The Best of Friends (1991 TV Movie) User Reviews

Superb play

[wisewebwoman · 9/10 · 25 November 2004]

One of those rare little gems that is a magical confluence of a superb script, skilled theatrical actors and faultless direction. A one of a kind hour.

It is based on the extraordinary correspondence exchanged between three well-known people. G.B. Shaw, the Irish playwright and avowed atheist, Dame Laurentia McLachlan, a Dominican abbess, illustrator and Gregorian chant master and Sydney Cockerell, a well-known curator.

The actors inhabit the characters and even though advanced in years and with extensive lines to memorize, manage to convey the warmth and idiosyncrasies behind each individual.

Some regret the death of the great letter-writing era as exemplified by this play. I think we may have re-invented it with e-mails and texting. A debatable point!

This play is not to be missed. It is truly exceptional.

Dame Wendy Hiller and Sir John Gielgud, we'll ne'er see your like again!

9 out of 10.

An entertaining example of the use of words

[critic-2 · 9/10 · 28 October 1998]

"The Best of Friends" is a play adapted from the actual letters of three friends: George Bernard Shaw (the famous Irish playwright and critic), a nun, played by Wendy Hiller, and a museum curator, played by John Gielgud. It depends completely, but completely, on the acting and writing for its impact. There are no breathtaking locations (although the sets are attractive), no lively action, nor any tricky camera-work here. Only these three actors are featured in the entire play, and we learn of their warm, friendly and often hilarious relationship through the words that these gifted actors speak. The "dialogue"(if you can really call it that) is brilliantly witty, and the mind boggles at the kind of literate conversation that went on between these three friends, and at the thought that there actually was a time when people wrote letters like this.

Brilliant. Makes me want to go to the theatre

[Moor-Larkin · 10/10 · 14 March 2007]

This superb production evokes a strange friendship. It is a friendship of letters. A museum curator, a secluded nun and an irreverent satirist would not expect to be likely pals in a social setting, but give them the separation of letters and they evidently remained friends for nigh on fifty years between them. A lesson for those on todays internet who do not seems to be able to remain friends for more than a day at at time.

The tele-play cleverly places the actors around one another as they recite their written words, yet there is rarely any confusion in the viewers mind as to exactly what is going on. A long sequence of a fully-naked woman in an extended imagined image of George Bernard Shaw's "The Adventures of Black Girl in Her Search for God" seems incongruous but perhaps it serves to point up the shock of the nun, albeit her indignation is at Shaws blasphemy rather than any innocent nudism. This falling-out of two of the friends is counter-pointed by the most moving sequence of the play, when Shaw delivers to Dame Laurentia, two pieces of quartz he had picked off the ground in Jerusalem that had no doubt been part of the rock that Jesus himself must have walked upon.

It has to be said that McGoohan capers the most entertainingly as the whimsically wise GBS, but Gielgud is deliberately spare as Cockerell, the bedrock of the trio, whilst Ms. Hiller depicts a satisfaction as holy as it is wholly beyond modern comprehension. This is as fine a piece of simple Playing as you will find anywhere.

Fine, Imaginative Drama--Humorous and Touching

[jackbuckley-25095 · 10/10 · 30 March 2020]

Where or how does one begin to praise such a production as this? With only 3 participants, not including the bizarre, and mercifully short, fantasy sequence, and minimalist, though perfectly adequate sets, the program is rivetting and delightful. I would caution that it's best-suited for relatively mature adults, as its likely to be over the heads of children. The aforementioned fantasy sequence, though tame and harmless, contains nudity but, beyond this, the subtlety and sophistication of it would escape the comprehension of the immature young, creating only bewilderment and embarassment. The play's not suited to the young anyway. It's beauty resides in hearing the wonderfully witty, insightful, and erudite dialogue, often on serious subjects, performed by 3 masters of the craft. I don't think I've ever seen John Gielgud play a more ebullient and likeable character, one with a real sparkle in his eye. Patrick MacGoohan is virtually perfect as George Bernard Shaw. Wendy Hiller, grande dame of British theater, is exquisite as the nun Sister Laurentia. One can feel the sincere friendship and respect their real-life counterparts felt for each other. The play moves right along and is imaginatively staged. All the actors are extremely natural and believable in their respective roles. I'm not sure why the fantasy-sequence, a visualization of Shaw's satirical book on traditional religion, deemed "blasphemous" by Sister Laurentia, who refuses to read or accept a copy, nevertheless seems somewhat out of place. Probably could've been portrayed without this odd detour. It's brief, though, and causes no harm to the whole. The incident leads to an estrangement between the nun and the Irish playwright of "Pygmalion"("My Fair Lady")fame. The story features many humorous, as well as touching moments, especially toward the end. Comprised of 4 parts(as I recall), each installment is easy to take and never tedious. It's a joy from start to finish!