Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Jan 10, 2021 15:35:43 GMT -8
Dandelion DeadThis four-part English crime-drama from 1994 is based on the true-story case of Major Herbert Rowse Armstrong from 1922. We’ll see if subsequent episodes are as good, but this first one is satisfying unto itself and certainly one could view just the one and stop there. Michael Kitchens plays the somewhat creepily-happy-go-lucky henpecked husband, Major Armstrong. Sarah Miles is brilliant as the dour, demanding, and dank Catherine Armstrong. There is no preamble to this relationship. We don’t know how they got to the place they are now. We just dive right in and quickly become sympathetic to Mr. Armstrong’s cause to elicit an attitude adjustment in his wife via arsenic. But it all gets a little more ghastly and tragic than that. At some point, understandable mental duress gives way to villainy. Well-acted all around, but it’s somewhat of a depressing story. Don’t watch it for laughs-and-giggles. But if you like a good crime drama, so far so good.
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Post by timothylane on Jan 10, 2021 15:58:34 GMT -8
I've read about the Armstrong case. It may have been in studies of forensic toxicology, or in the biography of Spilsbury, or both. As I recall, he didn't get away with it.
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Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Jan 10, 2021 16:12:20 GMT -8
In this production, there’s never a doubt about him not getting away with it because he’s shown briefly (as part of the opening credits?) in the docket. Kitchens is an acquired taste as an actor, although I think few will dislike the way he plays Armstrong. I liked him in Foyle’s War (for a few seasons, anyway). He was memorable as the king in To Play the King which is the sequel to House of Cards. And there’s not a heck of a lot of variance between The King and Armstrong. But then, Kitchens has a particular style and that’s pretty much it. Renowned character actor, Peter Vaughn, plays the doctor. Some might remember him as John Turner in “The Boscombe Valley Mystery” with Jeremy Brett. He’s outstanding in that. He’s also in a miniseries called The Danedyke Mystery. It’s rated at 7.3 at IMDB and it looks like a good cast. I’m going to see if I can dig that one up (an appropriate choice of terms for a murder mystery).  |
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Post by timothylane on Jan 10, 2021 17:20:06 GMT -8
People do get acquitted, so showing Armstrong in the docket doesn't prove that he was convicted. But in fact he was not only convicted, but according to wikipedia he's the only solicitor in English history to be executed. They mention Dandelion Death, which refers to his claim that the arsenic trioxide packets he carried with him were for getting rid of dandelions. He had a hard time explaining why he was caught carrying one in December.
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Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Jan 10, 2021 17:40:54 GMT -8
We at least know from that shot that he didn’t evade suspicion. And according to this portrayal, his wife already had a diagnosed condition. Something to do with the nerves, and not physical in origin, says the doctor. Armstrong apparently gave her arsenic in presumably small doses over a length of time. One of the manifestations of her physical distress was a clear mental affliction of some kind. The symptoms were considered by the doctor to be consistent with his earlier diagnosis.
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Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Jan 10, 2021 20:04:14 GMT -8
It turns out, as presented on Britbox, I had already seen the first half. IMDB lists this as four episodes, which I’m sure it was when it was originally broadcast. Britbox has it in two parts. This is a rare biopic that is smoothly done. A lot of “based on a true story” tend to awkwardly jump around. Time certainly moved forward here and there. But this was not a series that was chopped up. It felt like a real story, not a condensed series of facts. And who knows how much of the fine-grained detail (such as family life) was made up. Whatever the case may be, it seemed realistic and plausible. One reviewer writes: I wouldn’t give it such short shrift. Kitchens has a Hitchcockian creepiness to him as he’s all smiles and (at some point) the fellow across the street from his business knows that Armstrong simply wants to poison him and keeps refusing to go to tea with him. At times there is some good dark humor in this. One reviewer calls this series, “Well-mannered, low key.” That is an excellent description and I’d wish I’d thought of it. From the same reviewer, this is an excellent description of Kitchens in his role as Armstrong: They do wrap things up rather quickly at the end. The trial scenes at the end are brief. That same reviewer shares some of the trial info. Did Mrs. Armstrong commit suicide as the defense claimed? The business rival (Martin) that he poisoned died two years later “depressed and showing signs of continuing damage from the poison.” The on-screen relationship between Mr. Martin and his girlfriend is really good stuff. But dry. You have to love British shows. No car crashes in this one, just fine acting. |
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Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Jan 10, 2021 20:10:53 GMT -8
Yes, what little we see of the trial does include the judge (apparently a famous personage of the time) asking Armstrong about that packet of arsenic that he was carrying around. That was highly incriminating.
I’m surprised a snake such as Armstrong didn’t offer something like, “I divide the poison into packets, put them in my pocket, and then apply them to the dandelions as I wander around the lawns. Occasionally I don’t use them all and it wouldn’t be the first time that I would have reached into my pocket for a match and found that I had one of these blasted packets still on me.”
Or something. Maybe I’d just make a good criminal. But I was surprised when he apparently offered basically no excuse at all.
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Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
Posts: 12,261
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Post by Brad Nelson on Jan 10, 2021 20:23:11 GMT -8
This is a gem of a description of the character played by Kitchens:
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Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Jan 10, 2021 21:17:06 GMT -8
LOL. Oh, yeah. Kitchens would make a fantastic RINO. And that’s the sort of milquetoast king he brilliantly plays in “To Play the King.” I hope you’ve had a chance to watch that. But he’s a respectable king. I love (a different king, I think) the pathetic King Edward VIII in Edward and Mrs. Simpson played by Edward Fox. Rivaling Fox is the oily King Edward VIII played by Alex Jennings in The Crown. In the Fox portrayal (if memory serves), the king was clearly wrong, destructively stubborn, and more than a bit of a royal snowflake. But you could have some sympathy for him. He wasn’t an inherently unlikable guy. (Hey, apparently Churchill did indeed like him.) The Alex Jennings portrayal is surely the one preferred by Queen Elizabeth II herself. This guy is a seriously ugly character. I hope you’ve had a chance to see at least the first two seasons of The Crown. In season three, for some inexplicable reason, Olivia Colman (the Broadchurch sidekick) takes over for the Queen and I think it’s so bad, I just couldn’t stay with it. |
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