Cold Comfort Farm (1995 TV film)
Encyclopedia
Cold Comfort Farm is a 1995 British romantic comedy film
directed by John Schlesinger
and produced by the BBC
and Thames Television
, an adaptation of Stella Gibbons
' 1932 book of the same name
, the film stars Kate Beckinsale
, Joanna Lumley
, Ian McKellen
, and Rufus Sewell
. Originally broadcast on 1 January 1995 on the BBC
, it was Schlesinger's final film shot in his home country England, and was picked up for theatrical release in North America through Gramercy Pictures
, where it was a small success.
), a young orphan in the 1920s, moves in with her eccentric and backward relatives, the Starkadders. The Starkadders live in a run-down farm off the beaten track in Sussex. Flora decides to rehabilitate and modernize them.
She first removes the head of the family (Ian McKellen
), an amateur preacher with his own entourage of timid followers, by encouraging him to go on a preaching tour. This leaves the farm in the far more capable hands of his elder son. She introduces the very lusty and handsome younger son to an American film producer, and so gets rid of him as well. She marries off the poetry-addicted gypsy daughter after coaching her in manners, deportment, and fashion. She connects the chronically-depressed mother (Eileen Atkins
) with a famed psychiatrist, who takes a great interest in her. The greatest challenge is her domineering Aunt Ada Doom, whom she eventually convinces to go on a tour of Europe.
. During its theatrical release in North America, the film grossed $5,682,429.
Romantic comedy film
Romantic comedy films are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is "a funny movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily"...
directed by John Schlesinger
John Schlesinger
John Richard Schlesinger, CBE was an English film and stage director and actor.-Early life:Schlesinger was born in London into a middle-class Jewish family, the son of Winifred Henrietta and Bernard Edward Schlesinger, a physician...
and produced by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and Thames Television
Thames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
, an adaptation of Stella Gibbons
Stella Gibbons
Stella Dorothea Gibbons was an English novelist, journalist, poet, and short-story writer.Her first novel, Cold Comfort Farm, won the Femina Vie Heureuse Prize for 1933...
' 1932 book of the same name
Cold Comfort Farm
Cold Comfort Farm is a comic novel by Stella Gibbons, published in 1932. It parodies the romanticised, sometimes doom-laden accounts of rural life popular at the time, by writers such as Mary Webb...
, the film stars Kate Beckinsale
Kate Beckinsale
Kathryn Bailey "Kate" Beckinsale is an English actress. After some minor television roles, she made her film debut in Much Ado About Nothing while still a student at Oxford University...
, Joanna Lumley
Joanna Lumley
Joanna Lamond Lumley, OBE, FRGS is a British actress, voice-over artist, former-model and author, best known for her roles in British television series Absolutely Fabulous portraying Edina Monsoon's best friend, Patsy Stone, as well as parts in The New Avengers, Sapphire & Steel, and Sensitive...
, Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
, and Rufus Sewell
Rufus Sewell
Rufus Frederik Sewell is an English actor. In film, he has appeared in The Woodlanders, Dangerous Beauty, Dark City, A Knight's Tale, The Illusionist, Tristan and Isolde, and Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence. On television, he starred in the 2010 mini-series The Pillars of the Earth...
. Originally broadcast on 1 January 1995 on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, it was Schlesinger's final film shot in his home country England, and was picked up for theatrical release in North America through Gramercy Pictures
Gramercy Pictures
Gramercy Pictures was a film distributor launched in 1992, a joint venture of PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Universal Pictures. Gramercy, a so-called "mini-major," was the distributor of PolyGram movies in the United States and Canada...
, where it was a small success.
Plot
Flora Poste (Kate BeckinsaleKate Beckinsale
Kathryn Bailey "Kate" Beckinsale is an English actress. After some minor television roles, she made her film debut in Much Ado About Nothing while still a student at Oxford University...
), a young orphan in the 1920s, moves in with her eccentric and backward relatives, the Starkadders. The Starkadders live in a run-down farm off the beaten track in Sussex. Flora decides to rehabilitate and modernize them.
She first removes the head of the family (Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
), an amateur preacher with his own entourage of timid followers, by encouraging him to go on a preaching tour. This leaves the farm in the far more capable hands of his elder son. She introduces the very lusty and handsome younger son to an American film producer, and so gets rid of him as well. She marries off the poetry-addicted gypsy daughter after coaching her in manners, deportment, and fashion. She connects the chronically-depressed mother (Eileen Atkins
Eileen Atkins
Dame Eileen June Atkins, DBE is an English actress and occasional screenwriter.- Early life :Atkins was born in the Mothers' Hospital in Clapton, a Salvation Army women's hostel in East London...
) with a famed psychiatrist, who takes a great interest in her. The greatest challenge is her domineering Aunt Ada Doom, whom she eventually convinces to go on a tour of Europe.
Cast
- Kate BeckinsaleKate BeckinsaleKathryn Bailey "Kate" Beckinsale is an English actress. After some minor television roles, she made her film debut in Much Ado About Nothing while still a student at Oxford University...
as Flora Poste - Joanna LumleyJoanna LumleyJoanna Lamond Lumley, OBE, FRGS is a British actress, voice-over artist, former-model and author, best known for her roles in British television series Absolutely Fabulous portraying Edina Monsoon's best friend, Patsy Stone, as well as parts in The New Avengers, Sapphire & Steel, and Sensitive...
as Mrs. Mary Smiling - Ian McKellenIan McKellenSir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
as Amos Starkadder - Rufus SewellRufus SewellRufus Frederik Sewell is an English actor. In film, he has appeared in The Woodlanders, Dangerous Beauty, Dark City, A Knight's Tale, The Illusionist, Tristan and Isolde, and Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence. On television, he starred in the 2010 mini-series The Pillars of the Earth...
as Seth Starkadder - Eileen AtkinsEileen AtkinsDame Eileen June Atkins, DBE is an English actress and occasional screenwriter.- Early life :Atkins was born in the Mothers' Hospital in Clapton, a Salvation Army women's hostel in East London...
as Judith Starkadder - Sheila BurrellSheila BurrellSheila Mary Burrell was a British actress. A cousin of Lord Olivier, she was born in Blackheath, London, the daughter of a salesman. She attended St John's, Bexhill-on-Sea and the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, London...
as Ada Doom - Stephen FryStephen FryStephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
as Mybug - Freddie JonesFreddie JonesFrederick Charles "Freddie" Jones is an English character actor.Jones was born in the town of Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, the son of Ida Elizabeth and Charles Edward Jones. He became an actor after ten years of working as a laboratory assistant with a firm making ceramic products,...
as Adam Lambsbreath - Miriam MargolyesMiriam MargolyesMiriam Margolyes, OBE is an English actress and voice artist. Her earliest roles were in theatre and after several supporting roles in film and television she won a BAFTA Award for her role in The Age of Innocence .-Early life:...
as Mrs. Beetle - Ivan KayeIvan KayeIvan Kaye is a British actor. He previously played Dr. Johnathon Leroy in a recurrent role in EastEnders, and he played Bryan in The Green Green Grass...
as Reuben Starkadder - Jeremy Peters as Urk
- Maria Miles as Elfine Starkadder
- Christopher BowenChristopher BowenChristopher Bowen is a British actor. He trained at the Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol and spent three years with the RSC in the 1980s...
as Charles Fairford - Louise Rea as Meriam Beetle
- Sophie Revell as Rennet
Reception
Cold Comfort Farm received generally positive reviews; it currently holds an 84% 'fresh' rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. During its theatrical release in North America, the film grossed $5,682,429.