Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)

Maggie McNarmara, Dorothy McGuire, and Jean Peters star in this Academy Award nominated film about three American secretaries working abroad in Rome, Italy.

Charade (1963)

Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant star in this delightful romantic comedy involving spies and missing money. Set in Paris. Walter Matthau also makes an appearance as a CIA agent.

The Best of Everything (1959)

Original tagline: "These are the girls who want the best of everything...but often settle for a lot less!" Mid-century drama following the lives of three young career women living in New York City.

High Society (1956)

Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly and Frank Sinatra star in this delightful musical comedy remake of the beloved classic The Philadelphia Story (1940).

Far From Heaven (2002)

Set against a spectacular autumn palette, Juilanne Moore, Dennis Quaid, and Dennis Haysbert star in this compelling drama which grapples with issues of race and homosexuality in conservative 1950s Connecticut.

Death In Venice (1971)

An aging German music composer sojourns to Venice in hopes of improving his health and finds himself enraptured by the beauty of a young adolescent boy. A visually mesmerizing film.

Cracks (2009)

Based on the novel of the same name, Eva Green stars as a young, charismatic teacher at an all-girls English boarding school.

Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005)

Based on the true story of the Windmill Theatre in London, Judi Dench stars as a wealthy, eccentric widow who purchases a theatre and turns it into a somewhat Moulin Rouge-esque venue that featured nude performers.

Desk Set (1957)

The introduction of computer technology renders the reference jobs of three women potentially useless. Stars Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy.

Sylvia (2003)

A biopic of writer Sylvia Plath set in the 1950s starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Daniel Craig.

Howard's End (1992)

Emma Thompson, Anthony Hopkins and Helena Bonham Carter star in this E.M. Forster classic set in turn-of-the-century England.

August 21, 2012

Rosemary & Thyme: Full-time gardeners, part-time sleuths

While I prepare my next massive post on Poirot, I just wanted to quickly drop in and say "Hello!" and briefly mention this lovely little British TV series that I stumbled upon on Netflix. Having consumed all there is to watch when it comes to screen adaptations of Agatha Christie's detective novels, I needed something else to scratch my itch for crime mysteries and Rosemary & Thyme did just the trick! What I love most about this delightful series is that although each episode involves murder, the scenes themselves are not graphic and the overall tone is that of a light-hearted one. So if you're a fan of shows featuring elderly female sleuths such as Miss Marple, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, or Mr. She Wrote, you might consider checking out Rosemary & Thyme. 

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The pilot starts off with horticultural professor Rosemary Boxer (Felicity Kendal) getting sacked from her university due to budget cuts and ex-policewoman turned housewife with a penchant for gardening Laura Thyme (Pam Ferris) in the throes of a divorce after discovering that her husband of 20-something years had been cheating on her with a 23-year old blond who "is as thin as a bloody rail." The two middle aged women meet under coincidental circumstances and after solving homicide together, realize that they make quite the team and thus decide to start a new chapter in both of their lives by becoming business partners (as landscapers).

The chemistry between Laura and Rosemary is great and the duo prove to be a delight to watch but this show might be particularly enchanting for the gardening enthusiast because you are treated to breathtaking settings such as these below:

the perfect seating area
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grand English estate with beautifully manicured lawns
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such gorgeous brick archways!
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the private gardens behind the large row houses in the Notting Hill neighborhood of London
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Because Rosemary was previously an academic and traveled far and wide in the spirit of research, she has friends and colleagues all over the world and the wealthier ones always seem to be in need of a garden over-haul. Thus, Rosemary and Laura are frequently invited to France, Italy and Spain and we as viewers get to indulge in locales such as this one below:

somewhere along the French coast
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an drool-worthy villa with a magnificent set of stairs leading up to the main entrance
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pool-house/green-house
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a Moorish-influenced garden in southern Spain:
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I haven't written a post featuring noteworthy locations/settings in a long time but this one was too wonderful to pass up. I hope you enjoy the images! Rosemary & Thyme is available on Netflix.

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