The House Of Elliot
(Series 2, Episode 7)
Review by Emma Shane
©October 2006
The episode, one of the most
memorable of the entire second series, if not the programme overall, opens
sombrely with Evie setting off for Florence Ranby’s funeral. It’s such a packed
episode that some of the more minor subplots are all too easy to overlook. For
the benefit of those who haven’t seen Episode 6,
In the church are all the
staff, the camera lights on Madge and Tilly, as well as Beatrice and Evie.
Out in the graveyard, Madge
and Tilly go up to Florence’s husband Alfred to offer their condolences, he is
totally furious with them, effectively telling them they caused Florence’s
death, by disobeying her. He is almost as angry with Beatrice and Evie for not
noticing or caring what was going on.
Back in the Workroom, the
girls, under Madge’s uncharacteristically fierce instructions, aided by Tilly,
are removing the paper coverings from their work to carry on with it. Betty is
hesitant about removing the paper from the last item
In their home Beatrice is
sitting in the dark, brooding about
Meanwhile back in the now
deserted workroom, Evie is putting
Back at their home Jack
commiserates with Beatrice, and offers to talk to Joseph about his suspicions
concerning Ralph Saroyan.
In the flat Evie is looking
at sketches, particularly the prints Alexander gave her.
The next morning out in the
street Agnes is late for work and nearly bumps into Mabel the flower seller,
who tells her to “Either look where
you’re going, or go where you’re looking”. It’s a nice little touch, and
the significance of all the little elements of the street scene, such as the
reporter sitting in his car watching people going by in the hope of a scoop are
very subtle, you wouldn’t notice them unless you already know the plot.
In The Workroom, Agnes rushes
in late, earning her a reprimand from Madge. The sisters enter, and call Madge
and Tilly into their office, as they exit the girls mutter to themselves
wondering which out of Madge and Tilly will be put in charge, or if someone new
will be appointed to replace Florence.
In Beatrice’s Office, the
sisters, well Beatrice does most of the talking, tell Madge and Tilly that they
have decided to promote Madge to Head Of Workroom, and Tilly will be Head
Seamstress overall, “If you’re sure you can manage” says Beatrice. Tilly assures them
that she can now, she’s gained more
confidence, and isn’t working with
In the Vendeuse’s office
Cuts to a brief scene between
Elizabeth and Beatrice now in Beatrice’s Office.
Evie encounters Lord
Alexander Montford, who has come to collect his wife, in the waiting room. He
assures her they know he is here. Evie tells him how much she likes the prints
he gave her.
In Beatrice’s Office,
Cut to The Waiting Room,
where Elizabeth and Beatrice enter, and
A little later, Jack calls to
pick Beatrice up, and offers to talk to Joseph (their book-keeper) about his
suspicions concerning Ralph Saroyan.
The next scene finds Jack and
Joseph talking in a pub, plotting how best to find out about Ralph Saroyan’s
dubious business dealings. It is complicated by the fact that there is no longer
anyone working at Saroyan & Gillespie Bank, whom Joseph would trust.
However, at least Joseph is relieved to learn that Jack trusts him, and his
instincts.
It is morning, and Ralph
Saroyan, on his way to call at The House
Of Eliott, passes Mabel’s flower barrel, he buys a button-hole from her.
Meanwhile their home Beatrice
is frustrated with Jack, who protests “I’m
fixing the car as quick as I can”. Aden
Gillet is really rather good at these sort of touching little domestic
moments. I don’t find him wooden, and I think he’s got rather a flair for this
sort of early 20th century middle class man, role (which he seems to
play a fair amount – well some fourteen years later he is currently playing one
on the
At The House Of Eliott,
In a busy street, Beatrice is
walking along when a car pulls up, it is Jack, having got his car working, he
gives her a lift the rest of the way.
Meanwhile Alice and Ralph are
still making conversation. On learning that she recently lost her husband and
has not been out much since, he suggests having tea together. At which point
Beatrice arrives, apologising for her lateness.
