The Lady and the Highwayman (1988 TV Movie) User Reviews

1988? Or 1938?

[Euphorbia · 6/10 · 2 July 2005]

Although filmed in 1988, this British made-for-TV movie captures the look and feel, the melodrama and romance, even the stagy lighting, of a big-budget 1930s Hollywood swashbuckler. By 1930s standards, it is a first-rate film. By today's standard, well, that's not really a fair standard to judge it by. It lacks the scale and fancy visual effects of "Braveheart," or "Gladiator," but in its quirky old-fashioned way, it is a better movie than either of them. And it is miles better in every possible way (including historical accuracy) than the egregious BBC/A&E "Charles II" mini-series (USA title "The Last King"), set in the same time period, with many of the same characters, that was broadcast in 2004.

"The Lady and the Highwayman" is based on a Barbara Cartland romance novel, and set in Restoration England of the 1660s. Yet with a shift of locale, and a slight re-write, it could just as well be a western. Think "Zorro." Indeed it borrows lots of bits and pieces from classic westerns -- such as Hugh Grant's character jumping from atop a 30 foot wall on to the back of his horse.

"The Lady and the Highwayman" was filmed in England, using several real period castles and manor houses as locations. Both the detailed sets and the lavish costumes mesh seamlessly with the period buildings. The costume department did a great job, as much with the soldiers' uniforms, armor, and weapons, as with the courtiers' finery.

The cast is excellent, and the dialog, by Terence Feely, was well written. 28-year old Hugh Grant looks young and suave, but doesn't say a whole lot. The star is young Lysette Anthony, then 25, and she is terrific. Oliver Reed is a menacingly villainous Phillip Gage. Michael York is a dashing King Charles II.

I just saw the film on a $1 DigiView DVD sold by WalMart. It was definitely not a digital transfer -- but its graininess and off colors actually enhanced the impression of its being a 1930s film, rather than 1980s. It's no classic, but I enjoyed watching it, and I've seen plenty worse. 6/10.

For another quirky and retro view of 17th century England, check out "Winstanley" by Kevin Brownlow.

This is a romance-drama with tragedy , murder, passion , a love story , twisted plot and incredible ending

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 12 March 2013]

Enjoyable drama based on the romance novel titled ¨The Lady and the Highwayman¨ with luxurious scenarios and spectacular production design ; where a passionate young lady in 17th-century England falling for an outlaw . Nothing too inspired here but seems to be amusing . It's an entertaining film and regency romance fans will appreciate the attention to period detail . TV adaption of the Barbara Catland historical romance finds the young lady Panthea Vyne (Lysette Anthony) falls in love with the handsome rogue nicknamed Silver Sword (Hugh Grant) , a highwayman who saves her from her cruel , wealthy husband (Ian Bannen). He kills him in a fair fencing duel . Lucius Vyne or Silver Sword is wanted for treason and the following reward : one thousand Guineas . Later, when Charles the 2nd (Michael York) is reinstated as King of England , gorgeous Panthea attends the royal court along with her uncle (Claire Bloom). But here she becomes the enemy of the king's former mistress (Emma Samms) and unfortunately is framed of killing his former husband . The rebel Lord Lucius Vyne engaged to marry her and he's sworn to protect . Trouble is, she can't marry to him, until to be solved the murder they say she committed . Lucius attempts to help him clear this accusation , but she is judged , accused and condemned for penalty death : beheading . Meanwhile , a brutal officer (Oliver Reed) hiding a number of secrets is plotting a long-awaited vengeance in a twisted finale . Naturally, such as all Barbara Catland novels there's a happy end.

This is a TV adaptation of the Barbara Catland romance novel, it displays murder , passion ,swashbuckling , twists , final surprise and consideration to period detail . Nothing too original , although regency romance buffs will value the attention to historical background . This is a costume drama that never quite goes anywhere , though results to be entertaining and fun . Wel set in a turbulent period when being executed (1649) king Charles I by beheading , took over a Republican government led Cromwell (1648-1660) , being succeeded by a royal reinstating crowned by Charles II well played by Michael York . Excellent main and secondary casting, as Oliver Reed , John Mills , Michael York as King Charles II, Claire Bloom as Lady Emma , Gareth Hunt , Ian Bannen , Christopher Cazenove , and the final film role of Gordon Jackson , Robert Morley and a very old Bernard Miles as a grumpy judge , among others .

