Friday’s Film: Northanger Abbey

A tale of intrigue, adventure and romance, this enchanting, remastered dramatization captures the romance of Jane Austen’s classic novel Northanger Abbey.

The setting is eighteenth-century Bath, a society of decadence and deceit, into which Catherine Moreland arrives bursting with freshness, integrity, and a passion for macabre gothic novels. In a time when materialism, not love, governs marriage, Catherine’s head is full of fantasy and fiction, of maidens being abducted to sinister castles and heroes riding to the rescue on white horses. When romantic Henry Tilney invites her to his ancestral home, Northanger Abbey, a dark mystery starts to unfold that makes her blood run cold. Are her fantasies coming true? What does the brooding General Tilney want from her and will the truth destroy her chance for love…?

One cannot do a Jane Austen—inspired chills and thrills week without having Northanger Abbey as the Friday Film.

I have been a bit hesitant to watch the movie adaptations of Northanger as I have heard poor reviews of both adaptations. When BBC America Shop offered me a review copy of the 1987 edition, I jumped at the chance to review it.

Remastered in 2004, this adaptation of Northanger Abbey originally aired on Masterpiece Theatre. I will admit the producers and the screenwriters failed to understand and convey the satire that Northanger is known for but the authentic Bath locations and brilliantly done costumes were spot on.

That aside, I found that I really enjoyed watching this adaptation. The characters—even though I felt that actors portraying them were a bit too old—truly made the film believable. And the authentic settings of Bath gave the movie a truer feeling. However, I wished they would have found a different setting for Northanger Abbey that had more of the feel of a gothic abbey.

Overall I would watch this film again.

Fun Facts:

Bodiam Castle, Bodiam, East Sussex severed as Northanger Abbey

Number One, Royal Crescent, Bath served as the Allens’ bath lodgings

Mrs. Morland wears a striped muslin dress, which was worn in the 1996 adaptation of Emma by Harrit Smith, by Susan Price in the 1999 Mansfield Park, and by Marianne in the 2008 Sense and Sensibility.

You may purchase a copy from BBC America Shop HERE

 

Movie Details: Starring: Peter Firth and Katherine Schlesinger, Release Date: 1987 rereleased in 2004, Run Time: 90 minutes, Source: BBC Shop America

Until We Meet Again,