the house without any money or credit cards. I just saw this film. Sometimes I consult this db when planning the evenings TV-programme. When I saw this rated 7/10, I thought it had to be worth-watching. In my opinion, when a film hits 6, it's generally worthwhile.

And here’s a funny thing,” she said, quoting Max Miller, “when I was in hospital, having given birth to my first child, I did my ballet exercises every day at the end of my bed. A week later, when I left the hospital, my waist had reduced to 24 inches; ironic, given how much I shunned exercise as a girl – and how little I do now!”

Ms Keith plays Margery, a tetchy suburban matron -- recently widowed -- who attends a Neighbourhood Watch meeting that leaves her paranoid about burglars. Ms Brown plays Gladys, Margery's cleaning lady. The two women are an odd couple with (they think) little in common, until an intruder enters Margery's house and she coshes him (from behind) with her Waterford crystal vase. Believing that Margery has killed him, both women recall the Tony Martin case and they now realise that they can be charged with murder! Naturally, they must now go on the lam, as fugitives. Only an actor of vast experience, in life and in show business, could possibly have played, and sustained, such a role, and Brown qualified gloriously on both counts. Apart from anything else, she produced six children in seven and a half years with her second husband, all of them in her fourth decade.

This British TV movie is a must for fans of classic Britcoms who will recognize Penelope Keith from various TV series. Here, she plays a 60-something widow who lives in a posh neighborhood that has been the target a recent break-ins. While her cleaning lady (June Brown) is working one day, they catch a punk in the midst of robbing the house. Keith smashes a vase over his head. They think he's dead. What ensues is a mostly comic romp as the mismatched women run from the police. After all, a neighborhood watch meeting recently warned home owners that British laws do not favor them when they defend their homes and lives. Two of Britain’s best-loved actresses Penelope Keith and June Brown star in the title roles of ITV comedy drama Margery and Gladys. She was married to the actor John Garley from 1950 until he took his own life in 1957. She married the actor Robert Arnold in 1958. He died in 2003.

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Margery’s only son Graham is played by Adam Godley. Gladys’s ne’er-do-well husband Troy is played by Peter Vaughan, while Goodness Gracious Me’s Kulvinder Ghir appears as post office owner Mr Singh. The chief appeal of 'Margery and Gladys' is the first-ever teaming of two actresses who have been beloved mainstays on Britain's television screens for many years. Penelope Keith (classy as ever) has played society matrons and snobbish beldames in several long-running sitcoms. (In real life, Penelope Keith recently spent a year as the ceremonial High Sheriff of Surrey!) June Brown has had a long stint as chain-smoking whinger Dot Cotton on 'EastEnders': unlike Ms Keith, in real life June Brown *is* a great deal like her most well-known role. June was born in Needham Market, Suffolk, the third of five children of Henry Brown, an entrepreneur in the expanding market of electrical gadgets and appliances, and his wife, Louisa (nee Butler). She was educated at St John’s Church of England school in Ipswich, and, as a scholarship girl, at Ipswich high school. Furthermore I find British TV-films a lot better than American. I read a review comparing this to Thelma and Louise, but I must say that I find T&L a lot more entertaining than this. This film has its moments; I like the leads, but the film tries too hard: The tempo is too high. The basic idea about the odd-couple is well-proved, but a bit trite. The plot (what gets them on the move) is outright implausible, but the neighbourwatch-theme is quite good, I think.

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