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Customer Reviews of Portrait of a Lady

IF YOU HAVE BEEN HATED - YOU HAVE ALSO BEEN ADORED!
The role of Ralph Touchett is one of Richard Chamberlain's finest performances. Give him a character named Ralph, and he seems to become magnificent. His performance was so noteworthy, it captured the attention of Peter Dews, who cast him in Hamlet, (another outstanding performance) and later, the controversial Ken Russell, would give him the starring role as Peter Tchaikovsky,in his visually stimulating masterpiece, THE MUSIC LOVERS. Ralph Touchett was the rich, but sickly cousin of Isabel Archer, with a terminal condition, (Consumption)which caused him to take a back seat in life as a spectator. Determined to meet the requirements of his imagination, he invested in his cousin Isabel, giving her half of his vast inheritance. This investment came with a no strings attached freedom, to pursue her mysterious purposes and fulfill her unconventional desires.
Ralph's faith in her was challenged as he watched her make a disasterous choice in a husband, who married her for the money she inherited. Ralph's physical suffering was nothing compared to the pain he felt when his beloved cousin no longer soared, but sank into a deep unhappiness. On his deathbed, Richard delivered some of the most memorable lines of his career. As Isabel confesses her mistake to her beloved cousin, Ralph tells her he always understood,that she needed to look at life for herself, and that hers was a generous mistake. He assures her, it would only hurt for awhile, for if she has been hated, she has also been ADORED! These words meant more to me, after reading Richard's book, SHATTERED LOVE. This beloved actor, spent most of his life, fearing he would be hated, when all the while, he has been ADORED!

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Droll and Disappointing
Many the world over raved after this television version of Henry James' story, The Portrait of a Lady, aired in 1968 on the BBC, mostly due to Richard Chamberlain's performance as Ralph Touchett. I myself, being an avid fan of the novel, found the film dull and uninspiring compared to it's literary counterpart. The pace was slow, the acting dry and the American accents horrid, and the anticipation of what many critics called "the BEST version" of the film led to severe disappointment. I caution, though, that I am not used to 1960's BBC productions, so someone else may find it as charming as I find it droll. On the positive side, the Edwardian costumes were quite lovely, and I won't deny the fact that Richard Chamberlain was the most entertaining of the cast. Compared to the 1996 version starring Nicole Kidman, Barbara Hershey, and John Malkovich, I would suggest the 1996 version if you really want to delve into the psyche of Isabel Archer and the games played by Serena Merle and Gilbert Osmond.

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A Supreme Television Achievement
C. P. Snow, the internationally acclaimed writer, states that this production of The Portrait of a Lady "became a supreme television achievement, aesthetically and in all other ways." See C. P. Snow, THE REALISTS, 286 (Charles Scribner's Sons 1978).