Mrs. Henderson Presents Movie Review 2005

The recently widowed Mrs. Henderson (Dench), in an attempt to relieve her own boredom, purchases the rundown and struggling Windmill Theatre in 1930s-40s London. Working her way through the theatre's revitalization, she hires Vivian Van Damm (Hoskins) as the theatre's manager. The two come up with the idea of staging all-nude revues, which are suitably tasteful but still a bit racy for the time. Once World War II breaks out, the story becomes one of British determination to cling to fragile everyday life in the face of the difficulties of war. All told, an interesting look at homefront England.

Distribution

Weinstein Co. Home Entertainment, 345 Hudson St., 13th Fl., New York, NY 10014, Fax: (917)368-7058

Available on DVD
Running time 102 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Comedy Drama, Period Piece: 1930s, Period Piece: 1940s, London, Stagestruck, Strippers, Widows & Widowers, World War II, Great Depression, The Homefront: England

Screenplay

Martin Sherman

Cast

Judi Dench, Bob Hoskins, Christopher Guest, Kelly Reilly, Will Young, Thelma Barlow

Cinematography

Andrew Dunn

Director

Stephen Frears

Music

George Fenton

Other

Peter Lindsay, Lucia Zucchetti, Tony Woollard, Sandy Powell, Hugo Luczyc-Wyhowski

Producer

Norma Heyman, Pathe Pictures, BBC Films, Weinstein Company, U.K. Film Council, Future Films, Weinstein Co.

Awards

Natl. Bd. of Review 2005: Cast.