This production of Lady Windermere's Fan is dominated by its two female leads, Helena Little as Lady Windermere, and Stephanie Turner as Mrs. Erlynne, a woman with a scandalous past and a gossip ridden present, whom Lord Windermere is seeing regularly and supplying with large amounts of money His young wife suspects the worst. Encouraged by a gossipy visitor, Lady Windermere is convinced that her husband is having an affair with the woman.. Lady Windermere is supposed to be quite young but, if her biographical data is to be believed (and I don't), the beautiful Ms. Little was born in 1970 and therefore only 15 when she performed the role. She looks to be in her early twenties. She manages to capture the range of emotions experienced by Lady Windermere in an altogether winning performance. Ms. Turner is excellent in the somewhat more demanding role of Mrs. Erlynne. It is easy to accept the notion that men would flock to her and that other women would find her both interesting and scandalous. It would be nice to able to report that the other parts in Oscar Wilde's play were handled with equal skill, but that was not the case in my opinion.
There are elements in "Lady Windermere's Fan" that don't quite hang together -- for example, the notion that Lord Windermere would regularly visit a woman whom he despises and that he would not understand why his young wife would object. But Wilde's wit redeems the implausibilities. And this is one Wilde play in a serious rather than entirely satirical vein. If the entire TV film were as good as its two lead actresses, I would have awarded it 10/10
There are elements in "Lady Windermere's Fan" that don't quite hang together -- for example, the notion that Lord Windermere would regularly visit a woman whom he despises and that he would not understand why his young wife would object. But Wilde's wit redeems the implausibilities. And this is one Wilde play in a serious rather than entirely satirical vein. If the entire TV film were as good as its two lead actresses, I would have awarded it 10/10