New Photos from Miss Austen Regrets
Alert Janeite Cinthia found a press release with some new photos from Miss Austen Regrets on the PBS site. Well, hello there Mr. Haden. What was the quote from her letter?
To make his return a complete Gala, Mr. Haden was secured for dinner–I need not say that our Evening was agreable.–But you seem to be under a mistake as to Mr. H.–you call him an Apothecary; he is no Apothecary, he has never been an Apothecary, there is not an Apothecary in the Neighbourhood–the only inconvenience of the situation perhaps, but so it is–we have not a medical Man within reach–he is a Haden, nothing but a Haden, a sort of wonderful nondescript Creature on two legs, something between a Man & an Angel–but without the least spice of an Apothecary.–He is perhaps the only Person not an Apothecary hereabouts.–He has never sung to us. He will not sing without a Pianoforte accompaniment. - Letter from Jane Austen to Cassandra Austen, December 2, 1815
January 23rd, 2008 at 2:05 pm
I wonder if they have emphasized Edward Bridges second name (Brooke) in order to avoid confusion with Edward Knight, just as in P2 Charles Hayter was named Henry. After all, Rev. Bridges was always Edward, not Brooke nor Edward-Brooke, in JA’s letters.
And the third gentleman, I’m lookinp up at the letters to find out who was Mr. Lushington. He appears mentioned in letters 91 and 92 (October, 1813 from Godmersham). He seems to have been the MP for Canterbury at the time.
January 23rd, 2008 at 4:04 pm
What about Harris Bigg-Wither? Is he included in the film in any way? I didn’t find him on the cast list.
January 23rd, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Hello!
Harris Bigg will be played by Samuel Roukin, see the movie cast list here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1076240/
I think Olivia Williams plays Jane Austen very well. She looks serious, intelligent and pretty. Her voice and speech I heard in the PBS video clip are credible. Does any UK fellow know when the movie will air on BBC TV, something being heard or read in a newspaper or magazine as I can not see it in the BBC Channel Listings?:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcone/listings/index.shtml?service_id=4223
Thanks.
January 23rd, 2008 at 7:00 pm
I’m not really sure what I think of this film. I’m not even sure I want to watch it. I can’t help but think that Cassandra destroyed so many of Jane’s letters for precisely this reason. I for one, don’t care if Jane had love affairs or not. She was a brilliant writer, regardless. Besides, didn’t they just do this in “Becoming Jane”? I think two movies in two years about Jane’s unproven and thus fictional love life is a little much.
January 23rd, 2008 at 9:00 pm
Beautiful pictures! I’m really looking forward to this film. I think they did a very good job of making Fanny Knight look like the one drawing that people think is probably of her. Who did she marry in real life?
January 23rd, 2008 at 11:37 pm
Sylvia, in answer to your question—Fanny Knight married Sir Edward Knatchbull in 1820, they had nine children, the eldest of which (Edward) became the first Lord Brabourne.
January 24th, 2008 at 2:18 am
Two years after Jane’s refusal, Harris Bigg-Wither married Anne Howe Frith. He had five sons and five daughters. One of his sons immigrated to New Zealand in 1822, and became a farmer, the other four became clergymen; the five daughters did never marry.
Harris had never had good health and died of apoplexy in 1833 aged 51. His house Many-down Park was sold, reluctantly, in 1871, and was pulled down in 1965.
January 24th, 2008 at 3:45 am
I’m with Anna. Austen was brilliant regardless of whether she had seventeen love affairs or three or one or none. Why must it follow that when a woman doesn’t marry and is a great artist, it must therefore be a great unsolved mystery? Isn’t that rather insulting to women? Being a curious sort, I’d love to know what was in those destroyed letters. However, we will never know unless life imitates art and we find a buried box of letters like the ones in “Possession.” And even if we had every letter Austen ever wrote, we’d still be speculating, as letters are merely a snapshot of a moment in a day.
January 24th, 2008 at 10:40 am
I think that it is kind of a mystery. This was an age where it was expected that one marry in order to be the most respectable. For a woman to turn down several suitors and a proposal probably would have been strange. Sure there were single people in her books like Miss Bates, etc., but there are also several people like Charlotte Lucas and Mrs. Weston that seem to rise above their stations in life by becoming married.
I think if Jane would never have had suitors and still been a wonderful writer it would not have been such a great mystery. The mystery is that surely out of all these suitors she could have found at least one to fall in love with.
January 24th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Great photos! I hope it will be a good or at least, “good to see” film.
January 24th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
I think that this movie is a different animal that ‘Becoming Jane’. It’s not trying to make a matinee romantic period drama; in fact, there’s something ‘Persuasion’-like and autumnal about it that strikes me as poignant and moving. I don’t think this type of speculation about Jane’s personal life is too intrusive. We can still admire Jane as a genius while considering the idea that, just maybe, she regretted being single. That’s only human of her, and we have to be careful not to make her out as some paragon of self-sufficiency. I think she wouldn’t have liked that in a character, for one.
And Olivia Williams is a solid, underrated actress, and *cough* NOT A POUTY AMERICAN, so joy of joys.
January 24th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
Ooo! Lovely colors. But…
Maybe this is too nit-picky, or possibly just a bit shallow, of me, but I really hate it when very skinny women are cast in period films, especially when they seem to make up the entire cast, and especially when the costumer seems to be completely adverse to having any of the women wear layers or anything that might add (gasp!) volume and bulk. It looks so wrong!
I’m not trying to depricate the actors, they all seem quite lovely (especially Olivia Williams), and the costumes are pretty, but it still really bugs me. Expecially since it seems to be the period-drama casting fad these days.
January 24th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
Do you know that James Cromwell (who played Rev. Austen and Prince Philip) is an American? Americans can act. Just so you know.
January 25th, 2008 at 8:51 am
Dear Diana:
You are certainly not shallow for your opinion! Unfortunately, it is the curse of Hollywood (and what does one call the British equivalent? BBC?) to forever cast the skinniest women possible. I am just thankful that all of these Jane Austen films aren’t made in the United States, as then the characters would be played by suntanned beach beauties in heavy make-up and scanty “Regency” dress.
February 1st, 2008 at 4:33 am
While I’m not exactly anticipating another romantically skewed bio of Jane Austen’s life, I’ll watch this if only for Olivia Williams- she’s never in enough new things! I just adore her as Jane Fairfax in Andrew Davies’ Emma!