Monday, December 26, 2005

"This coffee is as cold as chastity!"


Ah, God bless dear John Mortimer for bringing so much delight into my life. Whether it's his Rumpole of the Bailey mysteries or the tales of the duplicitous Leslie Titmuss, he never fails to please me. And, now, finally, one of my favorite Masterpiece Theater offerings from 1989, Summer's Lease, is available on DVD. With the always delightfully subversive Sir John Gielgud as the patriarch of this London clan, Mortimer leads us on a mysterious chase seeking the absent owner of a Tuscan villa, with Susan Fleetwood (aka "Molly Pargeter") as Gielgud's married daughter/sleuth. Filmed on location in Tuscany, we are treated to Molly's journey across "the mountains of the moon", seeking rare frescoes by Piero della Francesca, and, later, to Siena for the yearly running of the Palio. If you are an armchair traveler in search of adventure, this may be just the ticket for you!