Persuasion (1971 series)
Encyclopedia
Persuasion is a 1971 British television serial adaptation of the Jane Austen
novel of the same name
. It was produced by Granada Television for ITV
and was directed by Howard Baker. The series stars Ann Firbank as Anne Elliott and Bryan Marshall
as Captain Wentworth. It was originally aired in April and May 1971 in five episodes.
Sir Walter Elliot, who unlike her vain father and sisters, is humble, sensible and modest. The family discuss their fall into financial difficulty, largely because of Sir Walter's wayward spending. Several ideas are suggested, but either Sir Walter or his eldest daughter Elizabeth (who is very like her father), refuse them, as they cast some taint on the family name. Finally Sir Walter's friend and soliticitor Mr. Shepherd, at the urging of Anne and Lady Russell, persuade Sir Walter to let out his ancestral home, Kellynch Hall, and move to Bath, where he can say he is taking in the waters for his health. Mr. Shepherd strongly urges this because, with the return of the fleet due to what appears to be the end of the Napoleonic Wars
, there will be a demand for fine housing by newly-rich naval officers. Shortly thereafter, Mr Shepherd finds a suitable tenant in Admiral Croft and his wife Mrs. Croft, the sister of Captain Wentworth -- whom, it seems, is already known to Anne and her family.
Captain Wentworth was engaged previously to Anne Elliott, eight and half years earlier, and we learn that Lady Russell, Anne's guardian, persuaded Anne not to go through with the marriage because of his then-lack of a fortune or good family. Since then, however, Wentworth went to sea and made his fortune, and now is returning to Somerset to find a bride.
Sir Walter and Elizabeth leave Kellynch Hall for Bath, but Anne goes to visit her other sister, Mary Musgrove, who is married to Mr Charles Musgrove. Charles was also a suitor of Anne's seven or so years ago, but Anne refused him, and so he turned his affections to the younger and self-centered Mary. Since then, Musgrove and Mary have had two little boys that Mary has alternatively ignored and spoilt immoderately. While staying with the Musgroves, Wentworth comes to visit. Anne and Wentworth barely speak to one another, and Wentworth takes up what appears to be an affection for Charles Musgrove's two young sisters, Louisa and Henrietta. The attraction to Henrietta fades as she renews her vows to the young vicar in the area, so things start to look more and more like Louisa Musgrove has won Wentworth's attention. Soon everyone is taking about the pair; but nothing has been settled. Wentworth mentions that he has to go to Lyme, a seaport town, to visit his friends, Mr and Mrs Harville, and Louisa hits upon the idea of the whole party of six going as well to visit Lyme as a daytrip.
It is during a trip to Lyme, that Louisa, showing off, jumps off a wall, hoping to be caught by Wentworth, but instead strikes her head against the pavement and
falls unconscious. Anne takes charge of the situation while everyone else is too distressed to think properly. The doctor is very foreboding about Louisa's prospects. As they are in a stranger's house, Louisa's brother says that he will stay and take care of things that are needed; but after further discussion it is decided that Anne will stay to be Louisa's nurse. But then her sister Mary, very jealous of being thought second-best in ability to care for Louisa, insists that she shall be the nurse, and so, no longer needed, Anne leaves Lyme, first to return to the Musgrove's, and then to join her father and Elizabeth in Bath.
At Bath news comes that Louisa has recovered and is no longer interested in Wentworth but found another suitor. This makes Anne hopeful of reconciliation with Wentworth, and she makes every effort to approach him. But now her own cousin, Mr. Elliot, begins to show interest in her, which is highly approved by not only Lady Russell, Anne's champion, but also by sister Elizabeth and Sir Walter.
Things seem a jumble when Anne meets Wentworth's friend, Captain Harville, this time at the hotel in Bath where the Musgroves have come to get ready for Henrietta's and Louisa's nuptials. Anne and Harville engage in a deeply-felt exchange about whether men, or women, are more fickle or more constant in their affections. Captain Wentworth overhears their conversation and is struck by it. He proposes to Anne in a letter which he leaves for her in the hotel. The series ends at a party to congratulate the couple, at which it is discovered that the deceitful cousin Mr. Elliot, and Elizabeth's apparently steady, but in reality also deceitful, friend, Mrs. Clay, secretly have gone off together.
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...
novel of the same name
Persuasion (novel)
Persuasion is Jane Austen's last completed novel. She began it soon after she had finished Emma, completing it in August 1816. She died, aged 41, in 1817; Persuasion was published in December that year ....
. It was produced by Granada Television for ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
and was directed by Howard Baker. The series stars Ann Firbank as Anne Elliott and Bryan Marshall
Bryan Marshall
Bryan Marshall is an English actor, with a number of major credits in film and television to his name.Marshall was born in Clapham, London...
as Captain Wentworth. It was originally aired in April and May 1971 in five episodes.
Synopsis
Anne Elliot is the second daughter of the widowed baronetBaronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
Sir Walter Elliot, who unlike her vain father and sisters, is humble, sensible and modest. The family discuss their fall into financial difficulty, largely because of Sir Walter's wayward spending. Several ideas are suggested, but either Sir Walter or his eldest daughter Elizabeth (who is very like her father), refuse them, as they cast some taint on the family name. Finally Sir Walter's friend and soliticitor Mr. Shepherd, at the urging of Anne and Lady Russell, persuade Sir Walter to let out his ancestral home, Kellynch Hall, and move to Bath, where he can say he is taking in the waters for his health. Mr. Shepherd strongly urges this because, with the return of the fleet due to what appears to be the end of the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, there will be a demand for fine housing by newly-rich naval officers. Shortly thereafter, Mr Shepherd finds a suitable tenant in Admiral Croft and his wife Mrs. Croft, the sister of Captain Wentworth -- whom, it seems, is already known to Anne and her family.
