vernon film society
Bringing the best in world and Canadian film to film lovers of Vernon and the North Okanagan
MRS HENDERSON PRESENTSDirector: Stephen Frears "Sherman’s words and Dench’s delivery are a match made in movie heaven, while Hoskins makes for an equally committed sparring partner. There’s a palpable Hepburn-Tracy vibe to their lively exchanges." – Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter
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Dame Judy Dench (LADIES IN LAVENDER, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE) plays the eccentric Laura Henderson who, widowed and at loose ends at the age of seventy, buys an abandoned Soho cinema and turns it into what would become the historic Windmill Theatre. Knowing nothing about theatre, she hires the irascible Vivian van Damm (Bob Hoskins, BEYOND THE SEA, VANITY FAIR) to run it and re-opens its doors as Revudeville. Nothing seems to bring the vaudeville house to life until Mrs. Henderson has a flash of inspiration: produce a nude revue. She neatly sidesteps the censorship laws by freezing the performers as “tableaux vivants” in which the showgirls do not move a muscle.
Van Damm insists on artistic freedom, but Mrs. Henderson’s constant stream of ideas means the two are bound to butt heads, and indeed, they do. MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS is a triumphant mix of deft comedy and stunning stage numbers that recreate the nude revues that made the Windmill the British equivalent of the Moulin Rouge. Stephen Frears (DIRTY PRETTY THINGS, DANGEROUS LIAISONS) is unquestionably at the top of his form. "Just as there will always be an England, there will always be a certain kind of English film: the highly polished entertainment, well-acted, genteelly amusing and impeccably turned out. Mrs. Henderson Presents is the latest example of the trend and an especially satisfying one." - Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times |
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A Gala presentation at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival®, MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS is a lively and invigorating love letter to a famous London theatre, an homage to Britain’s wartime experiences and an evocation of the great musicals that lit up the screen during the thirties and forties. 
The Windmill Theatre becomes a smash hit, and when the war begins, the theatre provides a haven for thousands of young soldiers. Meanwhile, the young models that provide the on-stage glamour are involved in their own backstage dramas, including a romance between a soldier and one of the beautiful Windmill girls. But the core of the film is the tumultuous relationship between owner and impresario.