The Countess Alice (1993 Masterpiece Theater S7E1)

1992 · Producers: Colin Ludlow (producer), George Faber (exec producer) / Director: Moira Armstrong / Writer: Allan Cubitt / Starring: Wendy Hiller-Zoë Wanamaker-Duncan Bell

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⚠ Unverified — hosted on the Internet Archive, not confirmed public domain. Opens on archive.org; nothing plays here directly.

PLOT: A reporter is assigned a then-and-now piece on a 50-year old photospread of three society beauties. One of them, Lady Alice Munroe, now the widowed Grafin von Holzendorf, has agreed to be interviewed. A few questions set the Grafin's daughter, Connie, thinking about her past, and she sets off for her fatherland, now that the Berlin wall is down, to find out where she comes from. But what she finds out may destroy her relationship with her mother.—IMDb by Kathy LiSTORYLINE: In the 1930s, a dashing English débutante abruptly abandoned her country to marry a German aristocrat, and lived with him through the horrors of the war and defeat. After invading Russian troops executed the Count, she escaped back to England with her infant daughter. The story opens in the early 1990s with the now aged Countess Alice, who tutors students in German, and who has spent the last 45 years living off the kindness of her rich and royal relatives. The daughter has grown up to be a sour and disappointed librarian, living at home to care for her aging mother. A reporter is interested in talking to the Countess about her wild and celebrated youth, but with the Wall having just fallen, he is also interested in discussing her German past. The Countess refuses to discuss it, and has revealed little to anyone about her time in Hitler's Germany, despite her daughter's life-long pleas for information. Now that the reporter shows up asking the same questions, the tension between the two women, already strained, begins to rupture the thread of their bond when the daughter announces that, now that East Germany is reunified, she is going there to see the past for herself ... —IMDb by emilyd10 IMDb User Reviews:Wonderful rarely seen gem (Dec 29 2003 by wisewebwoman): Wendy Hiller is one of my all time favourite actresses and in this she shines as an aging countess interviewed for a then-and-now piece in a magazine. Her daughter, Konstanze, played by Zoe Wannamaker, urges her to revisit her dead husband's home in Germany where Konstanze was born. Alice refuses but Konnie goes anyway and a whole chestload of secrets tumbles out. Never sentimental, the film reflects a rare adult glimpse at a mother and daughter relationship. This should be shown more often, it is a true delight. 9 out of 10.An excellent drama - needs to be re-broadcast so more viewers can be exposed to good acting. (Oct 10 2001 by Fluffy-17): The story revolves around a proud, haughty, aged mother, her world-weary daughter and long buried secrets. Dame Wendy Hiller is perfect as the widowed countess who, as a young woman, defied her family and married against their wishes. Now living in shabby gentility in London, she has an uneasy relationship with her middle-aged daughter, played by Zoe Wanamaker. A magazine editor does an article on the lives of the countess and some of her elderly contemporaries, thereby opening a Pandora's Box of surprises. TRIVIA: Dame Wendy Hiller's final film. ** The non-profit streaming of the commercial free, quality films I have very much enjoyed and therefore uploaded to archive.org, are for educational purposes. I have uploaded each movie for posterity, with the hope that all present and future generations will learn from and enjoy them, as much as I have. I own zero rights to this film, nor to any other I have uploaded, and I receive nothing for the uploads nor for the information I put with those uploads. Although I do receive great joy from sharing these uploads with you, I have no wish to infringe on any existing copyright laws. DEF gp ddh **