Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) Binding: VHS Tape EAN: 9786301442763 Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC ISBN: 6301442768 Label: 20th Century Fox Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: 20th Century Fox Release Date: December 03, 1996 Running Time: 116 minutes Studio: 20th Century Fox Theatrical Release Date: 1969 Sales Rank: 14592
Amazon.com essential video: Maggie Smith is so witty and commanding in this film, you might forget that the script paints Jean Brodie as an ultimately self-deluding spinster. Dame Maggie won the first of her two Oscars for playing a teacher in 1930s Edinburgh more in thrall to her romantic notions of art and beauty than the real world, a cultivator of worshipping "Brodie Girls." (She exalts the Mona Lisa and Mussolini with equal fervor.) Smith's expert playing makes many of the brogue-heavy Brodie-isms worth memorizing ("She seeks to intimidate me by the use of quarter-hours.") and raises the picture above its generally theatrical style. Real-life husband Robert Stephens plays Jean's married lover, Celia Johnson excels as the hostile headmistress, and Pamela Franklin is the deadpan whistle-blower within Miss Brodie's coven. The dippy music of Rod McKuen helps mark the movie as more of a reflection of the '60s than the '30s. --Robert Horton
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Great
Maggie Smith is an icon...if you haven't appreciated her yet, please do so. This film is an absolute classic.
Rating: - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
This movie is one of the best pieces of writing and acting I have seen in years. The story captured my attention and I was riveted to my seat watching it. The performances of Maggie Smith and Pamela Franklin ... Read More
Rating: - The Blanche Dubois of School Teachers
Wonderful performance by Maggie Smith. Talk about a woman who struts her stuff. You wonder how people can actually live and breath their own BS, but Maggie Smith pulls it off beautifully in this movie without ... Read More
Rating: - Maggie Smith's Biggest Role and Oscar Victory
I cannot improve on the reviews I have already read about The Prime of Miss Brody. This film is Maggie Smith's masterpiece and the support cast greatly complements her performance. The Edinburough setting in the ... Read More
Rating: - One of the greatest performances of its era
I seldom write reviews here but this picture deserves it. Maggie Smith's performance is so mesmerizing that I can safely say this is the only DVD that I own exclusively FOR a performance. As others have noted, the ... Read More
- Great