From Wiki - A 26-episode documentary series on the first world war, was a co-production with the Imperial War Museum, the British Broadcasting Corporation, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and the Australian Broadcasting Commission. The narrator was Michael Redgrave, with readings by Marius Goring, Ralph Richardson, Cyril Luckham, Sebastian Shaw, and Emlyn Williams. Episodes run about 40 minutes long and were seen by an average audience of over eight million people, a 17 percent share of the estimated viewing population. The fourth episode, the most popular of the series, reached an audience of over eleven million (22.6 percent of the audience).
Written by Dennis Potter for "The Wednesday Play" (1964-70), this psychological profile addressed Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832-1898), aka Lewis Carroll, and his relationship with ten-year-old Alice Liddell, his inspiration for Alices Adventures in Wonderland (1865) - see also Dreamchild.
1966
Talking to a Stranger (Christopher Morahan - UK)
Nominees: Cathy Come Home
From IMDB: A grown-up brother and sister’s visit to their parent's home culminates in a shocking tragedy. The events of the weekend are told over four episodes, each focusing on the point of view of one family member: the daughter Terry; the father, Ted; the son, Alan, and finally the mother, Sarah. The full story of the dysfunctional family plays out through the use of repeating scenes, flashbacks, and monologues.
Notable Actors: Judi Dench, Maurice Denham, Margery Mason, Michael Bryant
1967
The Forsyte Saga (David Giles & James Cellan Jones - UK)
Nominees: Pride and Prejudice - Still searching for "I promessi sposi" with English subs
A BBC television adaptation of John Galsworthy's series of The Forsyte Saga novels, and its sequel trilogy A Modern Comedy. The series follows the fortunes of the upper-middle class Forsyte family. It was adapted for television and produced by Donald Wilson and was originally shown in twenty-six episodes on Saturday evenings between 7 January and 1 July 1967 on BBC2, at a time when only a small proportion of the population had television sets able to receive the channel. It was, therefore, the Sunday night repeat run on BBC1, starting on 8 September 1968, that secured the program's success with 18 million tuning in for the final episode in 1969
Notable Actors: Nyree Dawn Porter, Kenneth More, Eric Porter, Forsyte Saga * Henry Fonda, Stranger on the Run
1968
Odissea (Directed by Franco Rossie - Italy, France, West Germany)
Nominees: The Caesars, Solyaris
An ambitious undertaking for a television production at that time - nearly faithful (more so than other adaptations I've seen) and flawless. Odysseus (played by Yugoslavian superstar Bekim Fehmiu) was the original Captain Kirk, using guile, and a dash of physical prowess to overcome impossible odds. And it's no surprise that Irene Papas is the epitome of talent, beauty, and screen presence in the role of long-suffering Penelope.
Franco Rossi (Quo Vadis? 1985 mini) was the primary director, with assists from Mario Bava, who did the special effects and directed the impressive Cyclops sequence, and Piero Schivazappa, who handled the scenes with the Trojan Horse.
Overall it's a good looking picture, compositionally sound. I liked the use of marble statues to represent the Gods, and how the Greek chorus was brought into the closing chapter. Though wordy, Odissea was never boring, never a chore, never anything but enthralling.
Notable Actors: Bekim Fehmiu & Irene Papas, Odissea * André Morell, Sonia Dresdel, Freddie Jones, The Caesars * Vasiliy Lanovoy, Vladimir Etush, Solyaris
1969
Son of Man (Gareth Davies - UK)
Nominees: The Tragedy of Man, Sial IV
Dennis Potter’s controversial reading of the life of Christ, with Jesus, portrayed as a hearty, fiery, well-meaning carpenter who believes that people should try to love their enemies rather than fight all the time, but who is racked by self-doubt as to whether or not he is the popularly anticipated Messiah.
Notable Actors: Colin Blakely, Brian Blessed, Robert Hardy, Edward Hardwicke, Bernard Hepton
1970
The Six Wives of Henry VIII (Naomi Capon & John Glenister - UK)
Nominees: Nausicaa, The Challenge, 7 Plus Seven, The Million Game
Going by memory here as I haven't seen it in ages. But I do recall being engrossed by each chapter. From wiki... "Wives was a series of six television plays produced by the BBC and first transmitted between 1 January and 5 February 1970. The series was later aired in the United States on CBS from 1 August to 5 September 1971 with narration added by Anthony Quayle. The series was rebroadcast in the United States without commercials on PBS as part of its Masterpiece Theatre series. Each of the six plays focuses on a single wife, often from their perspective and was written by a different dramatist."
