Love in a Cold Climate Online

Nancy Mitford's two delightful novels, 'The Pursuit of Love' and 'Love in a Cold Climate' were beautifully if rather slowly realised in 6 x 50 minutes episodes by Thames Television 20 years ago in a production so vivid that much from it still lingers in my memory. Much funnier and much less pretentious than 'Brideshead Revisited' it no doubt did for respect of the aristocracy what Jack the Ripper did for blind dates, but it was a great romp nonetheless.

This time round the BBC has covered the same ground in 150 minutes. It is another beautiful production but I was left with the distinct feeling the fast forward button was on. The novelist Deborah Moggach was responsible for the script. Some things still come across well - Linda's relationship with her French lover Fabrice is well portrayed and the return of the Bolter for instance is a highlight, but the Cedric character and his relationship with the Montdores is truncated and that classic neurasthenic Davey Warbeck so sympathetically played by Michael Williams in the 1980 version has disappeared altogether. John Woods's Merlin is very good though and Anthony Andrews (who starred as the doomed Sebastian in 'Brideshead') is excellent as the feckless bounder Boy Dugdale. Alan Bates as Uncle Matt is rather more menacing than Michael Aldridge's delightfully dotty 1980 version (I guess we can't have our fascists too lovable anymore) and some of the comedy is lost thereby. Elisabeth Dermot-Walsh is lovely as the love-struck Linda but Megan Dodds as Polly is strangely hollow.

The stately homes are well cast as usual – the Mitfords may have been aristocratic backwoodspersons, but they lived in a very nice part of Oxfordshire and location shooting is used to good effect. However, it seems that current TV production costs mean that a novel adapted for TV can never be more than severely edited highlights (no-one would do 'Brideshead' in 13 x 50 minute episodes today). This being the case, there's only one thing for it – read the book!

Having read both of the books that this mini series is based on and recalling the excellent 1980 mini series, I looked forward to this new version with enthusiasm.

I have to say that on the whole I found it very disappointing. It certainly covered the bones of the story, but due to its short length, missed out on much of the humour in the original stories. It certainly looked good, casting was excellent, the period was conveyed very convincingly - but, because virtually none of the characters were properly introduced, I kept wondering "just who is this person". Anyone unfamiliar with the story would have found it confusing most of the time.

This was obviously not a cheap production, what a pity they didn't spend a bit more and do better justice to one of the classics of twentieth century fiction.

Nancy was the first to exploit the glittering vein of inside jokes and family legend that's sustained the Mitford industry for over fifty years, and when her two most popular books, the titular "Cold Climate" and the earlier "Pursuit of Love," were "adapted" (sliced and diced and drastically condensed) to fit this stingy two-episode format, there were bound to be a few loose ends. My brilliant wife, a fiction editor by trade, spotted a brief two-character scene that didn't seem to make much sense; it turned out to be a collage of the zingier lines from three different scenes involving two sets of characters and spread out over twenty pages. Do admit, Fanny! Mitford loyalists will mourn the loss of Uncle Davey; they may also wonder why, say, on the page it's Aunt Sadie who can't talk horticulture with a dinner guest because she prefers to leave such matters to the gardeners whereas on the screen it's daughter Linda who can't identify the soup because she prefers to leave them to the cook…. Still, if the script is a little dodgy, the cast is just about perfect—Alan Bates, as Uncle Matthew, prowls the floor at a deb dance like a rottweiler on parade; Celia Imbrie is delightfully distracted as Aunt Sadie; Elisabeth Dermot Walsh and Rosamund Pike are charming as lovely, clueless Linda and the all-seeing narrator, Fanny. Special mention goes to Jemima Rooper and Anna Popplewell as sex-mad innocents Jassy and Victoria. The earlier, 8-ep version, still available on disc, has more room for plot material (including Uncle Davey), but the younger characters aren't nearly as well cast.