Once in Beatrice’s Office,
Ralph becomes his usual smarmy superior self, complaining that the sisters do
not take advantage of their credit agreements with their suppliers, but pay
them on the dot. He suggests it would make more sense, if they have Wint
(Joseph) bring the cheques to him at the end of the month, so he could sign
them and send them off at a more suitable time. This rather significant (well
significant to the ongoing plot) detail almost gets overlooked given the impact
of the next two scenes.
In The Street a smart blue
motor car, with figure badge on the front of it, probably a Rolls Royce, pulls
up. A uniformed chuffer whose name does not appear in the credits (although he
was addressed by a name in the scene) opens the door. A tall well-built
attractive woman, with curly hair, in a cream coat, with matching hat, steps
gracefully out; and makes her way up the steps. There is something about her
that grabs your attention, even if you aren’t so familiar with the actress.
Gwendoline Duchess Of Bridgewater, played by Louise Gold, can sure make an entrance (as one might expect from a
musical comedy star).
In the fitting room,
Gwendoline is getting out of her outdoor clothes, surrounded by a number of the
staff, to whom she is talking loudly with great charisma. She has a vivacious
enthusiastic manner. A true character whom you just can’t help warming, to and
being captivated by. “I want complete
kitting out” she says. “Elizabeth
suggests I put myself entirely in your hands, for Teddy”, on seeing their
slightly puzzled looks she clarifies “Teddy,
my husband, the Duke Of
In Beatrice’s Office,
Beatrice is entertaining Alfred Ramby, who has come in which a large bunch of
flowers, which he has brought for Madge and Tilly, as an apology for his
outburst to them, he felt he was out of order speaking to them like that. He
also wishes to apologise to Beatrice and Evangline for the same. Beatrice gives
him
At The Houses Of Parliment,
Lord Alexander Montford is showing Evie around, but she seems to have done her
homework, and know almost as much about its history as he does. In one of the
meeting rooms, he is about to kiss her, when three colleagues enters, so he
hastily says they are just leaving.
At some kind of evening
event, a bunch of people are dancing, to the tune of Irving Berlin’s What’ll I Do. At a table, Ralph Saroyan is entertaining
Alice Burgone, and clearly trying to, well make a pass at her, calling her “Sweet
In the workroom, Betty is
working on a dress for The Duchess, while Madge is looking at the newspaper.
One of the girls recognises a gown she worked on in a picture in the paper.
In The Street a passing car
(that same elegant blue one) knocks into Mabel’s barrow, and several containers
of flowers are knocked to the ground. While Mabel is picking them up,
Gwendoline approaches, having got out of her car. As soon as she sees the
problem, and realising why, there is such honest concern in the actress’s
facial expression, the sound of her voice, and her very warm natural reaction.
It is not only totally believable, it is actually, in this scene as if she is
not so much playing a character, but being herself in that sort of situation.
Her first line in this scene, was spoken in a voice that even sounded more like
the actress’s own, than the character she was portraying. Fortunately, as we
soon learn, a few subtle changes of accent are entirely in keeping with this
individual character, who is turns out is also supposed to be an ex-actress.
For Mabel recognises Gwendoline as “Gwen Garland, the musical comedy star”.
The Duchess does not deny it, even if she has now married well, and out of her
profession. To make up for the accident, she buys several bunches of flowers from
Mabel, and then heads up the steps, with the same easy elegant walk as before. Louise Gold has a lot of natural
gracefulness in her movements it is surely a legacy of her own dance training
as a stage-schoolgirl.
The Duchess enters the
waiting room with her arms full of three bunches of flowers. She walks through
to the fitting room, or perhaps the workroom, pausing only to say a cheery “Hello” to two other clients in the
waiting room, both look at her retreating figure with a certain horrified
disdain (and one can’t help slightly disliking them for objecting to such
natural friendliness).
