Bel Ami is a British five part television costume drama based on the 1885 French novel Bel-Ami by Guy de Maupassant.[1] It aired in 1971 on BBC 2.[2] The series starred Robin Ellis as Georges Duroy, Suzanne Neve as Madeleine Forestier, Garfield Morgan as Jacques Rivat, Elvi Hale as Clotilde de Marelle, Margaret Courtenay as Madame Walter, John Bryans as Monsieur Walter, Maurice Quick as Duroy's manservant, Peter Sallis as Norbert de Varenne, James Cossins as Forestier and Arthur Pentelow as Tattel.[3][1][4] British television historian Claire Monk wrote, "BBC Two's five-part Bel Ami indicatively exhibited the sexual attitudes of its time in its makers' insistence that the story of penniless opportunist Georges Duroy— a social outsider in Parisian society who ruthlessly uses sex to pursue his ambitions— as basically a comedy with the charms of a fantasy world."[2]
Cast
edit- Robin Ellis as Georges Duroy
- Suzanne Neve as Madeleine Forestier
- Garfield Morgan as Jacques Rivat
- Elvi Hale as Clotilde de Marelle
- Margaret Courtenay as Madame Walter
- John Bryans as Monsieur Walter
- Maurice Quick as Manservant/Duroy's Manservant
- Peter Sallis as Norbert de Varenne
- James Cossins as Forestier
- Arthur Pentelow as Tattle
- Wendy Allnutt as Suzanne Walter
- Michael Gover as M Larache-Mathieu
- John Wentworth as Comte de Vaudrec
- Mitzi Rogers as Rachel[5][6][7]
Episodes
editAll five episodes from the series aired on BBC Two from 8 May 1971 - 5 June 1971. The series is completely intact and is available to watch on TV Brain.[8] The series is also available to watch at the British Film Institute, although the third episode is not there.
References
edit- ^ a b Ellen Baskin (1996). Serials on British Television, 1950-1994. Scolar Press. p. 107.
- ^ a b Claire Monk (2014). "Chapter 2: Pageantry and Populism, Democratization and Dissent". In James Leggott, Julie Taddeo (ed.). Upstairs and Downstairs: British Costume Drama Television from The Forsyte Saga to Downton Abbey. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-442-24483-2.
- ^ Patrick Campbell (May 13, 1971). "Television Today: Bel Ami: Part One". The Stage and Television Today (4760): 11.
- ^ "Bel Ami: Part 1: Georges (1971)". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ "Bel Ami: Part 1: Georges (1971)". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ "Bel Ami: Part 2: Clotilde (1971)". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ "Bel Ami: Part 3: Madeleine (1971)". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ "Bel Ami (1971)". tvbrain.info.
External links
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