“Sense & Sensibility:” Norland Park and Barton Cottage

by HOOKEDONHOUSES on JANUARY 10, 2010

When I was 13, I picked up my first Jane Austen novel–Pride & Prejudice. After that, I was hooked. I bought the Penguin collection of all of her books (the set with orange paperbacks in a box) and didn’t stop until I read them all. These days I’m a fan of the film versions that have been made of Austen’s books, too.

Emma Thompson won an Oscar in 1995 for her screenplay of Sense & Sensibility, and with good reason–it brought the story alive for us in a way no other version had. When the movie opens, we meet the Dashwood sisters–Elinor (Emma Thompson) and Marianne (a young, pre-Titanic Kate Winslet)–who have grown up at Norland Park, where they have known nothing but wealth, security, and privilege.

Norland Park:

Saltram House, the largest country house in Devon (U.K.), was used as the location of Norland Park. It was built in 1743 but expanded on over the generations. It has belonged to theNational Trust since 1957 and is open to tourists. (Photo and information found here.)

We don’t see much of the exterior in the movie–we just get glimpses of it like the one above.

In The Sense and Sensibility Screenplay & Diaries: Bringing Jane Austen’s Novel to Film, Thompson wrote that after filming a sequence that involved a flock of sheep, Ang Lee swore that he would never again use the animals on a movie set. Ten years later, he went on to directBrokeback Mountain (2005), in which the main characters were sheep herders (IMDb).

Marianne (Winslet) is an accomplished pianist who plays dramatically, with feeling, as suits her personality:

An awkward dinner with their stepbrother and his horrible wife Fanny, who is truly insufferable (Jane Austen could write insufferable characters better than anyone!):

Fanny shows her brother Edward (Hugh Grant) around the library and explains her plans to change just about everything about the grand old house when she is mistress of it:

The movie changed Emma Thompson’s life in more ways than one. She met Greg Wise on the set (he played Willoughby, the man who broke Marianne’s heart) and married him in 2003. They have a daughter named Gaia together.

This treehouse on the grounds of Norland Park is one of my favorite “houses” in the movie. I love it! Elinor’s little sister Margaret likes to hide out here:

Elinor and Edward (Hugh Grant) stroll the grounds around Norland Park (and we get another glimpse of the exterior of Saltram House):

When Elinor and Marianne’s father dies, British law dictates that everything go to his male heir. Their older half-brother takes over Norland Park and the Dashwoods–including their mother and younger sister–are evicted. They are given shelter by a generous cousin in Devonshire, and they move into a humble cottage on his property.

Barton Cottage in Devonshire:

Moving to the cottage is not easy. The Dashwood women must suddenly adapt to life without a house full of servants doing everything for them. It’s not all bad, though. As Fanny (Harriet Walter) says in the movie:

“Ooh, a cottage! How charming. A little cottage is always very snug.”

Efford House is the name of the actual cottage used for film. You can rent it for your next holiday! For information and photos of how it looks today, visit the Flete Estate website.

Colonel Brandon (Alan Rickman) is so struck by Marianne (Winslet) that he sends her a pianoforte to practice on.

If you haven’t seen the BBC “Sense & Sensibility” miniseries that came out in 2008, I highly recommend it. They can fit so much more of the story into a miniseries than a two-hour movie can. The casting is great, and the cottage used for the miniseries is pretty wonderful, too.

Emma Thompson spent years writing the screenplay for the movie, and it went through countless revisions. The first draft came to 350 hand-written pages.

For the movie, she reportedly wanted sisters Natasha and Joely Richardson to play Elinor and Marianne, but director Ang Lee insisted that Thompson play Elinor instead. Since she was too old to play a 19-year-old girl, the character’s age was changed to 27. At the time, Thompson was 36, so it was still a stretch (as many movie critics pointed out).

Colonel Brandon reads poetry to Marianne on the front lawn as she recuperates from an illness that nearly killed her:

Do you recognize Gemma Jones, who plays Mrs. Dashwood (their mother)? In 2001 she played Bridget’s mother in Bridget Jones’s Diary.

(Speaking of which–did you hear that they’re making a third Bridget Jones movie? Let’s hope it’s better than the second. The third movie will be based on Helen Fielding’s newspaper column, since there is no third novel in the series.)

Do you have a favorite Jane Austen movie? I watch the 1995 version of Persuasionwith Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds when I’m up for a good cry. I pull out Emma with Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeremy Northam when I want a good laugh.

But Pride & Prejudice has to be my favorite. The 1996 miniseries with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy is a classic and the favorite of most Austen fans, but I have to admit that the 2006 movie with Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfayden is the one I watch over and over again. How about you?

Visit my TV/Movie Houses page for links to all the others I’ve featured, from Jane Eyre to Howards End.

You might also like:

Kate Winslet’s English Cottage in “The Holiday”

Howards End: An Ivy-Covered Cottage in the Country

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The Beach House from Joan Crawford’s “Mildred Pierce”

by HOOKEDONHOUSES on APRIL 3, 2011

With all the attention that the new HBO miniseries “Mildred Pierce” has been getting, I thought it would be fun to revisit the original classic from 1945. I hadn’t seen it since I was a teenager and all I really remembered about it was Joan Crawford, her fur coat, and the murder in the beach house.

Watching it again, I was struck by how amazing all the sets and costumes were. But before we get to the famous beach house, let’s take a look at the Spanish bungalow the Pierce family lived in. (Warning for those of you who haven’t seen this whodunit–spoilers ahead!)

The Pierce Family Home in Glendale

Mildred Pierce is a classic example of 1940s film noir. It opens with a murder and then we see what happened in a series of flashbacks until the mystery of who fired the gun is revealed at the end. The famous tagline for the movie was “Please Don’t Tell Anyone What Mildred Pierce Did!”

