The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Starring:Maggie Smith, Robert Stephens, Pamela Franklin, Gordon Jackson, Celia Johnson, Diane Grayson, Jane Carr (II), Shirley Steedman, Lavinia Lang, Antoinette Biggerstaff, Margo Cunningham, Isla Cameron, Rona Anderson, Ann Way, Molly Weir, Helena Gloag, John Dunbar, Heather Seymour, Lesley Paterson, Hilary Berlin
Director: Ronald Neame
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com essential video

Maggie Smith is so witty and commanding in this film, you might forget that the script paints Jean Brodie as an ultimately self-deluding spinster. Dame Maggie won the first of her two Oscars for playing a teacher in 1930s Edinburgh more in thrall to her romantic notions of art and beauty than the real world, a cultivator of worshipping "Brodie Girls." (She exalts the Mona Lisa and Mussolini with equal fervor.) Smith's expert playing makes many of the brogue-heavy Brodie-isms worth memorizing ("She seeks to intimidate me by the use of quarter-hours.") and raises the picture above its generally theatrical style. Real-life husband Robert Stephens plays Jean's married lover, Celia Johnson excels as the hostile headmistress, and Pamela Franklin is the deadpan whistle-blower within Miss Brodie's coven. The dippy music of Rod McKuen helps mark the movie as more of a reflection of the '60s than the '30s. --Robert Horton

Description

Based on Muriel Spark?s best-selling novel, the film The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie earned a Best Actress Oscar for its star, Maggie Smith, in 1969. The theme song, ?Jean? written by Rod McKuen, was also nominated for a Best Song Academy Award. An inspiration to the young girls she teaches and a challenge to the 1932 Edinburgh school who retains her services, Jean Brodie (Smith) espouses her wisdom on art and music, defends fascism, and otherwise encourages fiercely independent thinking in her students. As she engages in ongoing battles with the school?s rigid heads and bewilders two men in love with her, Miss Brodie also faces the biggest trial of her life when her career and livelihood become threatened.

Customer Reviews:

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.......2007-07-02

English actress Maggie Smith captivated viewers in 1969 with her Oscar-winning portrayal of the title character in director Neame's outstanding film. Based on a novel by Muriel Spark, this hit film doesn't shy from presenting Brodie's enthusiasm for Mussolini, nor her affair with a married man (real-life hubby Robert Stephens). A poignant character study of a woman whose uncomplete life and untamed spirit combine to blur her judgment, the movie is a fabulous showcase for Maggie Smith's dazzling talent.

Undisputed Classic!!!!.......2007-05-25

Maggie Smith shines as a progressive teacher in a conservative girls' school in Edinburgh Scotland during the 30s. As a woman in her "prime" she is convinced that her girls are benefiting from her experiences and this particular phase in her life.

Initially, and for a very long time after, I tended to try to empathize with Miss Brodie and her unorthodox teaching methods becasue I genuinely believed that at the heart of it all, she deeply cared about her students. But upon later viewings, while it is quite obvious she is reliving her youth vicariously through her girls, when taking a long honest look, I could no longer deny that Jean is entirely too dangerous. Even the opening lines where she tells her new class "Little girls, I am in the habit of putting old heads on young shoulders" more than sufficiently suggests that there is something horribly amiss here. Moreover, even today, Miss Brodie's methods would raise eyebrows. Eventually, she suffers the ultimate price for her "special girls."

Maggie Smith is positively mesmerizing as Jean Brodie and an Oscar for this performance was well-deserved. You will thoroughly enjoy the tension between her and the school's headmistress, Miss McKay (Celia Johnson)- they provide some real fireworks, while Robert Stephens provides real sexual energy/conflict for Jean.

Excellent film - I highly recommend!!!!

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.......2007-01-10

This classic movie was every bit as good as I remembered it from years ago. Maggie Smith is just fantastic in this role and the story is still surprising and exciting. Set in Edinburgh the movie brings back fond memories of when I used to live there. This is the best movie I have bought in ages. My daughter who is only 14 and who had never seen Maggie Smith when she was in her 'prime' also enjoyed it tremendously.

Miss Jean Brodie Was Never in Her "Prime".......2007-01-05

This is a superb film regarding a narcissistic woman who damages the lives of the teenage girls entrusted to her care. She betrays the trust of the school that employs her as a teacher---and the parents who haven't the foggiest notion of what she is doing to their children. The hero is the principal (Celia Johnson) who does what she can do to put a stop to the destructive misbehavior of Miss Jean Brodie. Our villain is so morally and intellectually bankrupt that she even worships the Italian fascist Benito Mussolini. In Miss Brodie's warped elitist view of the universe, this misplaced adulation is evidence of her being in one's prime. She eventually gets one of her more naive and trusting "Brodie Girls" killed. And yet, the tragic death fails to deter her from causing further harm. The woman is truly a parent's worst nightmare. Maggie Smith excellently portrays this less than admirable individual. Her Academy Award for best actress is well deserved.

There is one more point that I feel compelled to add. Some people mistakenly believe that totalitarian dictators gain power by focussing on the conversion of the masses. Nothing could be further from the truth. The masses are of secondary importance. Mussolini, Castro, Stalin, and other ruthless thugs find it initially necessary to seduce middle class, pseudo-intellectuals like Miss Jean Brodie. These "useful idiots" lay the ground work for the horror that inevitably follows.

David Thomson
Flares into Darkness

Maggie Smith Shines.......2006-11-08

Maggie in full high camp.
A marvellous Film
Highly recommended

Charlie Rose with Maggie Smith (March 1, 2002)

Average customer rating:

Charlie Rose with Maggie Smith (March 1, 2002)

Manufacturer: Charlie Rose, Inc.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

General | Educational | Genres | DVD | Video

Charlie Rose with Dexter Filkins; Judi Dench & Maggie Smith (April 25, 2005)
Charlie Rose with Judi Dench; Maggie Smith (August 28, 2002)
The Judi Dench Collection
A Room with a View (Two-Disc Special Edition)

ASIN: B000HBL5CY
Release Date: 2006-08-15

Description

A conversation in London with Academy Award-winning British actress, Maggie Smith. She discusses her performance in Robert Altman's mystery Gosford Park, role in Harry Potter, and development as an actress from the stage to the screen.

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