Notable Actors: Keith Michell, Six Wives * Darren McGavin, The Challenge
1971
The House in the Woods (Maurice Pialat - France, Italy)
Nominees: Duel, Brians Song, The Homecoming: A Christmas Story, Elizabeth R, The Snow Goose
Wiki - La maison des bois (engl. The house in the woods) is a 1971 French mini-series, consisting of seven episodes. It was directed by Maurice Pialat and written by René Wheeler, starring Pierre Doris, Jacqueline Dufranne and Agathe Natanson. The mini-series takes place during World War I and tells about the daily life in a French village - Pialat considers it his finest work and in a career of highlights, that's saying a lot.
Notable Actors: Glenda Jackson, Elizabeth R * Dennis Weaver, Duel and The Forgotten Man * Patricia Neal, The Homecoming * Richard Harris and Jenny Agutter, The Snow Goose
1972
Eight Hours Don’t Make a Day (Rainer Werner Fassbinder - Germany)
Nominees: Kung Fu, The Night Stalker, Eight Deadly Shots, Emma - Wishlist: De Seta's Diary of a Teacher (miniseries)
From
Criterion... "Commissioned to make a working-class family drama for public television, up-and-coming director Rainer Werner Fassbinder took the assignment and ran, dodging expectations by depicting social realities in West Germany from a critical—yet far from cynical—perspective. Over the course of five episodes, the sprawling story tracks the everyday triumphs and travails of the young toolmaker Jochen (Gottfried John) and many of the people populating his world, including the woman he loves (Hanna Schygulla), his eccentric family, and his fellow workers, with whom he bands together to improve conditions on the factory floor. Rarely screened since its popular but controversial initial broadcast,
Eight Hours Don’t Make Day rates as a true discovery, one of Fassbinder’s earliest and most tender experiments with the possibilities of melodrama."
Notable Actors: Darren McGavin, Night Stalker * Gottfried John and Luise Ullrich from Eight Hours
1973
World on a Wire (Rainer Werner Fassbinder - Germany)
Nominees: Scenes From a Marriage, Seventeen Moments of Spring
Wire is a remarkably prescient, existentialist sci-fi mystery. I’ve seen it described as a slow starter, but that wasn’t the case for me. This flick grabbed me from scene one, left me with a dry mouth (quite literally, I must have watched the movie with jaw agape) and an intoxicated brain, drunk on the ideas and intrigue that unfolded on the screen.
My reaction is due in part to the fact that I love a good mystery, especially one set in a strange Twilight Zone landscape. The other factor is the paranoia that permeates the picture and ramps up the tension. I don’t know that I’ve been as emotionally pulled into a Fassbinder film as I was here. In that regard, it wasn’t as Brechtian (requiring detached reflection) as some of his other features.
It’s still Fassbinder, you still get the sudden emotional outbursts, the melodramatic flourishes (the camera often zooms quickly on an actor’s face to catch a reaction), the out of the blue oddities, like 2 men in an office spinning circles in their chairs, for no particular reason… other than perhaps it’s fun.
And there are the mirrors. Mirror’s are everywhere, catching people unaware, or capturing them reflected in multiple angles: Suggesting that there are many levels of reality and many versions of these characters.
I went in cold on this movie. I didn’t read a review or synopsis, and I think that helped heighten the experience. I simply went on this ride and let the story unfold without any expectations on where it was going. Sufficed to say, I was gobsmacked by the journey.
Notable Actors: Klaus Löwitsch, World on a Wire * Vyacheslav Tikhonov, Seventeen Moments of Spring * Liv Ullmann, Scenes from a Marriage
1974
Edvard Munch (Peter Watkins - Sweden, Norway)
Nominees: Martha (Fassbinder), QB VII - Want to see, The Notorious Woman
From Letterboxd... "A biographical film about the Norwegian Expressionist painter Edvard Munch. It was originally created as a three-part miniseries co-produced by the Norwegian and Swedish state television networks, but subsequently gained an American theatrical release in a three-hour version in 1976. The film covers about thirty years of Munch’s life, focusing on the influences that shaped his art, particularly the prevalence of disease and death in his family and his youthful affair with a married woman."
