While "An Ideal Husband" makes for enjoyable viewing, despite the Wildean witticisms, it's a notch below "Lady Windemere" and "Earnest". The themes of trust, reputation and pride are well essayed and yet when all is said and done the lasting impression is something of a pleasant and enlightening trifle.
To make more of it, fine acting is required. Oliver Parker's 1999 surprisingly successful version had Rupert Everett, Colin Firth and Julianne Moore delivering competent performances and yet it still failed to elevate the play above its intrinsic quality.
This 1969 BBC production does just that. With a uniformly excellent cast, Wilde's play receives the best possible treatment. Jeremy Brett from the very first shot is spot on as Lord Goring. Dinah Sheridan and Keith Michell lend a depth to their roles while Susan Hampshire provides some light comic moments. Margaret Leighton, in one of her all too rare screen performances simply makes the part of Mrs.Chevely her own.
Reissued in a box set of the BBC Wilde collection, this is a must for all his fans.
To make more of it, fine acting is required. Oliver Parker's 1999 surprisingly successful version had Rupert Everett, Colin Firth and Julianne Moore delivering competent performances and yet it still failed to elevate the play above its intrinsic quality.
This 1969 BBC production does just that. With a uniformly excellent cast, Wilde's play receives the best possible treatment. Jeremy Brett from the very first shot is spot on as Lord Goring. Dinah Sheridan and Keith Michell lend a depth to their roles while Susan Hampshire provides some light comic moments. Margaret Leighton, in one of her all too rare screen performances simply makes the part of Mrs.Chevely her own.
Reissued in a box set of the BBC Wilde collection, this is a must for all his fans.