In The Workroom, Gwendoline
has entered with her flowers, which she proceeds to hand round to the
sewing-girls, among whom she most specifically includes Agnes (she actually
addresses her by name). Once she has gone, Madge with gentle firmness (quite a
contrast to
At the end of the day, as the
girls are leaving Agnes finds herself propositioned by a young man, the
journalist, Eric Bulmer who has been hanging around watching in several of the
street scenes hitherto. He offers to take her out for an ice-cream sundae.
At a cafe, Agnes and Eric are
eating ice-cream. Eric asks Agnes to help him with his work, by keeping her
eyes and ears open for gossip, tittle tattle, when she is working. He assures
her it is just harmless fun; and a bit of extra money for them both.
There follows a scene between
Beatrice and Evie in Beatrice’s Office, I think they were discussing Ralph
Saroyan, or possibly the idea of spending a weekend at ‘The Cottage’ to get away from it all.
In the Vandeuse’s office,
Ralph Saroyan enters with Maria Nugent.
Jack Maddox is working on a
script at home, when Beatrice enters. It takes him a little while to give him
her attention. But as soon as he has finished what he is writing he does. Its
rather a touching little scene. One has a lot of sympathy for Aden Gillet’s
character.
Through a window we see Evie
turning out lights.
Cut to the interior of the
fashion house, where Evie is turning out the lights, her eyes fall on a
newspaper (the one Madge was reading earlier) and a photograph of Lady
Elizabeth and Lord Alexander in it. It’s obvious she has feelings for
Alexander.
Presumably the next day, in
the fitting room, Gwendoline is trying on the new pale pink dress. We first see
her eyes in the mirror, the camera pans back to reveal her body, and then pulls
back further to show that she was in fact looking in a mirror. Her funny
narrow-shaped eyes, with the round wide sparkling brown pupils convey so much
of her delightful enthusiastic character in them. She puts her hands on her
hips and says “It’s what Harry
Westerfield would call “Dandy”” – dropping into an American twang for the
word “Dandy”. Then adds, with a very
natural enthusiasm (to Beatrice and Evangeline) “Do you know Harry?”. (I can think of two current British actors
who might’ve spoken with that kind of enthusiastic manner) Gwendoline proceeds
to tell of a night she and Teddy, along with Harry Westerfield, and, Erica
Murdoch—went out in two punts one evening. Gwendoline and Harry were in one,
while Erica and Teddy were in another. Harry insisted they land on an island.
Gwendoline is in the middle of her narrative, when one of the sisters sends
Agnes to fetch some beading. Agnes hurries, you can see her trying to waste as
little time as possible so as to hear the rest of the story. Meanwhile
Gwendoline continues, telling how Teddy wanted to go home “as it was getting rather chilly”, so he and Gwendoline went back.
However, Harry and Erica stayed all night on the island. Agnes arrives back in
the fitting room, in time to hear Gwendoline telling of people’s reactions when
Harry and Erica arrived back at breakfast next morning, having spent the night
marooned in a boathouse, with Harry claiming the punt had drifted. “Did
you ever hear such a thing” says Gwendoline enthusiastically, as though
talking to her friends.
In the workroom, Agnes puts
her work away a few minuets early, causing Betty to remark that it’s a few
minutes to. Agnes asked Betty how to work a telephone box. Betty kindly
explains how to do so; wondering whom Agnes is going to meet, a young man
obviously, but who?
In a pub Jack and Joseph and
plotting how to find out what Ralph Saroyan is up to. Joseph knows the layout
of the bank well, and explains that in particular room there are documents
about what he reckons are phantom companies. That is the stuff they need, and
the spare key has just, gone missing. In other words Joseph has it. Jack
congratulates him on his work. Joseph explains, he is no hero, but he wants to do his best. to get to the bottom of
the whole thing.