Notable Actors: Margit Carstensen, Martha * Anthony Hopkins, QB VII
1975
Fear of Fear (Rainer Werner Fassbinder - Germany)
Nominees: Madame Bovary, Daguerréotypes, The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath!
A somewhat underappreciated jewel in Fassbinder's crown. The director treads on Bergman territory in this unsettling look at mental illness. The watery distortions, and the looming figure of Mr. Bauer... who pops up, seemingly from out of nowhere, leave an impression. Camera work and performances are aces. Great story, but frustrating when people either exploit or exacerbate the situation. (Margot's a-hole sister seems to feed off her misery)
Notable Actors: Margit Carstensen, Kurt Raab in Fear of Fear * Francesca Annis, Tom Conti in Madame Bovary
1976
Rich Man, Poor Man (David Greene & Boris Sagal - USA)
Nominees: I, Claudius, Sybil, Eleanor and Franklin, I Only Want You to Love Me, Double Dare, Dying
While I, Claudius would likely be the consensus choice, I found it overly padded out and felt it frequently spun its wheels (Livia's constant scheming). In 1976 I was more enthralled with my winner. From Internet search (author unknown)... "The small screen adaptation of Irwin Shaw's best-selling 1970s novel Rich Man, Poor Man was the first great American mini-series. It was an epic television event of historical proportions. The story of the Jordache family grabbed the attention of a nation during the winter of 1976. Originally broadcast as a limited twelve-part dramatic series, the series topped the weekly ratings and ended the 1975-76 TV season as the second highest rated show. It was nominated for 20 Emmys (winning 4) and 6 Golden Globes (winning 4, including Best TV Series - Drama.) "Rich Man, Poor Man" recounts the lives of brothers Rudy (Peter Strauss) and Tom (Nick Nolte) Jordache from 1945 - 1965. One will gain great wealth and power as a businessman and politician while the other will struggle through life as a boxer and gangster thug. They both compete for the love of Julie Prescott (Susan Blakely) with one of them finally making her their wife."
Notable Actors: Siân Phillips and Derek Jacob, I, Claudius * Nick Nolte, Rich Man, Poor Man * Sally Field, Sybil * Jane Alexander and Edward Herrmann, Eleanor and Franklin
1977
Jesus of Nazareth (Franco Zeffirelli - Italy, UK)
Nominees: Roots, Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years, Bolwieser
Roots was a seminal achievement and an amazing series, but Jesus of Nazareth was in another realm for me. From wiki... " Extra-Biblical traditions were used in the writing of the screenplay, and some characters (such as Zerah) and situations were invented for the film for brevity or dramatic purposes. Notably, Jesus of Nazareth depicts Judas Iscariot as a well-intentioned man initially, but later as a dupe of Zerah's who betrays Jesus largely as a result of Zerah's false platitudes and pretext. However, in accordance with the Gospels, the film depicts Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea as sympathetic members of the Sanhedrin. Many of the miracles of Jesus, such as the changing of water into wine at the wedding at Cana, the transfiguration, and the calming of the storm, are not depicted, although Jesus' healing of Jairus' daughter, the blind man and the crippled woman on the Sabbath, the feeding of the multitude, and the raising of Lazarus from the dead are presented here. Jesus of Nazareth premiered on 27 March 1977, on the Italian channel Rai 1, and was first aired in the United Kingdom, on 3 April 1977, on the ITV Network. It became a ratings success and received positive reviews.
Notable Actors: Robert Powell, Jesus of Nazareth * LeVar Burton, Roots * Jane Alexander and Edward Herrmann, Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years * Elisabeth Trissenaar & Kurt Raab, Bolwieser
1978
Centennial (Paul Krasny, Virgil W. Vogel, 2 others - USA)
Nominees: Lillie
I need to see the Spongers and King, but for now, I'll go with this ambitious series. From internet search (author unknown)... "The longest (26-1/2 hours), most expensive ($25 million) and most complicated (four directors, five producers, five cinematographers, almost 100 speaking parts, several hundred extras) project made for television up to that time, Centennial was shown in two- and three-hour installments over a period of four months. An adaptation of James Michener's best-selling novel, it told the story of the settling of the American West by looking at the founding of the fictional town of Centennial, Colorado, from the settling of the area in the late 18th century to the present."