The motion picture was professionally directed by John Hough , though with no originality . In fact , belongs to quatrain movies directed by Hough , such as 'Hazars of hearts (Helena Bonhan Carter, Marcus Gilbert)', 'A ghost in Monte Carlo (Lysette Anthony, Sarah Miles)' and the best, 'Duel of hearts (Alison Doody , Benedict Taylor , Geraldine Chaplin)'. All of them realized by the same producers (Sir Lew Grade, Albert Farnell), musician (Laurie Johnson : The avengers) , author (Barbara Catland) and similar actors . John Hough has an eclectic and overlong filmmaker career , beginning in television series (The avengers , The protectors), making Hammer movies (Twins of evil), classic terror (Legend of hell house) , average horror movies (Howling IV, American Gothic) , family fare (Return and escape to witch mountain). The flick will appeal to romantic drama enthusiasts.

I loved it!

[sporks7 · 7/10 · 29 January 2007]

it is a love story which succeeds in it's attempt to create suspense--will true love be victorious? or will it be a tragedy? The suspense is intermingled with completely unintentional comic relief. It stars Hugh Grant before he became the bumbling fool in so many other movies.

This movie is amazingly funny because of its lack of trying to be so. It was not meant to be a comedy, but the one-liners will be recited by its audiences for years after viewing. It was a truly valuable find in our campus library movie collection.

Please trust me and rent this movie!!! You will never forget this experience!

:)

[leonard1 · 24 August 2002]

I loved this movie growing up, it was a lot of fun and always amusing to know you were a fan of Hugh Grant before he became famous ;) This movie was released as "SilverBlade" in Australia where I grew up and first saw it, and it wasn't until I came to the United States that I found out it had another name. So if there are any Aussies out there wondering if this is the same movie - it is - I have seen both SilverBlade and The Lady & The Highwayman and they are exactly the same.

If you're thinking of buying the DVD...

[teelbee · 3/10 · 5 January 2003]

Don't! Oh, I know it's cheap - looks like a real bargain, eh? NOT! Put the wallet down and don't throw away your money. It's not even worth the $1.25 it routinely lists for on EBAY and HALF.com.

In a decent print, this might be a fun bit of fluff. But, the DVD print is far from decent. It looks for all the world like an old re-copied and re-copied video tape. The poor video quality completely spoils the viewing experience - it's flat, muddy, blurry, and dark. I've never seen anything even remotely this bad in any retail video product, much less a DVD.

It wasn't the greatest material to begin with - the script, dialogue, and acting are a bit dodgy and *quite* stagy. Some worthwhile stars are not allowed to shine (Oliver Reed, Hugh Grant, Michael York, John Mills). However, the costumes and sets are really quite nice - pity we can't appreciate them in this release.

All it's missing is Margaret Lockwood, James Mason and Stewart Granger.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 18 July 2022]

Once I saw the Gainsborough lady, I knew I had traveled back into 1940's when films like "The Man in Grey" and "The Wicked Lady" were commonplace in the cinema, great escapism and lots of fun. But add in Barbara Cartland to the mix, and I knew I wasn't getting Shakespeare. What I am getting however is a historical drama with lots of fiction attached, romanticized with a bit of cliff note style detail. At least Michael York is there to portray the real Charles II, coming out of seclusion after the Cromwell era, and just as merry as I remember him from George Sanders' portrayal in "Forever Amber". Not exactly accurate history here, but definitely a fun soap opera with period costumes and classic settings added.

Stories like this always have some sort of pattern with the long suffering heroin married to someone she hates, the hero either in an iron mask because he has an evil twin who has claimed the throne, or in case of the Margaret Lockwood films, a seemingly sweet woman who is dastardly and willing to stoop to murder to gain power and position. Lysette Anthony is the fragile heroine protected by none other than Hugh Grant from her scheming cousin (Emma Samms), the mistress of King Charles. If this story had been made in the 40s, Lockwood definitely have played the Samms role. It's nice to see her playing against type as a villainess.

Veteran actors Oliver Reed, John Mills, Claire Bloom, Ian Bannen and Robert Morley have juicy supporting roles, and at 90 minutes, this film does not overstay it's welcome. Yes, the print is poor, but because the sound was decent, I tolerated it. I found it campy fun. Samms' character, Barbara Castlemaine, is apparently the only character outside of Charles based on a real person, although others can possibly be pinpointed to others from this era of British history. Lots of action and adventure, although it's a shame that for a film that isn't really that old there's not a decent print around.

Worth every penny...and not a dime more!

