Disc three of The Henry James Collection. I see that ajbakeresq has given an account of the difficult conditions actors and technicians had to deal with in the early days of TV drama; I can't add much to this but I want to say this is a triumph for Gemma Jones, playing the unlucky-in-love Fleda Vetch, and it's also a triumph for Henry James, whose works have translated to film and TV with difficulty.
It was James's genius to write about women's lives in the nineteenth century, when women were seen as inferior creatures who had to be humoured by men, when they weren't being ignored totally. The struggle between Mrs. Gereth and Mona Brigstock for the soul of the hapless Owen is titanic, even though it plays out over teacups and antimacassars. Dickens would have been incapable of writing about such a contest, even if he'd thought of doing so. Fleda and Owen are the unwilling witnesses of this struggle, and the victims of it too. The last scene with Fleda at the train station is very poignant; I'd say I've become a supporter of Gemma Jones on the basis of it--her work in The Duchess of Duke Street never made much of an impression on me. The supporting players are very capable, especially Pauline Jameson as Mrs. Gereth.