How can you take an eccentric literary masterpiece, a deceptively casual work of brilliance and manifest it for the screen? Not like this, that's for sure. This three-hour yawn is a hopeless attempt to skim through two books, taking much of it literally from the page and condensing the rest very badly. As usual, the television establishment decide to invest in a classic British period drama adaptation with a painting by numbers approach. All the right locations, props and costumes, but no imagination. This is one classic that needed a mammoth feat of creative interpretation to work. Hopeless, hopeless, hopeless. It's just like British cooking, chuck all the correct ingredients in but don't bother to make it taste of anything. They missed the point entirely. Love in a Cold Climate is about Love. Do we understand why each character loves Linda most of all, with her sweet, sweet nature, her unselfconscious extremes of passions, her infinite compassion for animals, her devotion to love above all else? Are we terrified by Uncle Matthews blue flashing rages? Seduced by Sauveterre's immense, sexy charm? No, no, no. None of the characters are well portrayed, despite a largely excellent cast (particularly Bates, Imrie, Gish, Andrews and Pike). In fact it was only saved by a handful of good, experienced performances in spite of the abysmal direction. The rest were unguided and out of their depth. Despite its condensed nature, the whole thing plods along desperately slowly, and yet gives no substance to anything. It just ticks the necessary boxes, stolidly covering this important plot point, clumsily marking that amusing event from the book. How could they have made everything so boring and dull? Funnily enough, this was the one thing they were supposed to do with Tony Kroesig - of course he seemed rather baby faced and charming. It all comes across like a school play, distinctly amateur, strictly one for our Anglophile cousins.

This is a beautifully made remake of Love in a Cold Climate, but whereas the 1980 series had seven episodes to tell us the story, this film tries to do it (and Nancy's Mitford's previous novel) in 150 minutes.

While the performances are done well, and the insights into the oddities of the English aristocracy are just as Mitford would have known them, there really isn't the time to offer deep characterisations, and explain people's motivations adequately. You feel you're only skating on the surface half the time, which is a pity.

If there had been more of it, I would almost certainly have rated it more highly.

One could say that this attempt to adapt Nancy Mitford's two most notable works for television just suffers by comparison to the very successful 1980s attempt, but it would not be true. The fact is this miniseries is simply atrocious.

The problem lies with one word - literary. Mitford's works are superficially about extreme characters (full of charm and idiosyncrasies), but are, at their core, about language and how it reflects the times, relationships, and society. Her stories - The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate - unfold gently, and, while the books are luxurious in their story telling, not one word is redundant.

So, while adaption of other authors' works can involve stripping everything away until you have the plot, and then building up from there, an adaption of a Mitford work must involve taking the whole piece and then carefully trying to determine what may safely be removed. The creators and writers of the 1980s series understood this perfectly, and those of the 2001 series did not.

As a result, in the 2001 version, events and characters seem disconnected and - with no histories (which in the previous version were often offered via the endless discussions that occurred between characters) - certain characters are inexplicably mean, frivolous or stupid. The actors, who have nothing to work with, seem to flounder, and often look embarrassed (they were hired to do a Pride and Prejudice, and find they are doing a cola commercial). Only Alan Bates reaches the end of the this adaption with no, or little, egg on his face. I bet many involved in this terrible project have chosen to leave it off, or at least downplay it on, their resumes.

This is just about as good as it gets in costume drama. Even the BBC, which is so good at this sort of thing, got it absolutely right, even though this version ran at a much shorter length than the equally excellent 1980 version. The cast is good enough to eat: no-one strikes a wrong note, and some of the acting is downright fabulous (watch Lady Mondore's emotions shift and change). The period detail is, as one has come to expect, far superior to most other attempts at this period. As for the luscious sets, especially those in Paris — what can one say? Watch for the moment when Lady M., having breakfast in bed, says to Fanny that she married for 'all this' and the camera snaps back to show her, not just in a bedroom, but in one of the most sumptuous rooms you could ever hope to see. Deborah Moggach's adaptation strikes the right note all the way through, even for Nancy Mitford fans. But when will a version of the 1980 serialization be made available???

This is generally brilliant entertainment even if the political bits are clichéd and pointless esp the Spanish War scenes. But Rosamund Pike (as Fanny) is utterly spellbinding . You'll rarely encounter such photogenic beauty on film. The camera adores her and so do I. Some may find this comment lacking in gravitas or even frivolous. But forgive me - I'm in love !!

Of course "Love in a Cold Climate" has more going for it. It's a superb insight into the foibles and eccentricities of that most fortunate of social groupings - the English aristocracy of the inter-war period where fascism masqueraded as inherited privilege.

And the whole period is lavishly recreated and technically superb. Alan Bates is great fun as the sewer hating head of house who makes ingenious use of a bureau drawer to soothe his volatile temper.

