Mrs. Henderson Presents Streaming
Dimanche, août 15th, 2010 |
Mrs. Henderson Presents Streaming.
Movie Title: Mrs. Henderson Presents Mrs. Henderson Presents is available for streaming or downloading. |
MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS is easily one of the best films of 2005. That it didn’t garner an Oscar for Judi Dench is amazing as this is one of her finest roles (in a long line of superb films!). Director Stephen Frears (Dangerous Liaisons, Dirty Pretty Things, The Grifters, Liam etc) has put together a film that is at once nostalgic, sophisticated, intelligent, witty, sad, and thoroughly entertaining. This little film is a winner.
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London, 1937, and Laura Henderson, having lost her only son in WW I is discovered at the graveside of her recently departed husband. Not wanting to be stuck with the British widow stance, she decides on a hobby to occupy her time: she buys, renovates and readies a theater in the West End of London, hires Vivian Van Damm (Bob Hoskins) to be her impresario and the two successfully begin a music hall type of entertainment. Their efforts are soon so imitated that their income falters, giving Mrs. Henderson a new concept: she will introduce full nudity into her theater to replace the French postcard surrogates the soldiers carry. Mrs. Henderson is indefatigable, has a laceratingly funny relationship with Van Damm, and even manages to cajole the politicians to go along with her ‘new concept’. By now WW II is at it s peak and despite the London blitzkriegs the theater manages to survive, but not without some sacrifices and some self-revelations between Mrs. Henderson and Van Damm. There are many little subplots involving the company of performers, but they all blend nicely into the poignant story.
Judi Dench is absolutely radiant in this role, a role that allows her to cover a wide gamut of moods, each of which she handles expertly. Likewise, Bob Hoskins gives the performance of his rich career and the other cast members in this ensemble piece could not be better. The music and staged numbers are delightful and the atmosphere of London under siege is very realistic. In every way this is a successful movie, one that deserves a wide audience and one of those DVDs worthy of placing in your film library. A hearty Bravo! to all concerned! Grady Harp, April 06
Last year’s cinematic celebration of the London theatre scene was BEING JULIA, in which Annette Bening plays a no-longer-young stage actress of the late 1930s, who has hitherto starred in the productions her theatre-owner husband stages, and who crafts a delicious revenge against a fresh-faced protege whom her spouse hires and falls in love with.
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Based more on actual events, and also set in the late 1930s/early 40s, MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS has wealthy Laura Henderson (Judi Dench), on the death of her husband, purchasing and renovating a derelict cinema and renaming it The Windmill Theatre for want of anything more interesting to do in 1937. To manage the establishment from the outset, she hires strong-willed Vivian Van Damm (Bob Hoskins), who insists on having final say on their stage performances’ artistic content and the day-to-day running of the place. He begins by presenting an around-the-clock vaudeville show, the 24/7 nature of which is a groundbreaking concept. This keeps The Windmill the talk-of -the-town for awhile, i.e. until other London theatres begin to imitate, and then ticket sales fall off. To regain the advantage, Laura has the idea of putting naked actresses on-stage, but then must convince the dubious Van Damm and outmaneuver the absolute veto power of the censorous city authorities, here personified by Laura’s friend, Lord Cromer (Christopher Guest).
The creators of MRS. HENDERSON PESENTS have taken timeline liberties. The real Mrs. Henderson actually acquired The Windmill site in 1931, opening first with a live play, “Inquest”, which proved unsuccessful. After briefly returning to screening films, a new manager, Van Damm, produced and opened the non-stop “Revuedeville” in 1932. From then on, The Windmill entered history (”We never closed”) as the only London theatre to stay open throughout the war, including the Blitz.
Dench steals the show as the meddling owner, and Hoskins holds his own as her nemesis-manager. The film deftly captures their stormy, but oddly affectionate, relationship, as well as the perils of staging performances while German bombs fell. Kelly Reilly is delightful and gorgeous as Maureen, the first showgirl recruited by Hoskins for The Windmill’s bill of nudie cuties.
Towards the film’s end, Laura poignantly reveals why she had the idea for removing the actresses clothes. Knowing that, and seeing the reason why she made frequent pre-war visits to France, it’s particularly sad when the film ends before the Allied victory and the final credits reveal that Henderson died in 1944. She left The Windmill to Vivian, who ran it until his death in 1960. Van Damm’s daughter then operated the establishment until 1964, when it was unable to compete with the strip joints. Since then, the site has hosted a cinema, a casino, a nude-review theatre, and (presently) a lap-dancing club.
MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS is a thoroughly charming and unpretentious film about a little piece of London theatre history. It probably won’t make it out of the art houses, but see it if you can.
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