Memento Mori is an unusual curio in that it's first description is somewhat deceptive. On first impressions it is a murder mystery - and there is a murder - but to call it just that would be misleading as the crime happens about two thirds of the way in. It also involves some of the elderly characters in this reflecting on their own mortality, yet far from being maudlin it is a hugely heartwarming and funny affair, where many of the cream of British acting from yesteryear appear. And there are a lot of stars in this, with Michael Hordern, Renee Asherson, Maggie Smith, Maurice Denham, Cyril Cusack, Stephanie Cole, John Wood, Zoe Wanamaker and Thora Hird just some of the stars gracing this production. And it is an absolute gem of a production, sadly never repeated on TV since it's broadcast in 1992.
The plot begins with Dame Letty Colston (Stephanie Cole), a somewhat proud and bossy woman, receiving a mysterious phone call by a man who tells her "Remember you must die." It's not the first time she has received this call, and always the same message, and she is becoming unnerved by it. She relays this incident to her brother Godfrey (Michael Hordern), who lives with his dementia hit wife Charmain (Renee Asherson), but disconcertingly she receives another phone call while at their house. Later they attend a funeral of one of their friends, Lisa Brooke, but when members of the group - including Godfrey and Charmain - start receiving the same mysterious phone calls an ex policeman is called in to investigate. And it turns out that the recently deceased Lisa Brooke has a connection with a number of the mourners, such as Godfrey, a lover from her past, and once competed with Charmain for the affections of Guy Leet (Maurice Denham), who surprises them all by turning up alive and apparently still married to the deceased Lisa - much to the annoyance of her housekeeper Mrs Pettigrew, who had expected to inherit from a dubiously made will, and Lisa's brother and his wife Ronald and Tempest Sidebottome. Could the reason for all this come from the deceased's past?
That's what ex Inspector Henry Mortimer (John Wood) has to find out, and he has to navigate with delicacy and tact with this group of elderly eccentrics as he tries to uncover the truth. He has one sane outlet in Godfrey and Charmain's former housekeeper Jean Taylor (Thora Hird), who is stuck in a nursing home after a fall among a number of senile and confused old ladies and seems to have some idea of what it may be about. John Wood is a lovely presence as Inspector Mortimer, gentle, probing and nearly always with a sense of bemusement at some of the antics of the geriatrics he has to investigate. He has some lovely scenes with both Thora Hird and Renee Asherson, who are both superb playing completely different characters. While Asherson is delightful as the dementia suffering Charmain, a former novelist who may not be as half witted as many of her family suspect, Hird is beautifully real and believable as her bedridden housekeeper. The ward she is in may be a little chaotic at time with some of the senile residents there, such as Granny Valvona (Muriel Pavlov), who makes psychic predictions for all the residents, and Granny Barnacle (Margery Withers) a childlike woman with her dementia, but Hird's character finds their simple and carefree outlook at life a comfort to her. The scene when she later tells Inspector Mortimer that Granny Barnacle is being moved to the hospice ward is particularly moving and well acted by Hird, not least because Granny Barnacle is happily oblivious to it all.
And they are not the only ones who are brilliant in this. So many stars step up to the mark, including Michael Hordern, who is marvellous as the hopelessly lecherous Godfrey Colston. In one plot strand he sneaks out about once a week to visit Olive Mannering (Zoe Wanamaker), the granddaughter of one of his friends to pay her for her services - mainly to watch her lift up her skirt to show him her legs! However, little does he know that his wastrel son Eric is secretly hiding out at her place. He also finds himself the target of Mrs Pettigrew (Maggie Smith), who after losing out in the will of her former employer decides to attach herself to him under the pretext of looking after his senile wife, but it soon becomes clear that her motives are less than honorable. Maggie Smith creates a loathsome character in Mrs Pettigrew, as she uses Godfrey's indiscretion to blackmail him into letting her stay and plots to remove both the cook and Charmain from the equation in her plan to get Godfrey to change his will in her favour. You just long for the moment when she receives her comeuppance so diabolical is she, but equally as good is Maurice Denham as the twinkly ageing lothario Guy Leet. Wryly amusing, he is still able to pinch a nurse's bottom, despite now reduced to walking with two sticks and proves surprisingly successful at attracting the attention of young women in the end.
This black comedy mystery is done with such joie de vivre that it's impossible not to be swept away with it. As mentioned, despite it involving the elderly and the threat of death and mortality, it is never maudlin. Indeed, it's sets it's premise out with the phone calls, then goes with the flow of whatever unfolds, driven as much by the characters and their comical idiosyncrasies as the plot and incidents that occur as Inspector Mortimer continues his investigations. The scene where he gathers the suspects together in his house - unbeknownst to his poor wife - is delightfully chaotic, while the writing throughout this production is wonderfully humorous. It's way of going with the flow means you are never quite sure what direction it is going to go, which makes it all the more delightful for a mystery and you are so taken away by these delightfully eccentric characters and their lives that you don't really mind a bit. Indeed, the murder when it does come is somewhat of a shock, as is Inspector Mortimer's conclusion on the identity of the caller. This production received two BAFTA nominations, for Best Single Play and Best Actress for Maggie Smith (though in my opinion both Renee Asherson and Thora Hird were subtly better), but neither won on the day. But I suppose the best accolades that could be bestowed upon this are by the viewer, who if they should ever chance upon this will witness a wonderfully uplifting, deeply amusing and equally moving mystery drama that in the end has life lessons to teach us all. A richly rewarding production that deserves to be better known, and few with a cast as starry as this. A sheer joy.
