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| MRS HENDERSON PRESENTS |
Year: 2005
USA: The Weinstein Company
UK: Pathé Distribution
Cast: Judi Dench, Bob Hoskins, Will Young, Christopher Guest, Kelly
Reilly, Thelma Barlow, Anna Brewster, Rosalind Halstead, Sarah Solemani,
Natalia Tena, Doraly Rosen, Camille O'Sullivan, Shona McWilliams, Elise
Audeyev, Victoria Hay
Director: Stephen Frears
Country: UK
USA & UK: 103 mins
USA Rated: R for nudity and brief language
UK Certificate: 12A contains moderate sex references and one use of
strong language
USA Release Date: 3 February 2006
USA Release Date: 13 January 2006 (Limited Release - wider)
USA Release Date: 9 December 2005 (Limited Release - New York and
Los Angeles)
UK Release Date: 25 November 2005
PHASE9
movie review
Reviews: Phase9
movie review
Synopsis
London, 1937. Mrs Laura Henderson (Judi Dench), a woman of wealth and
connections, has just buried her beloved husband. And now she’s bored.
At 69, she is far too energetic and vital to fade into gentle widowhood.
What she needs, says her friend Lady Conway (Thelma Barlow), is a hobby.
Collecting diamonds, perhaps? Or doing charitable works? But, to the shock
of her friends she instead buys a theatre – the Windmill Theatre in the
heart of Soho.
She knows nothing about running it, so she hires a manager: enter Vivian
Van Damm (Bob Hoskins). A showbiz pro, he is shocked too by Mrs Henderson:
she is outrageous, provocative and eccentric. And rather rude. Van Damm
bans her from rehearsals owing to her endless interference, so she dresses
up as a Chinese matron, then a polar bear, to spy on him. Their love-hate
relationship sparks fireworks – and historic innovations in British
theatre.
Van Damm’s idea for Revuedeville, or non-stop entertainment, is a first,
and the Windmill is packed – until other theatres copy it. Then it’s
Laura’s turn to devise another first – put naked girls on stage!
Giving in to her persuasive powers, the Lord Chamberlain, the censor,
grants them a licence, on the condition the naked girls don’t move, thus
imitating art. The Windmill’s tableaux, or naked girls in themed
settings, are a sensational hit with British families and the troops, many
of whom are off to fight in the war.
But as the bombing of London begins, the government threatens to close the
theatre. Mrs Henderson’s fighting spirit is revealed – and so is the
secret that drew her to buy the Windmill in the first place.
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