“Forgotten Hollywood”- Downton Abbey News…

Posted on February 1, 2012 by raideoman1 | No Comments

Manny P. here…

   PBS phenomenon Downton Abbey has vowed to continue for a third season. Film critic Roger Ebert tweeted yesterday that Shirley MacLaine will join the Masterpiece program next year. CNBC News  also confirmed this announcement. The Oscar-winning actress will play the mother of Lady Grantham, the character played by Elizabeth McGovern. MacLaine’s relationship with Maggie Smith’s character will also guarantee added fireworks to the high-brow program.

   She will additionally generate considerable press coverage for the mini-series. This is outstanding news for loyal viewers.

   Writer Julian Fellowes is also preparing a screenplay for a Downton Abbey motion picture. How extraordinary for lovers of British drawing-room dramas in the tradition of The Remains of the Day, Upstairs Downstairs, Gosford Parkand Brideshead RevisitedDownton creators are prepared to capitalize on winning six Emmys and a Golden Globe over the past year.

   Actress Laura Carmichael, who plays Lady Edith, admitted recently that clothes she wore (including a blouse) while working on the set was actually first worn by Meryl Streep in the 1985 motion picture Out of Africa. It seems even the wardrobe used on Downton Abbey is steeped in Hollywood history.

    The World of Downton Abbey, the coffee table book offering a behind-the-scenes chronicle during the production of the mini-series, was released in September, 2011. Written by Jessica Fellowes (Julian’s niece), it was published by HarperCollins. And, the public television website now has a trivia graphic related to the personal lives of the Downton actors, and it has been receiving a surprisingly large amount of visits.

   It’s gratifying to see Hollywood and history intersect in a major way on the small screen. The sinking of the Titanic, World War I (The Great War), and the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic have all been referenced. PBS can be proud of this educational accomplishment.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 at 12:05 am and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.


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