Mildred’s house on Corvallis Street in Glendale is shown as a one-story Spanish-style bungalow, but the interior set has a staircase leading to a second story with the bedrooms.

Here’s a publicity shot from the movie of Pierce family–Bert, Mildred, and their daughters Veda and Kay. (In the remake, the youngest daughter is named Ray. Since the remake is based more closely on the novel by James M. Cain, I assume she was Ray in the book and it was changed for the first movie. Does anyone know for sure?)

Joan Crawford was 40 and considered a “has-been” after a string of flops at MGM. Michael Curtiz had to be convinced to cast her. He originally wanted Bette Davis, but she turned it down.

Shirley Temple was originally considered for the part of Mildred’s older daughterVeda, but it went to Ann Blyth instead. She was 17 at the time and was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.

Bruce Bennett, who played Mildred’s well-meaning husband Bert, was an Olympic shot-putter in the 1928 games. He retired from acting in 1960 and became the sales manager of a vending machine company.

Mildred says she feels like she was born in the kitchen. When times get tough, she gets cookin’! After husband Bert loses his job as a real estate agent (“Suddenly no one was buying any more”), she makes ends meet by baking cakes.

As it says in the trailer for the miniseries, “She gave her daughter everything. But everything wasn’t enough.” Boy, that’s an understatement. The only time we see a truly good side of Veda is in her interactions with her little sister Kay, who she actually seems to care for. When Kay dies of pneumonia, Veda is heartbroken.

The sisters share a bedroom at the top of the stairs. In this scene, Mildred is peering through the open door and overhears Veda complaining about how cheap and ugly the dress is that her mother worked so hard to buy for her.

Tragically, Mildred refuses to listen to everyone who warns her about Veda and continues to spoil her rotten. When Kay dies, Mildred clutches Veda and says, “Please, God, don’t let anything ever happen to Veda!”

Evan Rachel Wood was cast as Veda for the new miniseries and definitely has the right look for the part. Even when she smiles, she looks like she’s up to no good:

While we’re on the topic of the remake, here’s a shot taken as they filmed in the Gables area of Merrick, New York, which passes for Glendale in 1935 (more info and photos at Awards Daily):

I’ve only seen the first two parts of the miniseries so far, so maybe things will pick up. But when I was watching it last week with my husband, his comment was, “Apparently time moved a lot more slowly back then.”

I’m afraid it probably does move a little too slowly for most viewers, which may be why theratings have been such a disappointment. I’m a sucker for period pieces like this, though, so I’m sticking with it.

They went for a more realistic Depression-era look with the sets than the original movie did (photos via HBO).

There was no murder in the novel, by the way. In fact, a lot of things were changed for the original movie to make it more palatable for 1940s audiences. Downplaying Mildred’s affairs, for instance. The new miniseries is sticking much more closely to the book than the movie did.

Here’s Kate Winslet as Mildred in her kitchen, baking one of her popular cakes to sell:

Mildred’s Restaurant:

One of the most memorable images from the original movie was the stylish restaurant that Mildred opened, with her name scrolled across the top in lights:

A test shot taken of the interior of Mildred’s restaurant:

Mildred’s office at the restaurant is so big that you know she’s hit the big-time!

The Beragon Beach House (aka “Scene of the Crime”)

Monte Beragon’s Beach House was actually owned by the film’s director, Michael Curtiz. It was built in 1929 and stood on Latigo Shore Drive in Malibu. Sadly, it collapsed into the ocean after a week of heavy storms in January 1983.

After Wally Fay (played by Jack Carson) finds the corpse in the beach house and runs outside, the cops yell, “Hey, you, stop right there!” and then shoot at him. They don’t know who he is or even that there’s a body inside the house, so it always makes me laugh that they immediately draw their guns.

The sunroom is a little odd in that it has walls and windows, but no roof or door.

Monte keeps a closet full of bathing suits for unexpected lady visitors. He explains, “They belong to my sisters.”

Mildred: “There’s nothing like having a large family! All of your sisters seem to be my size.”

Monte: “I like them your size. Here’s to brotherly love.”

If you’re watching the remake on HBO, you probably noticed the beach house isn’t nearly as glam in it as it was in the original. It’s more like a beach shack, which I found kind of disappointing.

The front entry has a big, gorgeous window overlooking the water:

A test shot of the beach house set taken before filming began (via the Joan Crawford Encyclopedia, where you can see more):

Zachary Scott played wealthy playboy Monte Beragon when he was 31. He never really topped the success of “Mildred Pierce” in his career and died of a brain tumor 20 years later.

Mildred’s first “date” with the suave Monte doesn’t end with the swim…

Filming that scene:

The house has its own bar in the lower level. Here Wally makes Mildred a drink, not knowing the real reason why she brought him there:

Jack Carson, who played Fay, would disappear from Hollywood for weeks at a time to secretly perform as a clown in the circus. Audiences never knew it was him, and he enjoyed the anonymity. “They loved me and my routines,” he said.

Here’s a shot of the bar from the other side of the room, the night Mildred walks in and catches her daughter in her husband Monte’s arms:

Veda confronts Monte after he tells her he has no intentions of marrying “a spoiled little brat like you.”

Veda responds by shooting him, repeatedly. With his dying breath, he gasps, “Mildred!”

Joan Crawford won her only Oscar for her role as Mildred Pierce. Check out the original trailer for it:

Are you watching the new miniseries on HBO? How do you think it compares to the original?

Click Here for the list of all of the movies I’ve featured, including more classics like Auntie Mame and Gone With the Wind.

You might also like:

Mary Haines’ House in “The Women”

Samantha’s Malibu Beach House from “Sex and the City”

Kate Winslet’s English Cottage in “The Holiday”

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