Notable Actors: Robert Conrad, Richard Chamberlain, Gregory Harrison, Stephanie Zimbalist in Centennial * Richard Hatch and Bruce Davidson in Deadman's Curve
1979
Christ Stopped at Eboli (Francesco Rosi - Italy, France)
Nominees: The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Roots: The Next Generation, Macbeth
This mini is based on the respected memoir by Carlo Levi, published in 1945, which gave an account of his exile from 1935-1936 to Grassano and Aliano, remote towns in southern Italy. Originally made for Italian television as a 220-minute mini-series (broken into 4, 55-minute section.) Rosi’s “Christ Stopped at Eboli” was shown in the United States in 1980 at approximately half its length and under the title “Eboli.”
Notable Actors: Gian Maria Volontè, Irene Papas, Eboli * Alec Guinness, Tinker, Tailor * Paul Winfield, Ruby Dee, Al Freeman Jr, Marlon Brando in Roots * Vladimir Vysotskiy, Vladimir Konkin, The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed * Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Macbeth
1980
Shogun (Jerry London - USA, Japan)
Nominees: Berlin Alexanderplatz, Hollywood
From wiki... "Shogun is an American television miniseries based on the 1975 novel of the same name by James Clavell, who also was the executive producer of the miniseries. It was first broadcast in the United States on NBC over five nights between September 15 and September 19, 1980. To date, it is the only American television production to be filmed on location entirely in Japan, with additional sound stage filming also taking place in Japan at the Toho studio.
The miniseries is loosely based on the adventures of English navigator William Adams, who journeyed to Japan in 1600 and rose to high rank in the service of the shogun. The miniseries follows fictional Englishman John Blackthorne's transforming experiences and political intrigues in feudal Japan in the early 17th century."
Notable Actors: Richard Chamberlain and Toshiro Mifune, Shogun
1981
Brideshead Revisited (Charles Sturridge - UK)
Nominees: Sadgati (The Deliverance), Masada, Day of the Triffids, A Limousine the Colour of Midsummer’s Eve, The Flame Trees of Thika
One of my all-time favorite novels receives a top drawer adaptation. From wiki... "The serial is an adaptation of the novel Brideshead Revisited (1945) by Evelyn Waugh. It follows, from the 1920s to the early 1940s, the life and romances of the protagonist Charles Ryder—including his friendship with the Flytes, a family of wealthy English Catholics who live in a palatial mansion called Brideshead Castle.
The 11-episode serial premiered on ITV in the UK on 12 October 1981; on CBC Television in Canada on 19 October 1981; and as part of the Great Performances series on PBS in the United States on 18 January 1982.
In 2000, the serial was tenth on the list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes compiled by the British Film Institute, based on a poll of industry professionals. In 2007, the serial was listed as one of Time magazine's "100 Best TV Shows of All-Time". In 2010, it was second in The Guardian newspaper's list of the top 50 TV dramas of all time. In 2015, The Telegraph listed it as #1 in the greatest television adaptations, stating that "Brideshead Revisited is television’s greatest literary adaptation, bar none. It's utterly faithful to Evelyn Waugh's novel yet it's somehow more than that, too."
Notable Actors: Jeremy Irons, Brideshead * Peter O'Toole and David Warner, Masada * Om Puri and Smita Patil, Sadgati * Glenda Jackson & Dirk Bogarde. The Patricia Neal Story
1982
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (Jim Goddard - UK)
Nominees: A Woman Called Golda, The Ballroom of Romance
From wiki... a nine-hour adaptation of the novel by Charles Dickens. It was filmed as a stage play at The Old Vic in London by The Royal Shakespeare Company. The production won the Outstanding Miniseries Primetime Emmy Award
Notable Actors: Roger Rees, David Threlfall, John Woodvine and Emily Richard in Nicholas Nickleby * Brenda Fricker, The Ballroom of Romance * Ingrid Bergman and Judy Davis in A Woman Called Golda
1983
The Thorn Birds (Daryl Duke - USA)
Nominees: Unknown Chaplin, The Day After, Adam
Wiki... The Thorn Birds is an American television miniseries broadcast on ABC from March 27 to 30, 1983. It starred Richard Chamberlain, Rachel Ward, Barbara Stanwyck, Christopher Plummer, Piper Laurie, Jean Simmons, Richard Kiley, Bryan Brown, Mare Winningham, and Philip Anglim. It was directed by Daryl Duke and based on a novel of the same name by Colleen McCullough. The series was enormously successful and became the United States' second-highest-rated miniseries of all time behind Roots; both series were produced by television veteran David L. Wolper.