But all else matters not a jot. What stands this costume piece apart is the astonishing radiance of the exquisite Rosamund Pike. I wholeheartedly recommend this study of happy English whimsy.

Aside from them not including the characters of Emily (the aunt that actually raised Fanny) and Davey (who plays an even more important part), I think the casting is excellent. Sure Rosamund Pike looks nothing like what Mitford described Fanny as but she does embody the nature of Fanny. I can't think of who better to play Matthew and Sadie but Alan Bates and Celia Imrie. Davey played a very important part in the novels, and in this version they merely lump his part into Lord Merlin; and he was also the one of funniest part of the novels with his hypochondria. They also dismissed the eldest Radlett daughter, Louisa, as really she marries straight off but is the one who had the disastrous coming out ball. I thought it was a fun production nonetheless.

From the excellent period costumes and detail (the 1930's) to the luxurious, well-appointed sets, to the vibrant colors (check out the red lipstick), "Love In A Cold Climate" can stand next to "Imitation of Life," "All That Heaven Allows," "Written on the Wind," and other Technicolor Sirk hits.

Each of the three women who are the focus of the film has traits that viewers can identify with as they follow the girls' pursuit of love.

Fanny Logan is the quiet, sensible, conservative woman who marries a college professor and lives a routine but satisfying life. Haven't we all had moments of longing for that sort of secure life?

Linda Radlett, Fanny's cousin, has the romantic life we've all fantasized about. First, she marries Tony Kroesig, wealthy son of a banker, who appears fun loving but turns stuffy after marriage. Linda divorces Tony to marry Christian Talbert, a handsome young Communist who takes her off to help refugees in the Spanish Civil War. When Christian finds in Lavender Davies a woman who shares his radical sympathies more sincerely than does Linda, she is off to London. But when Linda misses her train in Paris and doesn't have any money to purchase another fare, she meets Fabrice, a wealthy, handsome nobleman, and becomes his mistress, set up in a beautiful apartment with plenty of money to buy frocks at the best Paris shops.

And then there are those times when one behaves perversely, stubbornly, spitefully. And Polly Hampton, the third protagonist, will provide us a source to identify in those moments. Polly is stubbornly defiant of her mother's attempts to marry her off, until Boy Dougdale becomes available--after the death of his wife, Polly's aunt. Polly marries Boy to spite her mother, since Boy is rumored to be her mother's lover.

But when Boy eventually becomes involved with Cedric Hampton, a flamboyant gay from Nova Scotia (don't ask), Polly is able to go off with a more acceptable man (fleeing in a flashy, low-slung sport car) who will provide her a better future.

In addition to gay Cedric and bisexual Boy, there is the eccentric Lord Merlin, who may well be gay--or just asexual. This eccentric old guy observes the doings of the women, makes apt observations, and gives good advice, all of which is ignored, of course.

Lest you think this pursuit of love is all serious business, I will tell you that there is plenty of laughing-out-loud humor here as well--exactly the sort that would have pleased the Ross Hunter who made the Doris Day-Rock Hudson comedies.

The three leading ladies are perfectly cast but so are the supporting players, who often (unintentionally) upstage the protagonists. And the boyfriends are all handsome fellows. Yummy.

There is only one thing to do: Make a pot of tea, place some fine cookies on a nice plate or open that box of chocolates, and sink into a soft sofa. Then watch "Love In A Cold Climate" and enjoy two and a half hours of fine entertainment--one of the best women's pictures ever.

Excellent adaption of Nancy Mitford's sarcastic panorama of English upper class life between the wars. The casting is absolutely splendid from well known old battlehorses of British TV-drama like Alan Bates, Frances Barber, Anthony Andrews and Sheila Gish to outstanding new faces like the hilarious Daniel Evans. The congenial directing has managed to produce some of the funniest scenes on TV and I just love to watch the video again and again.

Nancy Mitfords novel of upper class English life is reconstructed superbly in this new mini series. While the Tory government appeases Adolf Hitler, the idle rich "come out" drink, fornicate and dance. The good news is the officer class of WW2 are supplied by this useless mob, while my rellies were the poor bloody other ranks that died with them. One consolation not as bad as WW1. A great series and compulsive viewing!! Don't miss it!!

