The Mrs Bradley Mysteries Death at the Opera The Rising of the Moon Laurels Are Poison The Worsted Viper DVD with Mrs. Bradley Mysteries Set (Unrated) +Movie Reviews

With a Wink and a Nod

Sires | It's a Toss Up Right Now | 12/23/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was going to give this DVD four stars but I enjoyed it enough for five. Sometimes perfection has to give away to pure verve.Ok, let's get this out of the way-- the extras aren't particularly interesting. Somewhere there is an unwritten rule that DVD's have to have extra features but these are a bit of a snooze.However, no one needs any other reason to watch this DVD than Diana Rigg's portrayal of Adele Bradley, psychoanalyst and sleuth. The art deco era portrayed here-- 1929 is the date mentioned in the first of the Mrs. Bradley Mysteries (available separately)-- was a tough one for clothes. Horizontal stripes, low waists and severe hats that might have doubled as moderne sculpture are not forgiving of figure flaws, but Ms. Rigg carries them off with aplomb. She is the anti-Jane Marple. Fashonable, wordly, very up to date on all the banned literature. She does not view world as a village in macrocosm, she brings a breath of the world to the narrow confines of a her old finishing school, a suspicious village where a traveling show has ended in murder and a country house where it seems the gardner has the upper hand. One waits for the arched eyebrow, the aside to the audience, the flat out rudeness at times. And let's not forget her chauffeur, George Moody. He wonders in and out of her room at all hours without raising a lot of eyebrows. In the first of the series on this DVD he gives his all to keep Mrs. Bradley from being discovered at her sleuthing, running interference and bringing her information from the servant's hall. Don't expect complete authenticity do expect a lot of fun."

"Mrs Peel" at her campy best!

Sires | 10/15/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These are a series of stories that are part mystery and part "camp". Some of the dialog is tongue-in-cheek and humorous....especially when she turns to the camera in an aside and offers up a usually sarcastic comment about the present company. Very good mysteries if you don't take them too seriously and don't expect them to be a "Poirot" or a "Midsomer". Ex "Mrs Peel" at her best!!"

Miscasting? I Don't Think So!

Sires | 11/08/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A previous reviewer refers to the choice of Diana Rigg to play Mrs. Adela Bradley as miscasting, due to age and a bizarre reference to Rigg being "overweight." Yeah, Dame Diana Rigg is 65, but that's hardly "elderly" unless one is 12. And if Rigg is "overweight" (which she's not!) then Americans are overweight/obese at a rate much higher than 50-60% that experts currently claim.The character of Adela Bradley has a married son who is at least 25 (appears in first episdoe to be more in the early 30s range), so I hardly think Adela Bradley would be a 40 year old woman. She's "liberated" for the era, but hardly a flapper. Quite the opposite, as flappers were the 20's version of Jessica Simpson--ditzy airheads who live for the moment.The writing often isn't very good, I'll agree, but that's not the fault of the actors, who ALL do a superb job conveying the essence of the characters they portray. The Mrs. Bradley Mysteries are fun and funny--great entertainment, with British sensibilities--to THIS American Gen-X'er (lest anyone reading assumes I must be "elderly.') Unfortunately, there won't be more in the future, as the BBC chose not to continue the "series.""

Diana Rigg Saves the Day

Esteban Molina | San Francisco | 11/05/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Actually, she does this for the series as well as in the part of the sleuth in the individual stories. A couple of reviewers rave and one is rather unpleasantly bilious. Me - I'm rather on the rave end of things. Well, well - there's no accounting for taste. The stories are not exactly sublime [certainly not Dorothy L. Sayers, not even Madame Christie], though this may be a comment on the translation to screen: I haven't read the actual books. Neither are they terrible. [And one reviewer's comment about improbability is simply not on: I had an experience of 4 people finding themselves in the same spot half-way round the world without prior knowledge that the others would be there, so truth is at least as strange as the reviled fiction.] What is fairly certain, at least to the majority of the reviewers thus far, is that Diana Rigg indeed saves the day. She's marvelous and a delight and I love every comment she doth utter. Whether it's the best thing she's ever done is...well, come on, lads: she was an acclaimed Medea and Clytemnestra, after all, and I wouldn't be surprised if she hasn't dabbled in a spot of Ibsen in her day. But I love the series for her part in it [and for the banter between her and the chaffeur George], and I hope they extend the series. That this is called "set 1" leads me to hope. In short: if you like Diana Rigg, go for it!"

Emma Peel's grandmother?

Jeanne Tassotto | Trapped in the Midwest | 01/30/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Adela Bradley (Diana Rigg) has thoroughly embraced the Jazz Age, she has intruded into male-dominated fields like toxicology, criminology, and that new science of psychology. She has flouted conventions by discarding her corsets ...and a few husbands, is not adverse to speaking her mind in a most unladylike fashion and is altogether too familiar with her chauffeur George.

In this set of four mysteries Adela returns to her alma mater to deliver a speech and stays to solve a murder (DEATH AT THE OPERA), in THE RISING OF THE MOON, Adela and George happen on a traveling circus and soon find themselves embroiled in long buried secrets, unrequited love, blackmail and murder. Adela (and George) take a break to visit an old friend only to find that her home is truly haunted by more than one ghost from the past (LAURELS ARE POISON). The final mystery (THE WORSTED VIPER) in this set finds Adela accompanying George to a seaside village to attend the wedding of George's daughter. While there a mystery from Adela's past returns. Throughout this series Adela finds herself bumping into Police Inspector Christmas (Peter Davison) much to the annoyance of George.

The tone of these mysteries is lighthearted and irreverent. Adela makes caustic asides to the viewer while delightedly defying conventions. The costuming of this series is marvelous, Adela is dressed in a manner designed to be both up-to-date and shocking, completely keeping in with a character who would do this simply because she could. The muscial score is filled with music from the Jazz Age and is a joy in itself. The mysteries themselves are clever, fastpaced, fairly laid out and full of enough twists and turns to keep the viewer guessing to the end.

I highly recommend this series, especially for any fans of THE THIN MAN or the LORD PETER series."

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