User Reviews

The cute Oscar Wilde story The Importance of Being Earnest is always fun to watch. Somehow, the complicated story is simple to follow, and even though we see the jokes coming a mile away, they're still funny.

This live televised performance of 1964 stars Ian Carmichael and Patrick Macnee as the two subjects of the comedy of errors revolving around the Christian name of Ernest. They have great comic timing and bounce off each other well. Susannah York plays the young, beautiful niece who captures the heart of Patrick, and Fenella Fielding plays Ian's love interest. It's a pretty harmless version, even though it is a little condensed. The heart of the story and all its twists and turns are all present, and it's always a treat to hear Wilde's glib dialogue. If you like the most modern remake, you might miss the Technicolor costumes and on-location scenery; but if you often like to go to the theater, you'll probably appreciate this one.

I came across this totally by accident on YouTube - a what a delightful surprise! Fast, witty and wonderful. Standouts are Ian Carmichael's befuddled Jack and Pamela Brown's (a former Gwendolyn) acerbic Lady Bracknell. Also outstanding are Patrick Macnee, Fenella Fielding (hilarious), and Susannah York. Well worth the view!

Two young men have inadvertently given their lady-loves the mistaken impression their names are Ernest. The women idolize the name. What will happen when they learn the truth?

This heavily-truncated made-for-TV version of Oscar Wilde's masterpiece has much in its favor. And one or two things on its disfavor.

The 1952 film raised a pretty high bar acting-wise, especially in capturing Edith Evans' famous Lady Bracknell. This 1964 cast is nearly as stellar.

Ian Carmichael and Patrick McNee are both too old for their roles, though I tend to overlook these minor matters where actors are concerned. It's called acting, after all (in the film Michaels Redgrave and Denison were also too old and they were marvellous).

Carmichael is as close as I've seen to the consummate Worthing. Anyone aspiring to this role should study his performance and witness for himself how much business he can work in.

McNee seems less word-perfect, and indeed looks and sounds uncomfortable out of the starting gate. Perhaps that's my fault, seeing the impeccable "John Steed" playing the feckless Algernon. After a few early stumbles he grows into the part, however.

Fenella Fielding is a wonderful pick for Gwedolyn, though her performance is at times tight as a Victorian corset. Susannah York was never prettier than here; she would not be my pick for Cicely and it proves how my judgement may err. Though the whiff of some disparaging remarks she's quoted as saying in Ian Carmichael's biography lingers on, it doesn't affect her performance, to say nothing of the dog.

For Miss Prism and Canon Chasubel we're offered two genuine comedy icons, Irene Handl and Wilfred Bramble. I like my Prisms pixilated and Handl plays it less so; but that's her choice and she never drops the ball. Bramble, who can be devastating funny, does hardly any business at all and plays it nearly straight, letting Wilde shine through--though in the climactic scene his face observing events he's not fully privy to is funny enough.

The big disappointment is Pamela Brown's low-key Lady Bracknell. Lady Bracknell is the villain of the piece, but she must never be so silly she ceases to be a menacing; nor so menacing she ceases to be funny. It's a challenging role Brown takes too seriously as her gasping, whispered "A handbag?!" shows. If one word can be used as a yardstick of any classic performance, it's Lady Bracknell's "handbag." It may make or break an interpretation and for me it breaks Brown. Perhaps she's simply not old enough yet, as prior and subsequent Bracknells Edith Evans and Wendy Hiller prove. I'm sure each performer in a classic play wants to make it their own but I have to grade Brown as "could do better."

Often John Worthing's part suffers as he has to allow Algernon and the other players to get the chuckles while he anchors the piece. Here, Carmichael heads the feast of fools, proving Worthing can be delightfully funny on top of being the pillar that holds up the Wilde's big top, while the rest of this amazingly talented cast is more or less funny, as they choose, for the small screen.