Captain Wentworth was engaged previously to Anne Elliott, eight and half years earlier, and we learn that Lady Russell, Anne's guardian, persuaded Anne not to go through with the marriage because of his then-lack of a fortune or good family. Since then, however, Wentworth went to sea and made his fortune, and now is returning to Somerset to find a bride.
Sir Walter and Elizabeth leave Kellynch Hall for Bath, but Anne goes to visit her other sister, Mary Musgrove, who is married to Mr Charles Musgrove. Charles was also a suitor of Anne's seven or so years ago, but Anne refused him, and so he turned his affections to the younger and self-centered Mary. Since then, Musgrove and Mary have had two little boys that Mary has alternatively ignored and spoilt immoderately. While staying with the Musgroves, Wentworth comes to visit. Anne and Wentworth barely speak to one another, and Wentworth takes up what appears to be an affection for Charles Musgrove's two young sisters, Louisa and Henrietta. The attraction to Henrietta fades as she renews her vows to the young vicar in the area, so things start to look more and more like Louisa Musgrove has won Wentworth's attention. Soon everyone is taking about the pair; but nothing has been settled. Wentworth mentions that he has to go to Lyme, a seaport town, to visit his friends, Mr and Mrs Harville, and Louisa hits upon the idea of the whole party of six going as well to visit Lyme as a daytrip.
It is during a trip to Lyme, that Louisa, showing off, jumps off a wall, hoping to be caught by Wentworth, but instead strikes her head against the pavement and
falls unconscious. Anne takes charge of the situation while everyone else is too distressed to think properly. The doctor is very foreboding about Louisa's prospects. As they are in a stranger's house, Louisa's brother says that he will stay and take care of things that are needed; but after further discussion it is decided that Anne will stay to be Louisa's nurse. But then her sister Mary, very jealous of being thought second-best in ability to care for Louisa, insists that she shall be the nurse, and so, no longer needed, Anne leaves Lyme, first to return to the Musgrove's, and then to join her father and Elizabeth in Bath.
At Bath news comes that Louisa has recovered and is no longer interested in Wentworth but found another suitor. This makes Anne hopeful of reconciliation with Wentworth, and she makes every effort to approach him. But now her own cousin, Mr. Elliot, begins to show interest in her, which is highly approved by not only Lady Russell, Anne's champion, but also by sister Elizabeth and Sir Walter.
Things seem a jumble when Anne meets Wentworth's friend, Captain Harville, this time at the hotel in Bath where the Musgroves have come to get ready for Henrietta's and Louisa's nuptials. Anne and Harville engage in a deeply-felt exchange about whether men, or women, are more fickle or more constant in their affections. Captain Wentworth overhears their conversation and is struck by it. He proposes to Anne in a letter which he leaves for her in the hotel. The series ends at a party to congratulate the couple, at which it is discovered that the deceitful cousin Mr. Elliot, and Elizabeth's apparently steady, but in reality also deceitful, friend, Mrs. Clay, secretly have gone off together.
Cast
- Ann Firbank as Anne Elliot
- Bryan MarshallBryan MarshallBryan Marshall is an English actor, with a number of major credits in film and television to his name.Marshall was born in Clapham, London...
as Captain Wentworth - Basil DignamBasil DignamBasil Dignam was an English character actor.Basil Dignam, a native of Sheffield, acted on film and television between 1951 and 1975. He often appeared as an authority figure, such as a police officer, army general or peer....
as Sir Walter Elliot - Valerie Gearon as Elizabeth Elliot
- Marian Spencer as Lady Russell
- Georgine Anderson as Mrs. Croft
- Richard VernonRichard VernonRichard Vernon was a British actor. He appeared in many feature films and television programmes, often in aristocratic or supercilious roles...
as Admiral Croft - Morag HoodMorag HoodMorag Hood was a Scottish actress described by many commentators as "a celebrated beauty," who featured in numerous British programmes, stage productions, and audio presentations from the 1960s up to the late 1990s....
as Mary Musgrove - Rowland Davies as Charles Musgrove
- Mel MartinMel MartinMel Martin is an English actor. She has appeared in such British television programmes and films as The Pallisers, Love for Lydia, Bergerac, Cover Her Face, Lovejoy, Inspector Morse, Cadfael, When the Boat Comes In, Midsomer Murders and "A Touch of Frost".She starred as Fiona Samson, the double...
as Henrietta Musgrove - Zhivila Roche as Louisa Musgrove
- Noel DysonNoel DysonNoel Dyson was an English actress. Dyson appeared in a number of films but is best remembered as a versatile television actress who became a very familiar face to British viewers in a career spanning almost 50 years...
as Mrs. Musgrove - William KendallWilliam Kendall (actor)-Filmography:* Good Night, Vienna * That's a Good Girl * The King's Cup * Doctor's Orders * Debt of Honour * This'll Make You Whistle * Sweet Devil * The Sky's the Limit...
as Mr. Musgrove - Charlotte MitchellCharlotte MitchellCharlotte Mitchell is an English actress and poet.She was once the girlfriend of Peter Sellers, hence her occasional appearances on The Goon Show in the 1950s. Charlotte Mitchell was married to actor Philip Guard and is the mother of 3 children, actors Christopher Guard and Dominic Guard and...
as Mrs. Clay - David Savile as Mr. Elliot
- Gabrielle DayeGabrielle DayeGabrielle Daye was a British television actress, notable for her role as Mrs. Pring on Bless Me Father...
as Mrs. Rooke
External links
- Review of Persuasion (1971) - Jane Austen Centre Magazine