[magyarcymreig-1 · 2/10 · 2 June 2005]

I picked this film up on DVD at WalMart for a dollar. I figured I couldn't go wrong with a swashbuckler and an all-star cast. There was nothing wrong with the acting as it turns out either. However, the dialogue is awful, the backstory is embarrassingly clumsily handled, and the lines are so wooden that Olivier couldn't make them sparkle. The story is based on a Barabara Cartland book as it turns out, and she's famous for QUANTITY, not QUALITY. I imagine this is pretty representative of her work. Still, for a buck, it was nice to see two of the 4 Musketeers again (Oliver Reed and Michael York) plus Hugh Grant with very, very bad hair.

Maybe a bit old-fashioned but still entertaining!

[johannes2000-1 · 7/10 · 17 January 2011]

Let me first say, that I had a fine afternoon watching this movie: it's entertaining, fast-paced, romantic and visually beautiful, with some great settings and costumes. I agree with some of the critics that the DVD technically was rather poor: grainy and with some of the coloring a bit weird, but this wasn't that bad that it spoiled the fun.

Then there was the rare joy of seeing so many great actors together: Hugh Grant, Michael York, Claire Bloom and Oliver Reed, to name a few of the most famous ones. But here I have to come up with my first reservations. While Oliver Reed delivers a fine (but rather small) performance as the odious Sir Philip Gage and Claire Bloom gives a spicy rendering of Lady Darlington, the part of Michael York as Charles II (convincing as it is) is extremely small. And Hugh Grant (at age 29 still many movies and some 5 years away from breaking through with "Four Weddings"), hadn't matured yet to such a great actor back then. Besides that, he also fell victim to a curious whim of the writer, who gave him, the undeniable hero of this tale, hardly three whole sentences to say. While the director made him act as a silly 17th century English version of Zorro (including a preposterous black mask that couldn't fool a blind bat) and let him have a hairdo that may have been meant to look like a romantic highway-mannish ruffle, but turns out as something the cat dragged in.

The story is a romantic fiction within a historical context (the court of Charles II right after the Restoration) and is based on one of the zillion novels by Barbara Cartland. That's not necessarily bad, the popularity of her work at least proves that her novels are compelling enough to please countless readers and I guess one could turn this particular story into a reasonably adequate screenplay. The result however is a bit uneven, as if more than one person worked on it. Many of the dialogues are awkward and stiff (and unfortunately these involve all of Hugh Grant's). At other points however they're actually very crisp and intelligent (for example the dialogues between the king's arrogant and machiavellistic mistress Barbara Castlemain and her slimy partner-in-crime Rudolph Vyne, as well as the snide comments of auntie Darlington or the flirtatious innuendo's of the king).

It's the same with the action: at times plain silly and hardly living-up to the standards of an average episode of old TV-series like Robin Hood or Ivanhoe (like the clumsy "raids" of highwayman Hugh Grant and his comrades), at other times however very thrilling and involving (like all the scenes with Lady Castlemain, Lord Rudolph or Sir Gage). While the supposed love-scenes between Hugh Grant and Lysette Anthony are rather up-tight and square (what on earth they are supposed to see in each other is beyond me, it's like little Miss Goody Two-shoes meets Simon the Stiff), every scene with Emma Samms is steaming with passion and barely restrained rage. And the grand finale, where our hero (Grant) escapes his confinement in the dead-cell to jump on the scaffold and save his beloved from the executioner, must be the most breathtakingly last-minute rescue in the history of historical movies, the axe literally fails her head and neck by an ear's length.

Alas for Hugh Grant-fans: he is definitely not the star of this movie (and he actually looks as if he couldn't have cared less!). Neither is Lysette Anthony (way too virtuous and boring!). To me the biggest surprise is Emma Samms, she looks beautiful (hurray for 17th century corsets, and miss Samms DOES fit in her's stunningly!!) and her acting is top-notch! And Christopher Cazenove is equally great with his pretentious slimy fake-charms and his ruthless conniving.

All in all: no Oscar-winning material here, but with all it's flaws still very entertaining. I rank it 7 out of 10 (and a 10+ for Emma Samms!)

Lysette Anthony in the 17th Century

[wes-connors · 5/10 · 26 July 2009]

"Based on the best-selling novel by Barbara Cartland, this colorful adventure epic of 17th century English gentry stars Hugh Grant as an aristocrat forced to become a swashbuckling 'Highwayman' after falling in love with a beautiful girl (Lysette Anthony) he has sworn to protect from the evil Cromwell. Fate drives them together, but their passion may be doomed when they are accused of crimes by their enemies (Emma Samms, Oliver Reed), and both face execution," according to the DVD sleeve notes.

