The American Movie Review 2001

Heavy-handed adaptation of Henry James's 1877 novel. Christopher Newman (Modine) makes a fortune in California and heads to Paris in the 1870s where he hopes to acquire both culture and a wife. He meets mysterious widow Claire de Cintre (Sullivan) but his proposal is rejected by her snobby aristocratic family, which is headed by Claire's imperious mother, Madame de Bellegarde (Rigg). Then Newman learns a family secret that could win him Claire's hand.

Distribution

PBS Home Video, Catalog Fulfillment Center, PO Box 751089, Charlotte, NC 28275-1089, Phone: (800)531-4727, Toll-free: 800-645-4PBS, Email: info@pbs.org, URL: http://www.pbs.org

Available on VHS
Running time 90 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Romantic Drama, Monster Moms, Paris, Period Piece: 19th Century, Books to Film: Henry James, Nuns & Priests

Screenplay

Michael Hastings

Cast

Matthew Modine, Aisling O'Sullivan, Diana Rigg, Brenda Fricker, Andrew Scott, Eva Birthistle

Director

Paul Unwin