Maggie Smith at the BBC (The Merchant of Venice / The Millionairess / Bed Among the Lentils / Suddenly, Last Summer)

So far I've only watched Maggie Smith in "Suddenly Last Summer" despite Rob Lowe playing the doctor, it has all the raw intensity that the play originally had. The earlier version with Elizabeth Taylor and Robert Montgomery lacked. Maggie Smith is one of the best actors ever!

Need I really say more?

Wonderful collection of Dame Maggie's BBC appearances over the years. Here she is as a young Portia, Shaw's hysterical "Millionaress" and more, including a hair-raising turn in Tennessee Williams' "Suddenly Last Summer" as Violet Venable with the late Natasha Richardson as Catherine....who was on the beach with Sebastian when......TV transfers look pretty good on this 3-disc collection and I recommend it to fans of Dame Maggie Smith without hesitation.

I have seen all of these performances except for The Merchant of Venice. The Talking Heads (Bed Among the Lentils) monologues performance is both subtle and illuminating- a real landmark performance. The Millionairess is a thrilling bit of acting. And the remake of Suddenly Last Summer is quite an interesting counterpart to the famous Hepburn/Taylor film of the late 1950s. What I'd love to see is another set including TV films "Memento Mori" and others from her work on UK television. But this is a good start. Thank you BCC for releasing this in the USA! More please!

What a consummate actor Maggie Smith is! She just hypnotizes the viewer in these four distinctly different roles. I've watched "Bed Among the Lentils" at least ten times, and each time I can find some new subtlety in her performance. She keeps Tennessee Williams under control and yet the horror is still there. She's very young in the MoV and the Millionairess, but excellent.

Does the purpose to slow down at the end of the day. Maggie Smith proves her ability with any script. Some of the films felt like you are at a high school play.

I ordered this primarily for the TV movie version of "Suddenly Last Summer" with Natasha Richardson. It is a hauntingly beautiful, painful adaptation of the play by Tennessee Williams. Everyone in it is so very good, and right in their parts. But the entire DVD is a look at some of Maggie Smith's fine work as an actress, mostly culled from actual theatrical plays. It is wonderful to find these put together on a DVD for us.

This woman is an amazing actress, i sure wish she were in america. She is one of the very best actress i've ever seen or heard. May she live long and make many more movies. She's tops in acting... i loved her in Harry Potter also, she was fantastic in her abilities..... :)

The admirers of Maggie Smith, and those who don't know her (if it is possible!) as well, will be delighted in having this collection of some of her best performances at BBC. Elegantly presented in a beautiful case, it includes 3 discs and a booklet on the actress, plus many extras at the end of each disc, included a radio play.The collection includes: Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice", Bernard Shaw's "The Millionairess", Tennessee Williams' "Suddenly Last Summer", and a superb monologue written just for her by Alan Bennett, "Talking Heads: Bed Among the Lentils"Maggie Smith is at her top in these performances, which go from comedy to drama. She passes from being comical, farcical, witty to dramatic, to sad, subdue, or majestic, from glamorous to plain. You can really enjoy the vast spectrum of her dramatic persona.

Other than the Talking Heads monologue I am not aware of any of the material on this 3 set DVD being available from any other source, and it isnt available even in the UK. I bought it from US through Amazon as my player accepts both Region 1 and 2. It features the powerful Suddenly Last Summer with exceptional performances from all the cast. I havent watched the Merchant of Venice yet. Two of the DVDs feature interviews - one with Parkinson, the other from the mid 1960s which is particularly interesting. Maggie rarely does interviews but this one - although a long time ago - is a real treat to watch and features Kenneth Williams. The third DVD includes an overview of her career hosted by Simon Callow - again well worth watching. Well done to Amazon for making this available. The question now must be why dont the BBC make it available on Region 2 or show this stuff on TV!? Much classier than most of the repeats we get. Maybe they can publish Memento Mori - another classic only ever shown once on TV with a wealth of great talented actors and a terrific script.

Any movie with Maggie Smith in it, is truly a classic. This is a wonderful movie with Maggie Smith, I just loved the movie.

Superb performances, BBC top quality, Maggie at her best.

arrived safely thanks