L B

Wonderful, wonderful show - Series 1 is ambitious and arguably struggles at times to combine all the complex plot strands, but series 2 - wow! Some of the best acting I have seen in years - Kevin Costner is always excellent (respect for your stance on veterans Sir), but Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly are simply exceptional - both tours de force. The Native American social justice theme is perhaps the only spoiled soufflé of the piece - over-done and falling flat (yes Monica D I am talking about you). Apart from that, real characters in a real reality-based world where men are portrayed as men - the best antidote to all the weak, woke nonsense purporting to be drama these days. One aside - a couple of reviewers have indicated they don't understand why Beth is so angry - the underlying context is very clearly established in the exposition of the family tragedy in '98 so not sure how anyone could have missed that? Beth's character who cannot forgive herself portrays the suppressed trauma, anger, guilt, self-loathing (and ongoing self-medication) to perfection IMHO. I would give Yellowstone six stars if I could.

I tried very hard to like this but struggled to get past the negative light in which almost all English characters were cast - another example of "culturally marxist" self-loathing? My father was wartime RAF, and I am one of the many who is very thankful to ALL of the few, not just the ones who get a tick in today's Identity Politics Bullsh*t Bingo.

If you are thinking of watching this - my advice is - don't - and go immediately to the 1995 six-part version with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth, as it is superior in almost every aspect. The usually excellent Matthew Macfadyen seems almost embarrassed and strangely one-dimensional, and Keira Knightley is, well, simply out of her depth in the same way as an ocean is a lot more water than a thimbleful. Fortunately Tom Hollander, Judi Dench, Brenda Blethyn and Donald Sutherland are all fantastic - plus we get a bonus glimpse of Rupert Friend. But even the beautiful Rosamund Pike and Carey Mulligan (although I rather went off the latter when she married that folk-ing overweight chap) cannot rescue this. Such a classic and the role of Elizabeth Bennet, being one of the greatest and most depthful female roles, is several Country Estates beyond poor Keira's limited range of pouts, smiles and blank, confused looks. The only reason to watch this is if you intend to compare it to the 1995 version and marvel at how poorly Keira's acting (and I use that term supremely loosely) compares with Jennifer's.

Delighted to have seen this wonderful film for the first time 62 years after its release. David Niven deservedly won an Oscar despite his limited screen time. He manages to play a complex, mildly mendacious and yet vulnerable character, either of poor judgement or questionable morals, and yet still managing to engage us and keep us “onside”. I always took Rita Hayworth to be the sex symbol from the generation before mine (the Rachel Welch generation in "Shawshank" terms), but her acting here proved her to be far more talented than that. The combination of Burt Lancaster and Wendy Hiller is marvellous, with their characters’ juxtaposition of American and English, power and reserve, passion and control respectively - Hiller also deservedly won an Oscar for her performance. But it is Lancaster and Hayworth’s scene together which transported me, entirely authentically and convincingly capturing and conveying sexual desire and manipulation, latent frustration and the resulting potential for violence. Gladys Cooper is both wonderful and hateful as the bullying, judgemental and self-righteous matriarch, put in her place in absentia by Felix Aylmer’s former schoolmaster who remarks that “The trouble about being on the side of right, as one sees it, is that one often finds oneself in the company of such very questionable allies” (my favourite quote from the film). Last but not least, Deborah Kerr as the subservient and put-upon daughter showed her enormous range by playing a character so far removed from her usual romantic lead that I am surprised she was not also nominated. The last scene is an especially poignant and fitting denouement, both moving and, with 62 years hindsight, a fitting tribute to a sadly bygone age of dignity, common decency and quiet resolve.

Quite simply the definitive film version!