Romantic historical fiction made tediously for television.

DVD sleeve comments to the contrary, this film stars Ms. Anthony. She is at her most beautiful, and performs her role well. Anthony had just disrobed for "Playboy" (December 1988), and would go directly to the 1990 revival of "Dark Shadows" (as Angelique). At the time a bigger star, Ms. Samms (Holly from "General Hospital") and future movie star Mr. Grant are also looking good. "The Lady and the Highwayman" is mainly watchable for prettily presenting these three with veterans.

***** The Lady and the Highwayman (1/22/89) John Hough ~ Lysette Anthony, Hugh Grant, Emma Samms

Cheesey but Fun

[Tonihow22 · 7/10 · 5 August 2021]

Look, it's not Citizen Kane but it's a fun little story with cute costumes and a very young, very handsome Hugh Grant. I loved this movies when I was little and I still find it charming. The acting is a *little* over the top, but just go with it.

Lowbrow "romance", mainly interesting for its campiness

[elwinter · 3/10 · 20 October 2002]

This is truly goofy romantic tripe. Mainly notable for an early performance by Hugh Grant, who is probably embarrassed when clips are trotted out. Main value is its campiness, and laughs where the filmmakers never intended them.

Swashbuckling and Romantic

[firstRainbowRose · 8/10 · 19 August 2006]

From passion of romance to sword crossing action, this movie has a bit of everything. Starting in 1649 and then continuing through 1660, it follows the story of the highwayman "SilverBlade", and his efforts to protect the sister of one of his old friend's, all the while righting the wrongs still being committed after the common wealth was no longer in control of England.

The lady Panthea Vyne first meets "SilverBlade" when he rescues her from a marriage to Lord Cromwell's tax collector -- which she believed would save his life. However, as she is soon after told, he has already died two weeks before. "SliverBlade" then decides to give her new husband a fair chance, and duels for his life.

A few days later Panthea's Aunt Emma comes to steal her away, for -- as Aunt Emma explains it -- "I am a very old woman, I want you with me. Won't you come?".

Soon after you learn that four years have passed, and the king has decided to marry a Portugise princess. Being that her aunt was once the nursemaid of the king, they are both invited to court to see the knew queen, where Pathea is the envy of every woman, including the king's old lover.

As you continue to watch, the story of love, betrayal, and hope is spun around you, and at the end, you hope for what you know cannot be, just because it seems so unjust that the world would separate such a pair in so cruel a manor.

After all this raving I have gone on with, you must be wondering why it only received an 8/10. Well, at least on the DVD version I have the graphics aren't exactly to the standard, even for the time. However, soon after starting the show, you forget completely about such things, and only think of the story.

Entertaining

[ldeangelis-75708 · 7/10 · 29 March 2023]

This movie was like one of those historical romance novels, only you watch it, rather than read it. I appreciated that, because I got to see all the great costumes and settings, rather than just picturing them in my mind. Also, it takes place in one of my favorite time periods: Restoration England. For all his faults, I liked King Charles II.

I think Michael York did a good job portraying the pleasure-loving monarch (who also had a good heart), and Emma Samms looked lovely as the notorious Barbara Palmer, Lady Castlemaine.

As for the hero and heroine of the tale, both Hugh Grant and Lysette Anthony fit their roles well. She was very much a 17thc lady, while he was a perfect highwayman (nobleman in disguise).

There are other familiar faces here: John mills, Oliver Reed, Robet Morley, to add a bit more star quality to the tale.

I thought it could have been a bit longer and the storyline more involved, but a good story, nonetheless.

this is a caution, not a critique!

[11-111 · 5/10 · 14 July 2006]

This is a CAUTION to any considering the purchase of this title. My comments should not be taken as critical of the production. The key here is to carefully preview any copy of this title marketed by "EXTREAM DIGITAL MEDIA". I picked up a VHS copy at a video close out store. The sleeve had clear images of the principal actors, but the video quality was so poor I could not view the film. Thus my score should NOT be considered as valid. I had to enter something to continue. The video is not viewable, the quality of the image is so poor one could imagine it was made by using a cheep video camera to copy the film from a TV screen. There was not sufficient detail to identify the actors. Copies from other sources may provide a perfectly clear image, but not the copy in my possession distributed by Extreme Digital Media, bar code 674639501834

great bodice-ripper yarn

[ignazia · 19 April 2003]

Get a grip you guys - this is not supposed to be great theatre. It's a fun, tongue-in-cheek adaptation of your typical bodice-ripper tale only rather better done than most (I'm thinking of the American equivalent offerings such as "Black Swan" (1942) or any of Errol Flynn's efforts). True - the transcription to DVD is about the worst I've ever seen outside of old kung-fu movies but just enjoy it for what it is - an early airing of Hugh Grant's talents with some great supporting actors. Everyone takes their part extremely well - especially Christopher Cazenove as the slimy Rudolph Vyne.