In a cake shop, Agnes is with
Eric, telling him the story she thought she overheard Gwendoline telling in the
fitting room. Only she tells him it was Gwendoline who spent the night on the
island, rather than Erica. “You little
treasure” says the delighted Eric. They’ve been wondering for ages who
Harry Westerfield’s mystery woman was. Had their eye on several possibilities.
He tells Agnes to get herself another cake, while he goes to speak to his
superiors. Then he will give her a good night out.
In the flat, Evie is putting
up Alexander’s pictures, when Jack enters looking for Beatrice. However, he
takes the opportunity of asking Evie about Alexander, to which Evie confesses
that she can’t stop thinking about Alexander. She finds Jack a very sympathetic
brother-in-law on the matter.
Next morning in the Workroom,
Madge is reading the newspaper, The Daily
Messenger. She reads out a story concerning Harry Westerfield, saying that
his mystery woman is none other than Gwendoline Duchess Of Bridgewater “better known to our readers as Gwen Garland
the musical comedy star”. Agnes is the only one not clustered round Madge,
but instead trying to look busy. Meanwhile Tilly exclaims that “it’s not true”, telling them “It was Erica somebody or another”. and
explaining that “our Duchess” went back
to the house with her Teddy “because it was getting rather chilly”. At this
point Cathy Murphy does an excellent
little imitation of the way Louise Gold
had said the line “it was getting rather
chilly”. Now that was an interesting touch. But then Cathy does seem to be
a rather likeable talented actress in her own right. Someone cries out that
there are reporters in street, but Madge firmly urges the girls not to look out
of the windows, but to get back to their work.
Out in the Street, Joseph has
to fight his way through a crowd or reporters, just to get to work. Fortunately
for him, their attention is soon diverted by that blue car drawing up.
Gwendoline gets out looking severe, and rather cross. “No you do not have permission to take my photograph” she says
firmly, adding “And if you print any lies
about me, my solicitors will deal with you, as they are at this moment dealing
with the editors of the Daily Messenger”. Louise Gold does severe rather well, but on this occasion she
actually doesn’t come across quite as loud and powerful as she can, she’s
actually more subtle in this scene. Though of course she still commands the
audience’s attention in the scene.
In Beatrice’s Office, with
both Beatrice and Evie present, Gwendoline presents the same cross severe
manner, while she is standing. Anger that they can’t trust their staff. Evie
tries to make peace, whereupon Gwendoline points out that the article
specifically states “A source from within
a well-known fashion house”, along with a photograph of Gwendoline herself
at the front door of The House Of Eliott.
Gwendoline sits down with a sigh, and as she does do her manner changes,
somewhat, and one realises that in fact she is more hurt than angry. In fact
she’s downright upset. She says “I though
I was among friends. I though we had trust. How wrong I was”. And yet, she
still does trust the sister’s themselves. She tells them, that “surprising as it may see, mine was a love
match. I didn’t realise how much my life would have to change. I thought I
could go on being Gwen Garland, with all the advantages of my grand marriage.” She
goes on to say that ever since her marriage the press have been waiting for her
to slip up, wanting to ruin her reputation
“and for a story that isn’t even true”; She realises now she must become
guarded in what she says and does. The actress’s voice seems to be almost
breaking with emotion, and she cannot quite switch back into the severe mode,
when she tells them that any further communication will be between their
solicitors. She gets up and sweeps out. Yet, although she moves majestically
(like a graceful actress), her exit is a sad one; Leaving Beatrice and Evie to
exchange glances, and wonder who was in the fitting room at the time. Well
there was Tilly. “It’ wouldn’t be Tilly
she’s got far too much sense” says one of the sisters. They soon realise
the only other person present was Agnes.
Beatrice at the door of the
workroom asks Madge to send Agnes to her.
In Beatrice’s Office,
Beatrice and Evangeline speak to Agnes; who explains that she did not see there
was any harm in what she had done. Beatrice is surprisingly firm and
dictatorial, when she tells Agnes that right now they are going to The
Duchess’s solicitors. “You will tell them
exactly what you heard, and what you thought you heard”. I’ve never heard Stella Gonet speak in quite that severe
a tone in the series before.