1984
Heimat (Edgar Reitz - Germany)
Nominees: The Dollmaker, Dead Souls, Fatal Vision, Vengeance is Mine, After the Rehearsal
Heimat, the original series, premiered in 1984 and follows the life of Maria Simon, a woman living in the fictional village of Schabbach. It was filmed in and around the village of Woppenroth in Rhein-Hunsrück, a rural region of Germany to the west of the Rhineland-Palatinate. Subtitled Eine Deutsche Chronik — A German Chronicle, it consists of 11 episodes running in total to 15 hours 24 minutes of screen time. The film spans 1919 to 1982, and depicts how historical events affect the Simon family and the community in which they lived. At the start of each episode, Karl Glasisch narrates the story so far over photographs by Eduard Simon. - Wikipedia
Note: There were several sequels released over the decades, but I elected to stick with this as my winner.
Notable Actors: Martia Breuer, Heimat * Karl Malden, Gary Cole, Fatal Vision * Jane Fonda, The Dollmaker * Brooke Adams, Vengeance is Mine * Erland Josephson, Lena Olin, Ingrid Thulin, After the Rehearsal
1985
North and South: Book 1 (Richard T. Heffron - USA)
Nominees: Death of a Salesman - Need to see: A.D., Bleak House, Space and Quo Vadis?
From wiki... Based on the John Jakes novels. The saga tells the story of the enduring friendship between Orry Main of South Carolina (Patrick Swayze) and George Hazard of Pennsylvania (James Read), who become best friends while attending the United States Military Academy at West Point but later find themselves and their families on opposite sides of the war
Notable Actors: David Carradine, Leslie-Anne Down, North and South * Dustin Hoffman, John Malkovich, Death of a Salesman
1986
The Singing Detective (Jon Amiel - UK)
Nominees: Shaka Zulu, Two Friends
Letterboxd summary... "Tormented and bedridden by a debilitating disease, a mystery writer relives his detective stories through his imagination and hallucinations." From wiki... "The serial was broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC1 in 1986 on Sunday nights from 16 November to 21 December with later PBS and cable television showings in the United States. It won a Peabody Award in 1989. It ranks 20th on the British Film Institute's list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes, as voted by industry professionals in 2000."
Notable Actors: Michael Gambon, The Singing Detective * Kris Bidenko, Emma Coles & Kris McQuade, Two Friends
1987
Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow (Kevin Brownlow & David Gill - UK)
As a Keaton fanatic, this was pure Heaven. The second of three Brownlow and Gill docu-series on silent films best and brightest clowns.
A Hard Act to Follow covers the life and career of the great stone face. Showing both the highs and lows, with behind the scenes insights and clips that showcase his comedic genius.
1988
The Rainbow (Stuart Burge - UK)
Nominees: Strange Interlude, War and Remembrance
From IMDB... D.H. Lawrence's powerful tale of a girl emerging into womanhood, interwoven with memories, dreams, and ghostly encounters across several generations. Shown in 3 parts through December.
Notable Actors: Imogen Stubbs, Clare Holman, Rainbow * Glenda Jackson, Edward Petherbridge, Strange Interlude * John Gielgud, Jane Seymour, War and Remembrance
1989
The Dekalog (Krzysztof Kieslowski - Poland, Germany)
Nominees: The Owl's Legacy, Traffik, Lonesome Dove, I Know My First Name Is Steven, Harold Lloyd: The Third Genius
From wiki... "Consisting of ten one-hour films, inspired by the decalogue of the Ten Commandments. Each short film explores characters facing one or several moral or ethical dilemmas as they live in an austere housing project in 1980s Poland.
The series, which is Kieslowski's most acclaimed work, was said in 2002 to be "the best dramatic work ever done specifically for television" and has won numerous international awards, though it was not widely released outside Europe until the late 1990s. It is one of fifteen films listed in the category "Values" on the Vatican film list. In 1991, filmmaker Stanley Kubrick wrote an admiring foreword to the published screenplay."
Notable Actors: Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones, Lonesome Dove
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