User reviews

The strength of this film is the performance of Helena Bonham-Carter in an early role. The plot comes straight from a romance novel, and thus is only for those who enjoy tales of young women in desperate situations that they overcome through spunk and the unexpected love of a mysterious nobleman, but it's a fun and charming way to pass a couple of hours.

Compulsive gambler Sir Giles(Christopher Plummer) has lost his money an estate playing against Lord Wrotham(Edward Fox) . He realises which he only has one thing , his gorgeous daughter Serena(Helena Bonham Carter). Giles stakes his daughter's hand in marriage to villain Lord. Sir Giles lost and he commits suicide himself. Then Lord Justin Vulcan(Marcus Gilbert) is witnessed the deeds and stakes Lord Wrotham to play dices. Justin wins and he now finding himself as owner of the Gilles's mansion and Serena.Lord Justin installs her as a guest at Mandrake palace with maid included(Anna Massey). Trouble is, he can not marry her, until she solves the secret issues contains the mansion.Unfortunately, she becomes a strange into the house and the ambitious Justin's mother , Lady Harriet Vulcan( a despicable Diana Rigg) has less than honorable intentions over Serena.

This is a romance-drama plenty of suspense, intrigue, dark secrets,passion and plot-twists. It's an amusing movie and regency romance fans will appreciate the attention to period detail. Based on the romance novel with similar title by Barbara Catland. In fact belongs to quatrain movies directed by John Hough, with similar scenarios and style; same producer(Albert Fennell, Sir Lew Grade), musician(Laurie Johnson) and author(Barbara Catland), these are : 'A ghost of Montecarlo'(Lysette Anthony,Sarah Miles, Marcus Gilbert), 'The lady and the highway man'(Hugh Grant, Lysette Anthony) and 'Duel of Hearts'(Alison Doody, Michael York).

The motion picture is professionally directed by John Hough. He has an eclectic and long filmmaker career , starting in TV movies(The protectors, Avengers), directing Hammer movies(Twins of evil), mediocre horror films(Howling IV, American Gothic), adventures(Island of treasure) and wholesome Disney family fare(Return and escape to witch mountain).Rating : Acceptable and passable, this television movie will like to romantic stories fans.

I have never been a fan of this genre, nor a fan of romantic novels from the likes of Barbara Cartland, but I have to say I love this movie. A story of love and greed set against the absurdity of the British class system, does true love conquer all? This movie will answer that question for you.

It moves along nicely, it looks wonderful, sets and costumes etc, and of course there are the beautiful people, Helena Bonham Carter and Marcus Gilbert, she is soft and feminine, and so beautiful, he's handsome and charming, the pair are great. As is so often the case, the villains steal the show, Fox and Rigg are an absolute joy to watch, they make it worth a look.

It is romantic, but it has a story, and a bit of action, it is definitely worth seeing, 8/10.

I saw this movie when it aired in 1987 on the ABC network. I absolutely loved it. My mom taped it and I watched it everyday after school and all summer long, until... MY MOM TAPED OVER IT ACCIDENTALLY!!! I was absolutely devastated, and needless to say, my mom still has not lived it down. HELP! I have searched for this movie for 14 years, and am desperate to get a copy of it. Even if it has all the old commercials--any condition. Where can I find a copy? Please help me locate a copy of this most adorable movie. Thank you for any assistance you may lend to assist me.

I didn't go looking for this it found me, it must have rolled on from something else and I was too lazy to switch it off.

The story is pure Mills and Boon historical romance, even including a bodice ripping scene.

Just think of the amazing cast including Diana Rigg, Christopher Plummer, Edward Fox, Stewart Granger, Anna Massey, Eileen Atkins and a very young Helena Bonham Carter having to say some truly ham-fisted lines.

Wonderful over the top performances. I can imagine the actors having a whale of a time during the filming.

All in all, it was rollicking good fun reminiscent of early film melodramas.