The plot begins with Dame Letty Colston (Stephanie Cole), a somewhat proud and bossy woman, receiving a mysterious phone call by a man who tells her "Remember you must die." It's not the first time she has received this call, and always the same message, and she is becoming unnerved by it. She relays this incident to her brother Godfrey (Michael Hordern), who lives with his dementia hit wife Charmain (Renee Asherson), but disconcertingly she receives another phone call while at their house. Later they attend a funeral of one of their friends, Lisa Brooke, but when members of the group - including Godfrey and Charmain - start receiving the same mysterious phone calls an ex policeman is called in to investigate. And it turns out that the recently deceased Lisa Brooke has a connection with a number of the mourners, such as Godfrey, a lover from her past, and once competed with Charmain for the affections of Guy Leet (Maurice Denham), who surprises them all by turning up alive and apparently still married to the deceased Lisa - much to the annoyance of her housekeeper Mrs Pettigrew, who had expected to inherit from a dubiously made will, and Lisa's brother and his wife Ronald and Tempest Sidebottome. Could the reason for all this come from the deceased's past?
That's what ex Inspector Henry Mortimer (John Wood) has to find out, and he has to navigate with delicacy and tact with this group of elderly eccentrics as he tries to uncover the truth. He has one sane outlet in Godfrey and Charmain's former housekeeper Jean Taylor (Thora Hird), who is stuck in a nursing home after a fall among a number of senile and confused old ladies and seems to have some idea of what it may be about. John Wood is a lovely presence as Inspector Mortimer, gentle, probing and nearly always with a sense of bemusement at some of the antics of the geriatrics he has to investigate. He has some lovely scenes with both Thora Hird and Renee Asherson, who are both superb playing completely different characters. While Asherson is delightful as the dementia suffering Charmain, a former novelist who may not be as half witted as many of her family suspect, Hird is beautifully real and believable as her bedridden housekeeper. The ward she is in may be a little chaotic at time with some of the senile residents there, such as Granny Valvona (Muriel Pavlov), who makes psychic predictions for all the residents, and Granny Barnacle (Margery Withers) a childlike woman with her dementia, but Hird's character finds their simple and carefree outlook at life a comfort to her. The scene when she later tells Inspector Mortimer that Granny Barnacle is being moved to the hospice ward is particularly moving and well acted by Hird, not least because Granny Barnacle is happily oblivious to it all.
And they are not the only ones who are brilliant in this. So many stars step up to the mark, including Michael Hordern, who is marvellous as the hopelessly lecherous Godfrey Colston. In one plot strand he sneaks out about once a week to visit Olive Mannering (Zoe Wanamaker), the granddaughter of one of his friends to pay her for her services - mainly to watch her lift up her skirt to show him her legs! However, little does he know that his wastrel son Eric is secretly hiding out at her place. He also finds himself the target of Mrs Pettigrew (Maggie Smith), who after losing out in the will of her former employer decides to attach herself to him under the pretext of looking after his senile wife, but it soon becomes clear that her motives are less than honorable. Maggie Smith creates a loathsome character in Mrs Pettigrew, as she uses Godfrey's indiscretion to blackmail him into letting her stay and plots to remove both the cook and Charmain from the equation in her plan to get Godfrey to change his will in her favour. You just long for the moment when she receives her comeuppance so diabolical is she, but equally as good is Maurice Denham as the twinkly ageing lothario Guy Leet. Wryly amusing, he is still able to pinch a nurse's bottom, despite now reduced to walking with two sticks and proves surprisingly successful at attracting the attention of young women in the end.
This black comedy mystery is done with such joie de vivre that it's impossible not to be swept away with it. As mentioned, despite it involving the elderly and the threat of death and mortality, it is never maudlin. Indeed, it's sets it's premise out with the phone calls, then goes with the flow of whatever unfolds, driven as much by the characters and their comical idiosyncrasies as the plot and incidents that occur as Inspector Mortimer continues his investigations. The scene where he gathers the suspects together in his house - unbeknownst to his poor wife - is delightfully chaotic, while the writing throughout this production is wonderfully humorous. It's way of going with the flow means you are never quite sure what direction it is going to go, which makes it all the more delightful for a mystery and you are so taken away by these delightfully eccentric characters and their lives that you don't really mind a bit. Indeed, the murder when it does come is somewhat of a shock, as is Inspector Mortimer's conclusion on the identity of the caller. This production received two BAFTA nominations, for Best Single Play and Best Actress for Maggie Smith (though in my opinion both Renee Asherson and Thora Hird were subtly better), but neither won on the day. But I suppose the best accolades that could be bestowed upon this are by the viewer, who if they should ever chance upon this will witness a wonderfully uplifting, deeply amusing and equally moving mystery drama that in the end has life lessons to teach us all. A richly rewarding production that deserves to be better known, and few with a cast as starry as this. A sheer joy.
