Cheap The Importance of Being Earnest - Criterion Collection (DVD) (Michael Redgrave, Richard Wattis) (Anthony Asquith) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Importance of Being Earnest - Criterion Collection

The version of EARNEST released in 1952 and listed here stars Michael Redgrave as Worthing (father of Lynn, Vanessa, and Colin Redgrave; grandfather of Miranda and Natasha Richardson, etc.), Dame Edith Evans as Aunt Augusta, Joan Greenwood as Gwendolyn, Margaret Rutherford as the woeful governess, and several other fine stage actors of 1950s England.

The 1952 version is 95 minutes long and presented as a stage play with a few outdoors settings. If you want to see the play as Wilde probably meant it to be seen, this version is the one to buy. The dialogue is snappy and smart, the humor dry and witty, the actors are filled with zest. Not only that, but the 1952 version is a Criterion DVD with 'digital transfer' and historical notes.

The second version of EARNEST, released in theaters a year or two ago, stars Colin Firth as Worthing, Rupert Everett as Algeron, Frances O'Conner as Gwendolyn, Dame Judi Dench as Aunt Augusta, Anna Massey in the Margaret Rutherford role, Reese Witherspoon as Cecily, and Edward Fox as Algeron's underpaid manservant. If Wilde knows about this version, he is probably spinning in his grave in Pere Lachaise.

The dialogue (Wilde wrote) is virtually the same in both films, and the actors for the most part are great actors, but something has gone missing from the newer release. I love Colin Firth, but he is dismal as Worthing. I am ambivalent about Everett but he is the best thing in the newer film. Anna Massey is fine, I loved her as George Sand's mother in IMPROMPTU, but after seeing Margaret Rutherford play the role of the wayward nanny-turned-tutor in the Criterion version--forget it.

The second EARNEST (newer version) plays like an old record on warped speed. The witty dialogue moves so slowly, the repartee is as flat as fallen souffle. On top of that, what is a knight in armor doing in this play? Did the screen play call for this bit of nonsense? Or did the director decide to borrow elements from a few other films! For example, in several scenes, Firth (Worthing) gives an almost repeat performance of scenes from PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. I could forgive the ripoff of P&P in BRIDGET JONES because that film is a satire on P&P, but in EARNEST it simply doesn't work.

The action in the newer version is V-E-R-Y S-L-O-W compared with the Criterion version. Did the director slow the action because he thought "monolingual" Americans would understand the words better?? How stupid, GOSFORD PARK did just fine. Those of us who patronize British films and the BBC understand British accents --
and many of us can identify accents by class and locale. Gee whiz, if you can follow the dialogue in East Enders you can follow anything.

If you're a drama student and can afford both versions, buy both versions. In this case actions do speak louder than words and you can discover for yourself that great script and actors aren't the only ingredients in a good film-the director matters.

The Importance Of A Good Commentary!!
Comparing the 1952 film adaptation of The Importance of Being Earnest with the 2002 is problematic, and in many ways, futile. Both films are marvelous and perfect representatives of the acting/film styles of their respective time periods. The 1952 version is structured like a play; the action even begins and ends with a curtain, as if the viewer were in an upper box of a grand theatre or opera house. Similarly, the acting is quite stagy; viewers who prefer their actors to perform their parts in the cinema the same way they would perform them on stage will most likely enjoy this version. In particular, Dame Edith Evans as Lady Bracknell is the epitome of the stage Grand Damme, the empress of her sex, aloof, imperious, cascading from a great height, and perfectly marvelous. Dorothy Tutin as Cecily and Moliere translator Miles Malleson as Rev Chausible are also standouts in their respective roles. The little-known Michael Dennison is an unexpected pleasure as Algernon, complete with ever-present roguish grin, while Joan Greenwood is very pretty but almost a little too stagy to be an effective Gwendolyn. Both Margaret Rutherford as Miss Prism and Michael Redgrave as John Worthing are somewhat miscast; sure, they are dazzling talents, but each is too thoroughly grounded and earthy for the roles they play, particularly Miss Rutherford, who was perhaps the definitive Madame Arcati in Noel Coward's classic Blithe Spirit, filmed only a few years earlier. Still, all the actors are quite effective in their roles; the problem with this DVD lies with the presentation itself: There is no commentary. Of course, director Anthony Asquith is long gone (he died in 1968), but Criterion could and should have called on a film historian, or better yet, a member of the directors own family could have supplied an excellent commentary. Helena Bonham-Carter is not only a luminous actress, she is also Asquith's grand-niece, and it would have been nice to have approached her about the possibility of providing a commentary in this case; a current actresses thoughts and views of how this classic was presented two generations ago would have been priceless. Still, this is an excellent DVD, and a worthwhile film adaptation to add to your collection, especially if you are willing to provide your own running commentary.

One of the funniest plays ever and one of the best casts
This 1952 Technicolor film classic bring together one of all-time funniest plays in the history of the English language with a dream cast featuring Michael Redgrave, Edith Evans, Joan Greenwood, Margaret Rutherford and Miles Malleson.

This film is beautifully mounted; superb direction by Anthony Asquith and terrific color photography by Desmond Dickinson.

The Oscar Wilde Victorian comedy is a laugh-a-second series of absolute silliest situations.

If you enjoy Classic British Cinema, a brilliant play or any of the above actors, this wonderful DVD MUST be part of your collection.

As usual, the quality is typically the best non-restored quality people have come to expect from Criterion.

Only the lack of a commentary track or a documentary on the making of this priceless film is lacking.