Margery and Gladys

Haven't seen Penelope Keith on TV in ages. It was either this or Groundhog Day. Am glad I watched this one. You will enjoy this on TV or DVD if is available. Basically the plot is:

Wealthy housewife Margery and her rough-diamond cleaner, Gladys, disturb a burglar, knock him unconscious in self-protection, then panic and leave him for dead. But, unknown to them, he survives and escapes. Believing themselves unintentional killers, the two flee in Gladys's old wreck of a car, commencing a journey of comedic misunderstandings in which these two very different ladies embark on a shared voyage of self-discovery. The two take to the open road and a fugitive lifestyle like ducks to water. However, with money short and Gladys needing medication, the duo is forced into a surprisingly full-blown crime spree, proving more than a match for an unlikely pair of policemen, Detective Inspector Woolley and Detective Sergeant Stringer.

The drama, Margery & Gladys, unfolded quickly and moved smoothly along. The casting of comic legend Penelope Keith and another great talent, June Brown was brilliant. I only came upon this by accident while changing channels. I loved watching Penelope Keith and June Brown (in something other than East Enders) together. Penelope is truly a British treasure and should be given Damehood for her contributions to television comedy. I love Penelope Keith. June Brown can hold her own against Penelope in this drama. Penelope is perfectly cast as Margery, the snobbish wealthy Kent widow, and June Brown as Gladys, her cleaning lady. They begin their usual day by doing their routine until a burglar enters and changes their lives forever. Like any good drama and comedy, there are laughs along the way when they run out of money, break into a pharmacy, etc. They are the unlikeliest of friends too. They are complete opposites. We learn their secrets along the way. It is the most entertaining drama around today. If it had been in the cinemas, Penelope Keith and June Brown would have been honored with Oscar nominations. I won't spoil the ending. I found Margery's son, Graham, to be quite amusing and interesting. He is the strangest character around. It was wonderful to see Marcia Warren again. She's another great British talent! For all it's worth, I enjoyed this team much better than Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis.

This British TV movie is a must for fans of classic Britcoms who will recognize Penelope Keith from various TV series. Here, she plays a 60-something widow who lives in a posh neighborhood that has been the target a recent break-ins. While her cleaning lady (June Brown) is working one day, they catch a punk in the midst of robbing the house. Keith smashes a vase over his head. They think he's dead. What ensues is a mostly comic romp as the mismatched women run from the police. After all, a neighborhood watch meeting recently warned home owners that British laws do not favor them when they defend their homes and lives.

As the women race across the countryside in a beat-up Fiesta, they each learn a whole lot about each other, even though Brown has been Keith's cleaning lady for decades. Aside from hiding from the police, they have to deal with Brown's diabetes and the fact they left the house without any money or credit cards.

Also good are Adam Godley as Keith's repressed son with a cleaning fetish, Roger Lloyd Pack as the detective counting the days til retirement, Peter Vaughan as Brown's smarmy husband, and Martin Freeman as the dumb sergeant.

The journey is quite funny as the ladies travel by train to Blackpool with a bunch of George Formby (a major British film star of the 30s and 40s) impersonators, the perfect touch for their surreal journey. Just outside Blackpool, they make a shocking discovery that changes their lives and destinies.

Keith and Brown work very well together and are a delight to watch as they get deeper and deeper into trouble, in turn bickering with and rescuing each other. For those who know Penelope Keith only as Margo or Audrey from TV, her dramatic moments in this film will be a real eye-opener. Be sure to watch the closing credits where all the characters' stories are wrapped up in a series of post cards. Wonderful surprise ending for the Brown and Keith characters.

The music includes two George Formby songs: "Leaning on a Lamp Post" and "My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock," which is a local hard candy.

Hard to find, but I finally found this on DVD from UK.

I watched it last night and although it had its funny moments this reworking of the 'Odd Couple' began to sag after an hour. The humour is based around having a a female middle class snob and a very working class woman in the same car when things start to go wrong. The whole plot is too far fetched and the car journey is far too long! So long that I wanted to scream! Both main actresses are good but the problem lies in the length of the film. Penelope Keith plays her usual middle class lady looking down upon all and sundry but her character is one dimensional and there is only so many times that you can chuckle at her snobby sarcasm and her superior tone of voice.This was in essence an hour long comedy, but as it was the humour becomes clichéd and the whole thing becomes laboured. This film should have been entitled 'Audrey Forbes Hamilton meets Dot Cotton.'

It is easy for the frequent viewer of television to become pessimistic about the future of the medium. The proliferation of channels has led to fragmentation of the audience and a general shortage of money for quality programs. But then, along comes a gem like "Margery and Gladys". The story and the humanistic style remind me strongly of the comedy/spy production "Sleepers" (1990) and it comes as no surprise that one of the writers, Andrew McCulloch, contributed to both productions. The direction, camera-work and acting were first rate and the editing (i.e. cutting from scene to scene) was just right for maintaining attention. As a person over 60 with UK background, I was delighted by the snatches of George Formby songs towards the end. Formby was to the 1940s what the Beatles were to the 1960s.

Anyway, the TV industry is not doomed as long as movies like this can be produced. I'm delighted to see that it is liked in the USA despite its rather British flavor.