Ealingfilmfan

Another favourite of mine is the film adaptation of Murial Spark's "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie"....

This is simply unmissable, Maggie Smith is magnificent as Brodie, superbly assisted by husband in real life Robert Stephens, Gordon Jackson, Ann Way et al....

Also of note a fleeting appearance from a very young Helen Worth, (Gail Platt from Coronation Street)...

Notable quotes from Smith.....

"Don't tangle with Miss Lockhart (The Chemistry teacher), she has the means to blow us all up"



On the timing of an appointment to see her headteacher........

"She seeks to intimidate me by the use of quarter hours".......


A wonderful British classic.........



The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)

"Just room for one inside sir"

Phil Turner

Must agree with your comment on Maggie Smith. Surely, one of the greatest performances by a leading actress in the history of British cinema. Almost as good as Celia Johnson in Brief Encounter .... but not quite!!

Mr Cosmo

I remember being knocked off my seat by Maggie Smith's performance in this. A real powerhouse. I also read the book by Muriel Spark and saw the play performed by a Kenilworth amateur group some years back which was interesting to see one of the girls from W H Smith in Leamington Spa appear topless, but otherwise was very amateur. (It would have been good to see Vanessa Redgrave in the role on stage.)

Then along came the TV series with Geraldine McEwan and she was brilliant in the role and totally made me forget about Maggie Smith's performance which over time began to seem bigger than the whole film.

The girls were excellent as well. Pamela Franklin from the original film has always been good (I first fell in love with her in QUICK BEFORE THEY CATCH US if anyone remembers that) - and Lynsey Baxter - an excellent actress - in the TV show both brought a depth to the role of Sandy which is in the book. The character of Miss Gaunt played by Georgine Anderson in the TV show was developed and played really well and my only regret is it only ran for 6 episodes. It would have been good to see Jean Brodie getting more and more entrenched into her ways to the exclusion of what was going on around her. Instead of being in her prime she was out of her pram.

NappieB

Jean Brodie was the quintessential Maggie Smith role... but I much preferred her co-starring work in "Hot Millions" and "Evil Under the Sun" both with Peter Ustinov.

I don't know why but maybe it's because she is such a powerful and enduring character in real life that I think it makes her "second-fiddle" parts all the more alluring - i.e. the artfulness of her having to tone down the roar of her talent so to speak...

tvden

I can remember going to the Cinema with a girlfriend in Brighton to see this film when it first came out it, was one of the best films I ever saw no doubt enhanced by watching it on the big screen, and what a fantastic performance by Maggie Smith it left a lasting memory of a great film

TimR

Maggie Smith gave an outstanding performance in this - and so did Celia Johnson.

I found the film itself unsatisfying, though. The central idea was that Jean Broie was supposed to be so dangerous that she was a menace and had to be detroyed. But her actions didn't match the character. At the end, I thought: was she really that bad? She was blamed for everything.

The way the film presents her - and the way Smith plays her - she is eccentric, funny and a little foolish. She doesn't seem capable of all the sinister things she is accused of.

But for me it was like a travelogue for Edinburgh.

Hereafter, in a better world than this,
I shall desire more love and knowledge of you