Adele Gereth ( Pauline Jameson ) has amassed antique treasures that she and her late husband collected from around the world. She stores all of these in her Jacobian estate "Poynton". She hopes to pass Poynton and its furnishings to her son Owen ( Ian Ogilvy ) and the woman he chooses as a bride, but when she meets his choice, Mona ( Diane Fletcher ), she is sorely disappointed and refuses to part with the possessions. Mona, who had not the slightest interest in the antiquities, now feels rebuffed and is angry towards Owen for not taking her side and waging a legal war against his mother.
Witnessing this family squabble - and unwittingly taking part in it - is Fleda Vetch ( Gemma Jones ), a minister's daughter whom Adele has taken under her wing. Adele wants to see Fleda become mistress of Poynton in place of Mona, and things begin to go her way until Fleda complicates matters when she lets pride rule over love.
Henry James' novel "The Spoils of Poynton" first appeared in print in 1896 when it was published in serial format in The Atlantic Monthly under the title "The Old Things". Henry James' most famous works are three novels that have been frequently adapted to film and television: "The Turn of the Screw" ( filmed as The Innocents in 1963 ), "Washington Square" ( better known as The Heiress to film fans ), and "The Aspern Papers". He wrote many many fine stories in addition to these that were also adapted into films, including The Wings of the Dove, The Portrait of a Lady, The Golden Bowl, and The Bostonians.
The Spoils of Poynton is an excellent adaptation featuring some top-notch performances from Ian Ogilvy ( The Saint ) and Gemma Jones ( The Duchess of Duke Street ). The BBC made a number of really rich television productions in the 1970s and this one is truly a gem. It was like capturing a fine performance of a great play on film that can be enjoyed over and over again.
Pauline Jameson is excellent as Adele Gareth. Her character is haughty, terribly houseproud and materialistic and yet Pauline makes her endearing to watch. Young Fleda takes a liking to her instantly and they share a bond in their love of beautiful objects. Fleda would make an ideal match to Adele's son Gareth and Adele well knows this. She hopes that love will blossom between the two and, to her good fortune, it does.
Fleda Vetch is such a darling character but one cannot help feel that she muddles up matters too much out of her sense of righteousness and decency. She loves Owen dearly and he loves her, too, yet she insists that he return to Mona to patch things up properly and therefore smashes to pieces her future, Owen's future, Adele's happiness and Poynton's legacy.
The Spoils of Poynton can be difficult to watch because it is hard to see people wrestle over material objects with such passion. Foolish Mona has no interest in the household treasures whatsoever and yet she allows her relationship with Owen to be ruined in an argument over who will get possession of them. It's quite a fascinating story. And interwoven through it is this growing romance between Owen and Fleda that spurs the story onward. The materials themselves act only as a catalyst to all the events that happen to the four main characters.
BBC made a number of film adaptations of Henry James novels and if this one interests you, then be sure to check out the equally engrossing mini-series The Golden Bowl ( 1972 ) starring Daniel Massey and Jill Townsend.
Those Brits have a knack for knowing how to spin a good yarn...especially when it comes to mystery, horror, and fantasy tales. Author Dorothy Edwards penned a particularly juicy children's mystery story entitled "The Witches and the Grinnygog" in 1981 which was made into an equally engrossing six-part miniseries for ITV in 1983.
This intriguing tale of magic and witchcraft was aimed towards children of the pre-teen variety. Each 25-minute episode followed the adventures of four youngsters - two being the offspring of the local minister - as they try to piece together clues from an ancient diary belonging to an old vicar which are coinciding with strange events going on in their village.
These bizarre happenings began to brew when the neighboring village's church of St. Cuthbert was dismantled. The old stone building is being rebuilt in a new location. A small gargoyle-like statue from the church falls off the back of the lorry carrying it en route to the new location. The mother of one of the children picks it up and, seeing that it would make a perfect "little man" for her father's garden, takes it home to Gramps ( John Barrard ).
It happens to be a Grinnygog and its three guardians aka witches, magically appear in town to keep an eye on the garden statue. Also in town, is the enigmatic African anthropologist Mr. Alabaster ( Olu Jacobs ) who wants to see that the Grinnygog is returned to its rightful place.
The Witches and the Grinnygog is very entertaining TV fare, but unfortunately, it ends with a number of loose ends not quite tied up. The audience is served bits and pieces of a puzzle in each episode that, at its conclusion, do not make a complete picture. Flashback sequences hint that witches were burned in the village in olden times but we are to suppose that the three guardians, endowed with eternal life, managed to escape with the Grinnygog, one of them losing her daughter as she fled. This girl comes to town later, appearing to not just the children, but the vicar as well, in search of her mother. But why did it take all these years for her to find her mother? Were the witches in limbo while the Grinnygog was safe and only now appear in the flesh again?
Sheila Grant, Anna Wing, and Patricia Hayes star as the three kindly guardians with Eva Griffith - whom some may recall as the blind girl in the BBC adaptation of The Day of the Triffids ( 1981 ) - portraying the missing daughter. The children's roles are played by Giles Harper, Heidi Mayo, Adam Woodyatt, and Zoe Loftin, who all give very natural and pleasing performances.
Like most British kiddies, the appearance of witches in town does not startle them very much. This reminds me of the scene in Walt Disney's Bedknobs and Broomsticks when the children observe Mrs. Price taking her first whirl on the broom: "Look! She's flying on her broomstick," one of them says. "That's what witches do," the other calmly replies. Sure, everyone knows that...but it would startle most people to see it actually happen!
The Witches and the Grinnygog has not been released on DVD yet, but it is available for viewing on Youtube. Simply click here if you want to check it out - and I highly recommend that you do. Especially since it makes for great not-too-spooky Halloween viewing.
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