|
starring: Michael Gambon, Patrick Malahide, Joanne Whalley, Lyndon Davies, David Ryalldirected by: Jon Amiel
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9780793970117
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
ISBN: 0793970113
Label: 20th Century Fox
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
Number Of Items: 6
Publisher: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: October 07, 1997
Running Time: 415 minutes
Sales Rank: 33559
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Related Items:
Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
The late Dennis Potter was a master at mining the popular songs of the 1930s and '40s for dramatic effect, but he never did it better than in this British miniseries starring the inestimable Michael Gambon. Gambon plays a mystery writer named Philip E. Marlow, who is suffering a torturous bout of psoriatic arthritis in a British hospital, where he is a victim of both his disease and the national health plan. Unable to move without pain, he escapes into his imagination, plotting out a murder tale in which he is both a big-band singer and a private eye. But Potter and director Jon Amiel also mix in flashbacks of Marlow's youth and his unhappy marriage to explain how the real Marlow reached this sorry pass. Flawlessly, intricately, kaleidoscopically assembled, the six one-hour episodes of this British miniseries fly by like some fantastic fever dream. --Marshall Fine
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Original BBC Series: The Singing Detective
This is magical work. It reeks of originality & excellence. British humor has its own reason for being. Michael Gambon is just flat superb! The original writer Potter is no longer with us - what a pity! It is a combo of suspense, wit, pathos all rolled into one. I did not see the movie with Robert Downey Jr. I could not bear to make a comparison to this gem of a production.
Rating:  - The offkey singing detective
Their is nothing I enjoy more then British movies and TV series. I guess
I am a true anglophle when it comes to their excellent entertainment and unusual productions. The Singing Detective meets both of these criteria, but with a lot of difficulity in figuring out what the hell he was trying to convey in his misery and to what purpose. I didn't understand a hell of a lot until the very end of the film, but it was still entertaining in it's unusualness to keep my interest because that's what ... Read More
Rating:  - Nothing To Sing About
I'm a fan of Dennis Potter and when I first saw The Singing Detective I thought it was nothing short of brilliant. I bought the dvd when it came out and put it on the shelf to watch some rainy weekend. That weekend came a day ago and I sat down eager to revisit a much loved classic. Good Lord was I disappointed. It dragged its foot in lamed fashion and I heard myself screaming "Get on with it". Spare yourself and if anyone is interested I've got a perfectly good copy for sale.
Rating: - Excellent TV
This is the series that almost made me buy a TV. While I still don't have a TV, I'm delighted to be able to rewatch this excellent series on my computer.
Rating: - The Best Thing You'll ever watch
Some have suggested that "The Singing Detective" is the greatest production ever done for television; I could not even suggest a close number two!
I originally was inspired to look at The Singing Detective because I enjoyed the "Maigret" series so much. I thought that TSD was in somewhat the same jaundra. Well, I was plesently surprised. It's not a `Mystery' but a psychodrama of the highest caliber.
A gripping plot, much of it autobiographical to Dennis Potter this IS the best thing that ... Read More
|