Leave this Lady on the Highway

[icefox · 1/10 · 31 January 2000]

This movie was one huge disappointment from beginning to end.

Firstly, I bought the DVD. Big mistake. The transfer was by far the worst I've ever seen and I've watched hundreds of DVDs. It actually looked worse than what I can get when taping something off of regular network television using the EP setting on my VCR. Not only was the whole thing blurry beyond belief, several scenes shake like crazy and through the middle of many of the scenes there were video tracking lines like you'd see on a over used low grade VHS tape. Which is what this transfer was probably taken from. The low list price might have prepared me for the lack of quality of the menu, but for it to be of a better image quality than the movie itself was a bit of a surprise.

Secondly, the movie itself was awful. I love a good period piece movie and I really wanted to like this one despite my misgivings as to where it got it's plot line (although I like an occasional historical romance book, I'm not a fan of Cartland). But there was just nothing to like here. The story was ridiculous, the dialog was atrocious and the acting was just plain bad. Something that I'm at a loss to explain with all the known talent that was in this movie. I'm sure I can't imagine what the director must have been doing to get such a lousy end product.

At first I wanted to give this movie/DVD zero stars, but since I could only go as low as one star I did manage to find one good thing to justify that star. The costumes were wonderful.

Fair warning: If you're thinking about seeing this movie solely because you're a fan of Hugh Grant, you can forget it. He barely strings 10 words together in two scenes and two words together in 10 other scenes. He's just not the major character in this movie that he's made out to be by the cover of the DVD.

British made for TV

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 19 February 2021]

Barbara Cartland's romance novel Cupid Rides Pillion was filmed as this British TV movie, one of the first appearances by Hugh Grant, who appears alongside a pretty solid cast that includes Oliver Reed (once a werewolf, once a diver out of a mansion window in Burnt Offerings), Claire Bloom (Clash of the Titans), Michael York (who I associate with this type of movie most often, as he was in The Three Muskateers), Emma Samms (Dynasty), Sir John Mills (Quatermass in the 1979 TV movie) and Liz Fraser (who was in many of the Carry On movies) among others.

It's yet another time I watch a movie and am amazed that it's a John Hough movie. The guy has such a vast resume - everything from Twins of Evil and The Legend of Hell House in the late 60's horror genre to great 70's fare like Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry and the two Witch Mountain movies and then some out there 80's stuff like The Watcher in the Woods, American Gothic, Biggles and Howling IV: The Original Nightmare.

Emma Samms's character of Lady Castlemaine is based on the life of Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland, one of King Charles II's mistresses and the mother of several of his children, in case you're into British scandals.

This is the story of Lord Lucius Vyne (Grant), who is loyal to King Charles II and helping help to return to rule after Cromwell. He takes on a secret identity as the Silver Blade, kind of like a musketeer of sorts. He's too late to save Lady Panthea Vyne's (Lysette Anthony, Krull) King Charles Spaniel from being stomped to death, so fair warning if you like small dogs.

Even when the king comes back, he has enemies, so the Silver Blade remains in his service, even when it nearly costs him and his lady love's life.

You can watch this on Tubi and trust me, the print is just as horrible on the Mill Creek release. I think with a British TV movie from the late 80's, this is as good as we're going to get.

One Dollar is Highway Robbery

[cgorky · 3/10 · 15 March 2009]

Could the cinematography be worse? Is Michael York constantly ashamed of himself when he thinks of this movie? His first scene is hideous, so he can only get better thereafter. My favorite character is the judge -- his dry presence is one of the few moments where no one overacts. I only wish he was passing sentence on this movie! As for the character of Rudolf, this camp was made for John Lithgow (too bad he's not in it), but not even his comic overreaching could have tipped the scales for this film from serious period drama to serious farce. Strictly for the most die-hard fans of Hugh Grant. I give it three stars only for the locations, the costumes and the Judge!

