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The Sea Hawk
Starring: Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall, Claude Rains, Flora Robson
Score: 2/4
Tensions are high between Spain and England and privateers are abundant in this 1940 film. Don Alvarez is a Spanish courtier on his way to the court of Elizabeth I, his mission is to pacify the Queen while the Spanish King builds his armada. Elizabeth is reluctant to spend the money to build her own fleet.
However, as Alvarez is traveling to England, with his niece Dona Maria, his ship is captured by the privateer Geoffery Thorpe who is tongue-tied by the beautiful Maria. She despises him but after he shyly returns her stolen jewels, she begins to soften and realize he is good.
Once the Spanish courtiers arrive in England they travel to the palace. Maria becomes a lady-in-waiting for Elizabeth. Geoffery meets secretly with the Queen and proposes a daring plan; he wants to travel to the New World and take a Spanish load of gold and use it to fund England's activities. Elizabeth is dubious of the plan but grants him permission.
Maria must say a tearful farewell to Geoffery as he departs. The only hitch in the plan (unknown to the English) is that the Spanish know Geoffery is coming and they have a surpise for him...
As in the way of most old movies, the sword fights are daring, the women are useless and the costumes are splendid. Brenda Marhsall's Maria is not very interesting, she is the typical female. Of course, everyone has an English accent, even those from Spain. It's a movie for watching on a slow Saturday night
The Partner
By John Grisham
A burning car, an unidentifiable body, a grieving widow and daughter...90 million dollars missing...
Patrick Lannigan is a young partner for a firm in Biloxi. One day he dies in a horrific car accident and everyone mourns his death. But then $90 million goes missing and everyone begins to suspect the late Lannigan. After all, the body was too burned to identify, he was acting strange the last few weeks of his life, and the money that was stolen jumped from bank to bank before disappearing.
Now everyone is trying to find him; the FBI, the businessman who's money was stolen, and they will stop at nothing to recover the money. Every chapter brings a new twist and turn and you can't help but hope that Patrick manages to escape the death penalty.
But there are so many questions; why did Patrick run away, how is he connected to the gorgeous Eva Miranda, why did he steal the money, who is the poor soul who burned in his car, and most important of all: where is the money now?
Downton Abbey
Starring: Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern
Scoring: 4/4
Airing: Sundays, 9pm
Length: 5 episodes, each is 90 minutes
A Masterpiece Classic hit! When I first heard about this I thought it was going to be a slow period piece; I would love it of course but all the same I would still look at the clock thinking, 'It's been a long time..." Instead, I find myself looking at the clock thinking 'No! There are only a few minutes left!'
Downton Abbey follows both the family above stairs and the people below stairs. I can't describe the servants as a family because of all the backbiting and plotting that seems to occur on a daily basis. The series begins with a tragedy, the Titanic has just sunk taking with it the heir to Downton Abbey and his son. The heir was a cousin of Lord Grantham; because all of Lord Grantham's children are daughters, none of them can inherit the estate. So, the new heir is a third cousin named Matthew, a lawyer (shocking!) in Manchester who neither wants nor appreciates Downton until some time has passed and he comes to appreciate its beauty.
Lord Grantham is the lord of the manor, his wife Cora is the lady and they have three daughters: Mary, Edith, and Sybil. There is a tense rivalry between Mary and Edith while Sybil is interested in politics and the changing world around her.
This is so addicting! I was swept up in the first few minutes and quickly came to have my favorite characters. There is a second season in production.
