Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 40 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Remembering Maggie Smith. May She Rest In Peace.
Dame Maggie Smith has passed. In this era when British treasures are assaulted, vandalized and trashed, Maggie Smith’s performances are treasures cherished throughout the world that deserve preservation and protection for as long as possible. Her performances – whether the stern Hogwarts teacher and part-time cat, the easily addled and flummoxed chaperone, Miss Charlotte Bartlett of “A Room With A View,” or the forceful Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham of “Downton Abbey” and dozens of other roles will hopefully be watched, studied, and enjoyed for centuries to come.
I am fortunate to have several of her performances on DVD and Blu-ray. When I need a dose of sanity from our current perverse and sometimes demonic culture, I will pop in a disc of “Downton Abbey” to immerse myself in a bygone era of grace, style, and manners that values tradition, honor and loyalty, even amidst occasional scandal and subterfuge. Julian Fellows, Downton Abbey’s creator, was surely inspired by the earlier “Upstairs/Downstairs,” an equally compelling, brilliantly acted and staged series that unfortunately was made in an era lacking some of the budget and filmmaking advancements that the producers of Downton Abbey utilized in the show’s cinematography, location shooting, costuming—not to mention the use of the grand Highclere Castle, a home so fitting for the Grantham family and the Dowager Countess to grace.
Thank you, Maggie Smith. May you rest in peace.
Published in General
I think her last line in Downton Abbey is fitting: “Stop that noise, I can’t hear myself die!”
I get a kick out of her character in Gosford Park.
I hope there will be a modern remake of Upstairs/Downstairs. But not if D.E.I. runs wild.
I saw her a long time ago as Lady MacBeth at the Stratford Festival. Riveting. (Can’t even remember who played opposite her.) Secured that play’s place as my favorite Shakespeare.
Yes.
A great of the industry. My favorite of her movies was “My Old Lady.”
I appreciate her Oscar winning performance in the title role of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. While Hollywood tends to portray educators in the Mr. Chips mode, this narcissist of a teacher is sadly replicated in all the Rainbow promoters on campuses throughout the United States.
This film also led me to novels of Muriel Sparks and I’ll always be grateful for that.