Obviously Ian McKellen over Lawrence Olivier, but has anyone else seen Al Pacino's version in "Finding Richard"? I have a soft spot for that, I must say - Shakespeare for beginners.
And who did kill the Princes in the Tower? In the days of my girlhood, when I was still a romantic, and full of Josephine Tey and Paul Murray Kendall, I rooted for Henry VII.
Now I'm not so sure; but had I been Richard, living then (same era as Cesare Borgia et al) and in his situation, I probably would've.
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- 05 Apr. 2006 @ 12:36:13
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lizdavies
- 05 Apr. 2006 @ 13:47:13
I think it was seeing the stage version of McKellen, which was very clever, at a time when we were quite into amateur theatricals, that sets that one in my mind. I like Olivier too, in spite of the ham, and I expect had I ever seen him live, it may have been different.
Yes, it's partly reading AJ Pollard and the like that has altered my view.
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Have you read "Richard III - England's Black Legend" by Desmond Seward? Neither this nor Pollard dramatically changed my view that Henry VII is the more likely murderer - or rather commissioner of murder - but (speaking as the person who first lent you "The Daughter of Time") I don't feel quite the same passion I felt in the days before we were even teen-agers when I spent more than a year talking you round to my point of view. I'm not going to do it again.
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Usksider
Pro - http://www.usksider.co.uk
- 05 Apr. 2006 @ 12:49:28
Another fan of Josephine Tey's The Daughter of Time here (I still have my copy and re-read it just a few weeks back).
You may also want to take a brief look at the Crime Library.-
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lizdavies
- 05 Apr. 2006 @ 13:59:05
We often visit the National Portrait Gallery in London, and apart from the BP exhibition every year, I love the early portraits, and always go and have another gaze at Richard III.
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Usksider
Pro
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- 05 Apr. 2006 @ 14:41:59
There are two portraits of Richard that come readily to mind, one facing right, the other facing left: I have no idea of either artist, but I'm sure both were comissioned by Richard. Right facing Richard is, I think, the most commonly used image, but my favourite is the left facing Richard. There is a small smile on his lips and he looks far from the in-human villain he is painted.
Are you aware of The Little Guniea-pig:
There was a little guinea-pig,
Who, being little, was not big;
He always walked upon his feet,
And never fasted when he eat.
When from a place he run away,
He never at the place did stay;
And while he run, as I am told,
He ne'er stood still for young or old.
He often squeaked, and sometimes violent,
And when he squeaked he ne'er was silent.
Though ne'er instructed by a cat,
He knew a mouse was not a rat.
One day, as I am certified,
He took a whim and fairly died;
And as I am told by men of sense,
He never has been living since.-
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lizdavies
- 05 Apr. 2006 @ 15:18:22
I always think of him as the right-facing one, as being the cover picture to my edition of Paul Murray Kendall, but the other one shows the family resemblance to Edward IV's standard portrait better.
I don't like guinea pigs. We had some as children, and one ate the others in a very gory and unneccessary way.-
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lizdavies
- 05 Apr. 2006 @ 15:21:03
I've also got an anecdote about my late Grandma, who was a real Mrs Malaprop. We were sitting watching a vet programme on TV and she said, of the small furry animals on screen "What are those again? Is it Hampsteads or Gorballs?"
"They might be Guinea Pigs", I replied. I swear this is true.-
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Usksider
Pro
- http://www.usksider.co.uk
- 05 Apr. 2006 @ 15:24:48
Oh no, Gorballs is much better.
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Usksider
Pro
- http://www.usksider.co.uk
- 05 Apr. 2006 @ 15:23:24
They've a tendency to do that (guinea-pigs) as have gerbils (probably other rodents too).
Yes you can certainly see the father in the son. -
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I still say that only cats and dogs are real pets, living as members of the family rather than stuck in a cage, tank, hutch or stable.
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lizdavies
- 06 Apr. 2006 @ 21:31:16
No, I haven't read the Sewell book - I'm at the end of "The Fellowship of the Ring" right now. And cats aren't pets - they are pet owners, with people as their pets! "Our" Sid & Buddy are still at daggers drawn.
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Actually I prefer the Lawrence Olivier version, for all it hamminess (is that a real word?).
I loved the Josephine Tey book but for the latest thinking you might want to try:
Richard III and the Princes in the Tower
by A. J. Pollard