Just lose some brain cells and go along with it and I am sure you too will come out smiling by the end.

As stated above, once you start, you cant stop. this movie, once you've seen it, you'll want to see it again, and again, and again...!

I saw it years ago and it proved to be unforgetable. even now, years later, i still remember the marvelous cliches and the beautiful blue eyed gaze of one Marcus Gilbert.

Romance at its finest!!!

Maybe it's my head cold talking, but I thoroughly enjoyed this film. You just have to be in the right mood to appreciate the laughable melodrama. Though corny and absurd towards the end, I liked the romance and dare say my heart fluttered during a couple scenes. Helena Bonham Carter gave a charming performance and the other actors were certainly entertaining. If you like period romance dramas and go into this with low-ish ecxpectations and a sense of humor, I think you'll have a good tiime...You also might need to catch a head cold. 6/10 in terms of actual cinematic quality, but 10/10 recommend.

I love this movie and have done since I first saw it many years ago.

The script is firmly buried in cliché and is in places laughable (She's about to have the vapours - I'll lay odds on it!) but that only adds to its charm.

An impressive early performance from Helena Bonham-Carter as the spunky country-mouse, and a first look at Marcus Gilbert (phoaar) as the brooding-yet-misunderstood-and-hunky Lord Vulcan provides the energy of the movie, but the old guard (Diana Rigg, Stewart Granger, Anna Massey et al) provide the seasoning which makes this a most palatable effort.

I have now seen this about a hundred times and can practically talk along with it, but it never gets old, never gets tired and the DVD will be my next purchase (I *shall* have it!).

I love the time period, the clothing styles, the scenery and architecture, but I can't say the same for the story, which was okay, but just barely. The best one in the movie was Diana Rigg, even if the former "avenger" was playing a villainess. Christopher Plummer had a thankless role, as he was dead almost as soon as he made his first appearance.

As for the leading lady: Helena Bonham Carter looked younger than her age, too young, in fact, making Marcus Gilbert look like a cradle robber. Also, instead of acting the part like the typical spirited heroine, Helena plays her more like a belligerent teenager with an attitude. Someone else would have been better in the role.

If you skip this one, no big deal.

Do you have to know who the daffy aristocrat turned pulp romance conveyor belt Barbara Cartland was to enjoy this? I'm not sure you do.

A young Helena Bonham Carter heads a surprisingly high-quality cast in a story that everybody involved knew from the start was a preposterous bodice-ripper. Knowing this, they have fun, with some tremendously over-ripe performances.

If you're into authentic period drama, run screaming for the hills. This is a "two bottles of Lambrini" honker that's a lot of fun once you adopt the necessary mindset.

I caught this movie when it first came out and it instantly became my favorite romance film. I was 12 then and I impatiently waited for it to come on TV again. I was fortunate enough to record it the second and third time that it re-appeared and I wish it was out on video for others to enjoy. It's not earth shattering, but cute, sweet and fun. Helena Bonham Carter is adorable and has spunk and Marcus Gilbert is a handsome devil that can make you melt down through the couch! This movie started me on Regency period novels and films (not to mention forever hunting down Marcus Gilbert film/TV appearances). If you have the chance, WATCH IT!! BUT REMEMBER: Do not take it too seriously or you will be doomed to disappointment! You can also find other TV movies from Barbara Cartland novels such as A Ghost In Monte Carlo (also w/Marcus Gilbert), Duel Of Hearts, and The Lady & The Highwayman (w/Hugh Grant). You might also enjoy The Scarlet Pimpernel.

So many twists and turns this movie requires your full attention. Unintentionally hilarious. I thought I was getting into a traditional regency movie boy was I wrong. Could not stop watching. The ages felt a bit weird but that's to be expected of regency movies. Some cute lines from but also some truly... odd... lines. A little confusing timeline but best I could research it's anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. Definitely some moments that feel unclear but the costuming and set are pretty! I will probably watch again someday for a good laugh. Short and wild a good break from endless studying.

