Affairs of the Heart (1974–1975) User Reviews

Excellent - even by modern standards

[tronyfree · 8/10 · 6 December 2015]

I've indicated there may be spoilers,just to be safe,but these are drawing room intrigues set during the Edwardian era(I think)written by Henry James who I have never read,but he seems to rival Jane Austen for insights into the English ruling class and those below.Very entertaining with top notch English actors,these can be enjoyed even today,for their rich use of language and costume and even some Hitchcockian twist endings. Someone has already listed Volume Two of the DVD set so I'll go through Volume One.

Catherine (with Lynn Farleigh and Ian Ogilvy) based on "Washington Square" Many viewers will immediately recognize the similarities between this and the classic The Heiress with Olivia De Havilland,although the ending is different.A plain society woman (nothing plain about Lynn Farleigh,even though she tries)attracts the attention of a handsome rogue.Her father threatens to disinherit her.

Adela (with Anna Calder-Marshall) based on "The Marriages" A daughter schemes to keep her idyllic home life intact by derailing her father's wedding plans.

Miss Tita (with Margaret Tyzack )based on "The Aspen Papers" A scholar seeks love letters written by a famous writer to a reclusive woman.He seeks the aide of her assistant who falls in love with him.

Grace (with Diana Rigg ) based on "Covering End" An impoverished aristocrat is faced with a daunting choice to save the family estate until an American woman (Dame Diana Rigg)shows up.

Milly (with Rosalind Ayers) based on "Wings of a Dove" A socialite schemes to raise her boyfriend's fortune by foisting him on a terminally ill American woman.Although Rosalind Ayers does a magnificent acting job as the American,Lois Baxter's beauty charm's us so much,we find it hard to picture her as the Devil's Advocate.Had the roles been reversed,we may have been more able to denounce the machinations of the Katy Croy character.

Flora (with Gayle Hunnicutt) based on "Glasses" A vain but very beautiful woman hides a secret that may destroy her.

Mary & Louisa (with Pamela Brown and Faith Brock)based on "The Tone of Time & The Real Thing" Two women vie for a painting of a former lover.

Mixed bag

[bob998 · 8/10 · 4 December 2011]

Affairs of the Heart. Series Two. 2 DVD's. Adaptations of stories by Henry James.

Emma (Lord Beaupre). I can't make anything of this; it is possibly the worst story James ever wrote. I feel sorry for Cheryl Campbell and the rest of the cast as they try to make this limp affair interesting.

Bessie (An International Episode). Somewhat better; I feel more at home with these characters and Sinead Cusack is very watchable as an American in England.

Kate (The Bench of Desolation). Wonderful story, excellent acting from Eileen Atkins and the rest. Kate comes back to small town she left when the man she loved decided to marry someone else. She has enacted a revenge on the feckless man: his wife and child have both died and he has lost his bookshop and is living in poverty. Chilling and yet very human too.

Daisy (Daisy Miller). Georgina Hale was the little English hottie of the 70's for Ken Russell and other directors--here she is impressive as the scandalous American girl racketting around Rome with third-rate people (as the Establishment sees her). Daniel Massey is excellent as the befuddled Winterbourne. This is much better than the Bogdanovich version with Cybill Shepherd.

Leonie (Nona Vincent). Barbara Murray plays Leonie, a rich older woman with a boy toy playwright. She tries to encourage her man, but things get complicated. Not bad acting, but story a little contrived.

Elizabeth (The Great Condition). The acting by Diane Cilento, Derek Jacobi (I have never seen him look so young) and Edward Hardwicke is superb. Elizabeth seems to be keeping a secret about her past, but is she really? Jacobi is so comical as he tries to ferret out some detail in this woman's past.

That's it for now. I will look out for the set of Series One.

Enjoyed these dramas very much...

[cbryce59 · 9/10 · 16 March 2020]

But then I am a diehard British costume drama fanatic. It is really all I watch. I found two episodes of series one on Youtube and was excited to find dvd's with more episodes. The first reviewer breaks down the stories. My only disagreement is that I enjoyed Emma as much as the others as the theme of the new Earl being pursued by mothers of eligible daughters rang true enough from my reading. Anyway, I found a copy of series two on Ebay and glad I did.