Hugh Grant getting his hands full with adversity but going well with the King

[clanciai · 9/10 · 26 June 2019]

This is a hearty effort to revive the old Gainsborough genre with its charming romantic films from the 40s - and it succeeds in including everything, a splendid plot although somewhat superficial and predictable, good casting with Hugh Grant in a role that suits him perfectly and Oliver Reed as the bullyish villain, Michael York as the bright king, and many others. The film has got all the classical ingredients of a Gainsborough romantic film - except the Gainsborough charm. After all, the Gainsborough films only made themswelves in black and white, filled with irresistible charm, while colour must spoil some of the veracity and genuine feeling of originality.

Great fun......

[Estella · 18 November 1998]

I first saw The Lady and The Highwayman, the year that Four Weddings And A Funeral came out. I barely knew who Hugh Grant was at the time (and at the time was not interested in Four Weddings) but I sat down to watch The Lady and The Highwayman which was on TV. I loved it, and last Christmas it aired again, so I recorded it. It's great fun. I love Emma Simms bitchy Barbara Castlemaine, and Lysette Anthonys sweet Panthea Vine, and of course Hugh Grant as the dashing Silverblade. Great fun!

Hugh Grant makes the perfect honest outlaw

[clanciai · 9/10 · 15 January 2020]

Hugh Grant is very much to his advantage here. This is the kind of romantic roles which he could perform with some very interesting personal touch to them, and special about this one is that it's a role and character that tempts to flamboyance and grand bravura, while Hugh Grant instead plays it down and is admirably restrained all the way, although his feelings are the more evident for being suppressed. It's a great story as well, Ian Bannen makes a terrific villain in the beginning, cruel beyond any measure, and Michael York cuts a very interesting picture of the king. John Mills has a small part to play but suffers from not being able to come to his right, while Oliver Reed is the one who overacts his villainy. I loved the film already the first time I saw it some 20 years ago, and a period long enough had elapsed to make me forget what it was all about, and only the detail of the ring brought to the realization that I had actually already seen it. But it is a dashing performance all the way, the intrigue never ceases to develop and grow in excitement, and there are many characters involved, all acted with excellence. Maybe I will enjoy it equally once more in twenty years' time...

Can't believe I've found it!!

[qcgirl · 23 October 1999]

I saw this movie a year after it came out when I was ten and I haven't seen it since. I could only remember small details like Lysette having her dog killed by her new husband (I cried, but I was only ten!) and also the executioner remarking that it will only take one blow to lop Lysette's head off. It is one of the best adventure stories for young kids (and old ones), up there with Blackbeard's Ghost and the Goonies! If you can find it, watch it, and then watch it again!!

A Delightful Swashbuckler...

[Jenni-4 · 7 October 1998]

A great movie. This movie was filmed before anyone knew who Hugh Grant was. Great performances by Oliver Reed, Michael York, and of course the red-headed vixen, Emma Samms. Lysette Anthony was the perfect touch. A must see, but you do have to look for it. This movie is a hard one to find.

Good pure old-fashioned romance

[trpdean · 30 October 2008]

If you like your romance VERY traditional with damsels in distress, evil nobles, dashing villains who are REALLY ... Men, beware! This is the world of Barbara Cartland.

Nevertheless, I must admit that it held my interest throughout - and I was VERY struck by: the beauty of the sets/castles/scenery/furniture - they were spectacular.

and struck by the fine acting by such great stars. What a cast!!!

John Mills (the great one)

Oliver Reed (nominated for an Oscar in his last role - in The Gladiator, as the trainer of gladiators)

Michael York (Reed and York were two of the fine Three Musketeers the previous decade),

Emma Samms (star of all those Dynasty series)

Christopher Cazenove (many movies including the villain of 3 Men and a Baby, etc.),

Claire Bloom (the greatness of Claire Bloom since the 1950s -- starring in a Barbara Cartland!! Amazing!),

and starring

Hugh Grant and Lysette Anthony.

I know Anthony from a great Woody Allen movie and from a superb Inspector Poirot TV movie - she's so different in each that she doesn't even seem the same actress -very pretty, very fine actress).

Hugh Grant - charming, self-deprecatory, bookish, Hugh Grant, the kind of man made to play in Born Yesterday as the professor - is wildly miscast. The rough highwayman contemptuous of authority, rather a tough Robin Hood character is meant to be a type like Colin Farrell or young Oliver Reed -- alternatively an Errol Flynn or Douglas Fairbanks would be fine. But Grant really did his best - generally remaining silent.

The plot is what surprised me - what a good pot - straightforward, enough intrigue, good pace.

This is a well put together movie - IF you want to see a true prototype of the romance circa 17th century. I'd recommend it to anyone in that mood.