For lovers of Downton Abbey, this mini-series has a similar setup and pedigree, but a much more, to my mind, sympathetic look back (it's not so serious), and a better pace. The same could be said, in comparison, for lovers of the series Brideshead Revisited. The satire here is not nearly so biting and the English Rose charm is more pronounced. The characters are not as complicated, which I found refreshing, and without deeper issues. They all just want to love. There is a great formula going on here, with occasional elegant narration to move the viewer quickly through the times. I thought the director at times got this balance so wonderfully synchronised (with music, framing, extras, etc) that several scenes must be considered masterpieces. Locations are fantastic, with all the opulence or sprawl one would expect. I thought a couple of the characters were a little archetypical, but that in itself lent to the charm. The BBC casting was spot on, and indeed, it's the minor players doing so well that again lifts everything and creates interest. There is a lightness here that lifts this show above the ponderous and stereotypical nature of some other contemporary dramas I've seen, and I consequently loved every minute.

It is elegant and historically accurate. But it needs to be elaborated upon a bit more, specially Poly and Fanna, since Linda and the Duke (Samuel Labathe), have been eliminated by death. Also Linda's yougest sister (the one that wants to run away) needs to be told out if possible. The follow up must be finished with the original actors that they have started with in the PBS/BBC production, they have been all well chosen for it.

The cast was an interesting one and would have really worked well with good material. And Nancy Mitford's 'Love in a Cold Climate' and 'Pursuit of Love' have quickly become favourites as mentioned in my review for the brilliant 1980 version.

Sadly, while it is not awful or unwatchable this 2001 version hugely disappointed. There are some big pluses but more even bigger minuses, mixing it very mixed as a standalone. This said, while this reviewer is always for judging adaptations on their own terms rather than book-to-book and other adaptations comparisons there is always an occasion or two when the source material or other adaptations are so good that it is hard to not make comparisons. Felt the same way with the two versions of 'Women in Love', of which the book is a masterpiece, the 1969 film every bit as much and the 2011 version underwhelmed.

Despite the negative tone, there are things here that are done well. Although slightly lacking the cosiness of the production values of the 1980 adaptation, the production values are really top-notch. The interiors, locations and scenery are sumptuous and atmospheric, the costumes are elegant and the whole adaptation is beautifully shot. The music is similarly evocative and is not overused or over-scored. And there are some very good performances here. Alan Bates comes out on top with a delightfully contemptuous performance as Uncle Matt, with Sheila Gish not far behind as eerily iron-willed Lady Montdore. Celia Imrie, Anthony Andrews and Frances Barber are strong though not with an awful lot to do. Of the central female trio of Linda, Polly and Fanny, whose performances generally were swamped by those in the supporting cast who came off well, while perhaps too beautiful Rosamund Pike is the only one of the three to stay true to her character (managing to make the least interesting character of the three in the books the most colourful and likable) and does so with real charm.

Not all the cast work however. Daniel Evans in the very truncated role of Cedric really overdoes the flamboyant nature of the character, and it came across as more embarrassing than funny. Megan Dodds comes over as hollow and fails to do very much with Polly, while Elizabeth Dermott Walsh is more (rather too much so) frivolous than rueful. The rest of the cast fail to register in very underwritten and colourless roles, even John Wood. The two main problems with this version of 'Love in a Cold Climate' are that it is too short, at only two and a half hours whereas seven or eight would have been better, and too rushed as a result of trying to cram in so much story in a short space of time. Adaptation-wise, it fails to capture both the details, what there is is too truncated and underdeveloped so it comes over as confusing for a first-time watcher, and spirit of both books. The bare bones is there, the meat isn't.

It also could have balanced the humour and pathos of the stories much better. Generally, there isn't enough humour and the adaptation feels too overly-serious and one-note. 'Love in a Cold Climate' gets light-hearted and more frothy as it proceeds and 'Pursuit of Love' darker, the 1980 version achieved this wonderfully, but this adaptation missed the point. What there is of the humour fails to sparkle and is too heavy in timing, the froth is mawkish and the darkness and pathos lack atmosphere and genuine emotion. It was a mistake also to run the stories of both books concurrently than in sequence, because it did make things confusing and it caused some very abrupt and jarring tonal shifts.

All in all, a huge disappointment though with some merits. 5/10 Bethany Cox