The Lady and the Highwayman *** (1989, Emma Samms, Oliver Reed, Claire Bloom, Hugh Grant, Michael York, John Mills, Ian Bannen, Robert Morley) – Classic Movie Review 9970

Cavaliers versus Roundheads, lecherous lords and lovely ladies, masked men and moody mistressess – John Hough’s 1988 swashbuckling adventure The Lady and the Highwayman was a new Gainsborough Picture, no less, happily reviving memories of the British boddice-ripper studio’s heyday.

It stars Emma Samms, Oliver Reed, Claire Bloom, Christopher Cazenove, Lysette Anthony, Hugh Grant, Michael York, John Mills, Ian Bannen, Robert Morley, Bernard Miles, Gordon Jackson and Gareth Hunt.

Lord Lew Grade gamely conjures up the mood of the old Gainsborough Pictures studio’s 1940s films (especially the Margaret Lockwood/James Mason The Wicked Lady) with the help of an all-star cast of British Equity’s finest in his production of a Barbara Cartland romantic swashbuckler novel, Cupid Rides Pillion.

The Lady and the Highwayman is escapist tosh, but handled with enthusiasm and professionalism by director Hough. As the lady, Barbara Castlemaine, Emma Samms stands in nicely for Margaret Lockwood, and Hugh Grant, as Lord Lucius Vyne, stands in nicely for James Mason. Oliver Reed, Claire Bloom, Christopher Cazenove as Sir Phillip Gage, Lady Emma Darlington Rudolph Vyne are also notable. It set in England in the 1660s, at the time of the Restoration to the throne of King Charles II (Michael York).

It runs 100 minutes but the video version runs 89 minutes.

It is Gordon Jackson’s last film before his death of bone cancer in 1990, aged 67.

The movie is quite poignant now, as so many of the people involved have passed away.

Also in the cast are Steffanie Pitt, Floyd Bevan, Wayne Michaels, Lamya Derval, Forbes Collins, Liz Fraser, James Booth, Tommy Duggan, John Bascomb, Greg Powell, Preston Lockwood, Stephen Chase, Octavia Verdin, Lea Rochelle, Dorothy Lawrence, Jeffrey Dench and Terence Plummer.

The Lady and the Highwayman is directed by John Hough, runs 100 minutes, is made by Gainsborough Pictures and Grade Company, is released by Parkfield, is written by Terence Feely and Peter Manley, is shot by Terry Cole, is produced by Lew Grade, John Hough, Albert Fennell and Peter Manley, is scored by Laurie Johnson and designed by Keith Wilson.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9970

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