Search - Rumpole of the Bailey, Set 1 - The Complete Seasons 1 & 2 on DVD

Showcases one of the most unique actors ever on TV

Robert Moore | Chicago, IL USA | 04/08/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Film and television has over the decades seen the appearance of a host of enormously talented character actors who have only rarely had opportunities to assuming lead or starring roles. Charles Laughton was the great exception, somehow managing a host of starring roles over the decades. But the great Bert Lahr, despite his considerable gifts, had a great stage career (including Samuel Beckett's landmark WAITING FOR GODOT) managed only one great film, as the Cowardly Lion in THE WIZARD OF OZ. Robert Newton managed a few good screen roles, including a turn as the greatest Long John Silver ever in the 1950s Disney version of TREASURE ISLAND, but for the most part cinema never found a way to incorporate his considerable but over-the-top skills. The fact is that many of our greatest character actors project a persona that is a bit too large for either film or TV. Bert Lahr had the gigantic personality of a Warner Brothers cartoon character, and there were simply very, very few film roles that could accommodate his talent.



Leo McKern is very much in this tradition of the great ham character actor whose personality outstrips all but a very few roles. No one who had previously seen him in films like RYAN'S DAUGHTER (as Ryan) or A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS (as More's prosecutor) or the legendary TV series THE PRISONER (as the best Number Two on the show) could doubt his talent. But the force of his personality and the power of his voice, as well as his short, stout build and globular face (as well as having a glass left eye as the result of a childhood accident), made him in appropriate for almost all film and television roles. He wasn't merely bigger than life: he was bigger than the silver screen and television. Thankfully, near the end of his life he managed the role of a lifetime as Horace Rumpole in the serialization of John Mortimer's Rumpole of the Bailey stories. The role is a perfect showcase for McKern's talents, and he clearly threw himself into it with all the gusto of which he was capable. It is almost impossible to imagine anyone else in this role so completely does he make it his own. To be honest, McKern is the only thing that makes these shows worth watching a quarter of a century after their first appearance. The stories are often fun, frequently clever, and the supporting cast is consistently superb, but the fact is that there have been dozens of excellent shows over the decades, and few lay legitimate claim for our attention. RUMPOLE OF THE BAILEY does lay such claim, but almost entirely because of McKern's transcendently excellent performance as the title character. Obviously, the show's writers knew this at the time, for every second of the show is structured to give McKern as fine a platform as possible for the display of his particular virtues as an actor. Whether quoting English poetry, or cross-examining a witness during a trial, or wincing under the complaints of "she who must be obeyed," or reacting to some inane comment by some absurd English judge, every conceivable opportunity is provided for McKern to boom out in that marvelous voice of his Rumpole's words.



I don't want to imply that McKern is the only good thing in the show. The scripts, largely adapted from stories by writer and sometimes barrister John Mortimer, are consistently interesting and contain a host of marvelous moments. The series is also enriched by a large and highly talented cast, including Peter Bowles as Guthrie Featherstone, head of chambers for much of the series, though his ambition takes him to many new roles; Patricia Hodge as Phyllida Erkine-Brown nee Trant, whom Rumpole dubs their chambers' "Portia; Julian Curry as Claude Erskine-Brown, whose interests in "the Law" run as counter to Rumpole's as possible; and, of course, the Peggy Thorpe-Bates, the first of two actresses to portray Hilda, "she who must be obeyed."



This is not among the greatest shows ever made, but it is certainly one of the most enjoyable and contains what is unquestionably one of the great characters in the history of TV. The cable TV network Bravo recently compiled a list of the 100 Greatest Television Characters, which was very poorly named, since it considered only American television characters. Had English shows been included, there is little question that Horace Rumpole would have occupied a prominent place on the list."

The legal gang's all here--on DVD at last

F. Behrens | Keene, NH USA | 12/09/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"By far, one of the more popular series that came over the Atlantic to our PBS television stations was the six-season "Rumpole of the Bailey" with Leo McKern as the craggy-faced barrister. Few of us realized that there was once a single Rumpole teleplay, "Rumpole and the Confession of Guilt," now available on an Acorn Media DVD (AMP-6684), that inspired the series and is a Must for fans of what followed.





While all six seasons have been long available on video tapes, about a year ago HBO finally came out on DVD with the first two seasons. After a wait for the rest, A&E has suddenly put out not only the first two seasons as a redone boxed set (AAE71659)but at the same time has given us seasons three and four (AAE71664). Added to the format are introductions to each episode by Rumpole's creator, John Mortimer; but I am afraid all he talks about is the plot and reveals too much of what follows. Better to skip them on first viewing.





So now we have the first 12 episodes with all the amusing characters, most of whom drive Rumpole up a wall, the leader being his wife "She Who Must Be Obeyed" Hilda Rumpole, played first by Peggy Thorpe-Bates, then by Marion Mathie. Most of his fellow lawyers are pretty incompetent chaps: Guthrie Featherstone (Peter Bowles), Claude Erskine-Brown (Julian Curry), and "Soapy Sam" Ballard (Peter Blythe). Even worse than these are the judges-from-hell: Graves (Robin Bailey), Bullingham (Bill Fraser), and Oliphant (James Grout).





The professional women are far more competent: Elizabeth Probert (played first by Samantha Bond, later by Abigail McKern) and Rumpole's favorite "Portia," Phyllida Trant and later Mrs. Erskine-Brown (Patricia Hodge).





Other than the humor, the insight into the British legal system, the high quality acting, and the immortal family of villains, the Timsons, we have the double plots. Each episode develops a theme that is the basis of both the trial in question and of the events of the framing device. For example, the trial of a neo-fascist who wants a purely white England takes place after Hilda has commented on the number of non-white faces in London lately.





An added inducement to purchase the first boxed set of seasons 1 and 2 is the inclusion of the feature-length story "Rumpole's Return." Seeing him stretched out by a pool in Florida is worth the price alone.





Grab these and wait with me impatiently for seasons 5-6 to appear shortly.



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