Meanwhile, at The Bank,
Joseph sneaks into the vaults, and is looking for documents about the phantom
companies.
Cut to Ralph entering the
bank. On the stairs, Ralph meets Joseph, and immediately assumes that Joseph
has just been bringing the cheques to him, rather to Joseph’s relief. A nice
piece of acting from Stephen Churchett.
At their home, Beatrice tells
Jack she would like to go to The Cottage that weekend. He says he needs her at
a backers house party. But suggests Evie could go to the cottage alone, well
why not? Beatrice isn’t sure that Evie will like that. Just then she remembers,
Joseph has given her a package. She hands it to Jack. He glances at it, and
immediately goes out, saying if he hurries
he can catch Alexander at his club. He evidently, wants Alexander, as a
Treasury Minister, to look at these potentially incriminating documents.
In the Street, Eric sees
Agnes. She tells him his idea will probably loose her job. He says he’s already
lost his this morning, and suggests a walk in the park to commiserate each
other. She agrees.
In the Workroom, Madge and
Tilly are wondering where Agnes is, someone suggests it wouldn’t surprise them
if Agnes doesn’t return, after all she knows dismissal is awaiting her here.
Betty goes on an errand.
On the stairs, Betty finds
Agnes, crying.
In Beatrice’s Office,
Beatrice and Evie try to comfort Agnes, who has been beaten up. She says she
won’t go to the police about it, because she doesn’t blame Eric, she says
deserved a beating. Tilly enters to say that a taxi has arrived. Beatrice tells
Tilly to take Agnes home, “and stay with
her as long as she needs you.”
In The Cottage, in the
evening, Evie is playing cards. She is frightened by some noises. It turns out
to be Alexander Montford at the front door. He asks her to let him in to stay
the night. What an ending to an episode about gossip.
All in all a pretty
outstanding episode. The House Of Eliott was remarkably
well written by Jean Marsh and Eileen Atkins. They clearly did their
research well. But they also know how to writing gripping drama, with some
great lines. There seems to be very little television drama with such quality
writing these days. They create some great, very rounded characters. But in
this episode they have excelled themselves with the character of That Duchess!
– She is not only a terrific meshuggeneh character. She is also a perfect role
for Louise Gold, who like her
character is also a musical comedy star. One wonders what came first the
casting or the script! For Gwnedoline’s vivacious personality seems to be
uncannily similar Ms Gold’s own. Her reactions to little things, such as
Mabel’s flowers getting knocked over, seem to very natural. The natural
conviction is there throughout, making her final scene an incredibly moving
one. That scene, and the one preceding it, starts with the least natural but,
when she is cross. And yet, although Louise
Gold does severe, loud, and vivacious all very well, she is also a remarkably
sophisticated actress, with an ability to play a much more subtle character,
when that is what is required, which she does in her finale scene. It is the
look of complete hurt on her face and in her voice, played with absolute
sincerity, that makes her finale performance just heartbreaking. Gwendoline
appears so genuinely upset by being betrayed, that is actually makes me want to
cry just watching the scene. It might be hard for just any actress to play such
a larger than life character as Gwendoline with conviction, but Louise Gold succeeds, perhaps because
having such a larger than life personality herself, she is actually
surprisingly natural in the character. Louise
Gold is a very accomplished actress, with a wide range. Even so, when
watching, as with any actor whose work one knows well, one is usually aware
that she is acting, that she is playing a role.
Her appearance in this episode of The House Of Eliott is one of the
most convincing performances I have ever seen of hers. She managed to appear so
naturally as Gwendoline Duchess Of Bridgewater, that this extraordinary
character is totally believable, almost as if she were that role, rather than
merely acting it. It’s an amazing performance, and well worth watching. It
would be worth getting hold of the DVD of Series 2, just to watch this episode,
for that acting alone.
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