South Riding [1938] [DVD]Ralph Richardson (actor) Edna Best (actor)
Format: all-region dvd (worldwide) Runtime: 84 min Quality: Very Good
Victor Saville makes an admirable job of bringing Winifred Holtby's bubbling cauldron of upper-class insanity, misguided philanthropy and council-chamber corruption to the screen. Deftly capturing the sights and sounds of this Yorkshire neverland, he only loses his grasp at the close as sentimentality is allowed to wash away the grit.
Ralph Richardson reins in his customary screen excesses to give a sensitive reading of the misguided squire who fails to come to terms with the madness of his wife, Ann Todd. Edna Best as the sympathetic teacher and John Clements as the councillor mixed up in sleaze also catch the eye. |