I can't believe this silly film got such high ratings... the plot is just nonsense, and the heavy-weight actors and actresses must work hard to look somewhat believable with such a script... But naming a character Lord Vulcan? Really? Did he escape from Star Trek? Helena Bonham-Carter looks fresh-faced, young and virginal, and Edward Fox and Diana Rigg make short-shrift of their roles as villains...the only interesting take-aways from this silly film are, I have never seen a close-caption device make so many grammatical errors and misspellings, and I learned a new word: Furbelows (all the women there wear it, look it up). Not enough to make it worth watching, alas.

Years ago a friend introduced me to "A Hazard of Hearts" and I've been hooked ever since. Not only for Marcus Gilbert's beauty, though that doesn't hurt, but because it brings to life an era which seems more fantasy than the reality it once was. Never pass up the privilege of enjoying it's romance and mystique. If ever I'm fortunate enough to discover it again, I will be most pleased.

I have seen this movie more times than any other. My mother taped it off television and my sisters and I would watch it every day after school. I recently watched it again after not having seen it for several years, and despite my expectations of disappointment, I loved it just as much as ever. The old commercials are a kick too (pre-bunny Energizer commercials - TOO RIGHT THE EXTRAORDINARY ENERGIZER IT'LL SURPRISE YA!)

If you think, as I do, that Helena Bonham-Carter is one of the most charming faces and voices around, you will enjoy this young vision of her. And her eyebrows are more active here than anywhere else.

Helena Bonham-Carter is such a divinely eloquent actress, she shines above such veterans as Christopher Plummer, Diana Rigg, Edward Fox and Stewart Granger (the latter so very underused).

Plummer, Rigg and Fox are so horrifically over-the-top, you can only assume that the director was too intimidated by their previous credits to repress their cartoonish gleeful overacting.

Cartland works with a formula that makes this a very standard gothic romance, but it's saved, in parts, by the charm of the two leads, the extraordinary Bonham-Carter and the still little-seen Marcus Gilbert.

This also might not seem so infinitely cheesy if the predictable, derivative soundtrack didn't soar in so obviously.

Still, the film is a must for Bonham-Carter fans, if only to confirm what an excellent, expressive talent she is. And, as previous commentators have noted, this is ideal rainy Sunday afternoon fare.

This movie is such trash, but so totally unpretentious in its trashiness that one can't get too indignant at it. It's based on a Barbara Cartland novel - well, what more is there to say? I will carry with me forever some of the ridiculous lines and scenes from this movie, especially Edward Fox as a Regency villain, sitting on a horse and declaiming lustfully "I *shall* have her!" as he contemplates the winsome Helena Bonham-Carter. Just too funny for words; oh, MST3K, why were you taken from us before the greatest movie of them all came along?

Good typical Regency romance. Excellent scenery and some good actors in the movie. Costumes could have been a little better but over all I enjoyed it. Except I can't believe they cut the ending where the guy never quite kisses the girl. Just an impression that he does it. Wish it was out on video

So there I was, laid up with the 'flu. I flick to the midday movie - oh, it's got Helena Bonham-Carter in it. Groovy. Little did I know that I was in for two hours of cliched corny crap that also proved extremely difficult to stop watching despite all my efforts. I swear, I tried so hard to stop! But it was just so (unintentionally) amusing!

The cliches just kept on coming; the acting was terrible (apart from Bonham-Carter); the direction clumsy; the costumes and set design cheap. I know, it was made for television; but so was My Beautiful Laundrette.

But what really made me frustrated was the hero - throughout the whole film, purportedly a romance-adventure, he always, every single time, kissed Helena on the forehead. Like she was a little girl. It killed me.

Watch it for laughs, but don't expect anything else.

I totally enjoyed this movie because it was terrible! The producers surely didn't mean for it to be a satire, but that's how it should be viewed. I must explain. I am a romance-addict. It all started when I was forced to read "Pride and Prejudice" in 9th grade English Lit. That was it. I was hooked and having devoured Austin, I moved on to her much less talented imitators, such as the author of this story, Barbara Cartland. This movie is a classic Regency plot. It has everything: a plucky Young Heroine, a gorgeous Rake with a Dark Secret, a Scheming Mama (who is also the Affronted Dowager), a Dissipated Lord who Loses Everything in a Foolish Wager, an Abduction, a Forced Marriage and even a Highwayman with a Heart of Gold. What a riot! The cast is great- Diana Rigg chews the scenery as she pacing menacingly in her be-feathered turbans. Helena Bonham Carter does the pouting consternation thing she at which she excelled in her Corset Days. The Hero is dressed with sartorial elegance in Biscuit-Colored Inexpressibles and Gleaming Hessians (his valet must have used champagne in the blacking!) The best-worst thing about the film is the score- the music is SO over-the-top! It really pushes the film from moderately bad to hilariously awful! I loved every minute of it! If you're a fan of costume romance and melodrama, watch this one for a good laugh at yourself!

This is an incredibly corny adaptation of a Barbara Cartland novel. Diana Rigg as the evil mother figure wears a variety of increasingly bizarre hats, Edward Fox bumbles his way through it in typical English aristocratic fashion and Stewart Granger turning up was a real plus! Helena Bonham-Carter looks more like a pug than ever in this, but it's the anachronistic costume colours which are the real highlight. Diana Rigg in a bright tangerine ensemble is an abiding image! For sheer trash value, Hazard of Hearts is worth a 10 out of 10.

I know that Lord Grade (as producer) has been jokingly referred to as "Low" Grade and I knew that Barbara Cartland is supposed to be absolute dreck, but, even given that, this 'film' is so much worse than I expected considering some of the talent involved. Diana Rigg does seem to consciously add a bit of camp to the proceedings and has some very amusing (intentionally? maybe not) lines, but it's a shame that former Avengers writer/producer Albert Fennell couldn't come up with something more worthy of her considering the great genuine wit of that series. We even have music by Avengers composer Laurie Johnson. And one of the New Avengers has a nice little cameo. The dialogue, which I am assuming, comes full-blown from the pen of Cartland (all I can think about is that great Little Britain sketch with Matt Lucas in drag churning out yet another bad formulaic assembly-line bodice-ripper) is some of the most atrocious, cliché, and insipid I have heard in years. I thought they, thankfully, stopped making movies this bad some time in the 1930s. Some of the apparently clueless women who love this sort of coded 'romance' novel and who claim to swoon over the spoiled brat control freaks (not far removed from Cristian Gray) that supposedly pass for men in this odious world of 'romance' are just mind-boggling at not recognizing abusive behavior for what it is. It's anything but romantic.

The film in style and manner of photography, the environment and a slightly exaggerated cloak-and-dagger story relates directly to the heyday of Gainsborough romances in the 40's, and there is actually nothing missing here. Even the music is somewhat exaggeratedly romantic. Helena Bonham-Carter is good enough as the grossly manhandled victim of the plot which contains some galleries of rogues, the worst of all though being Diana Rigg as the mother, a virtuoso performance of cruelty. Of course, much of this messy and shabby story is highly improbable, and the one who exaggerates most of all is James Fox - you will probably never have seen him more despicable. Christopher Plummer represents a portion of heart-rending tragedy, while the brief relief of Stewart Granger's contribution is actually a refreshing change from all the shocking criminal schemes going on. You don't expect much of Marcus Gilbert but that he will be like the rest of them, just another devil, but here is actually some character development. The one good person throughout this nightmare of outrageously cruel and wicked intrigue is Anna Massey as Eudora with a wooden leg. I's great entertainment, and although you will find most of this sordid mess highly objectionable, there are some nicer ingredients lighting up the dreary mess. There is hardly any tenderness at all anywhere, all is drowned in ruthless egoism, but some good will eventually come out of it after all.