Painted Lady (miniseries)

Painted Lady was a 1997 murder mystery miniseries starring Helen Mirren, involving art theft. It co-starred Franco Nero, Karl Geary and Iain Glen, and was directed by Julian Jarrold.

Painted Lady
GenreDrama, murder mystery
Written byAlan Cubitt
Directed byJulian Jarrold
StarringHelen Mirren
Karl Geary
Iain Glen
Franco Nero
Michael Maloney
Lesley Manville
Iain Cuthbertson
Barry Barnes
Michael Liebmann
John Kavanagh
Composer(s)Peter Salem
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original language(s)English
No. of series1
No. of episodes2
Production
Executive producer(s)Gub Neal
Rebecca Eaton
Producer(s)Emma Burge
Production location(s)Dublin, Ireland
Running time101 minutes (including adverts)
Production company(s)WGBH Boston in association with Granada Television
DistributorITV Studios
Release
Original networkITV (UK)
PBS (U.S.)
Picture format14:9
Audio formatStereo
Original release7 December (1997-12-07) 
8 December 1997 (1997-12-08)

The role was created specifically for Mirren, as a means for her to try something a bit different from her Inspector Tennison character on the popular Prime Suspect series. The series was a collaborative effort of Granada Television (UK) and PBS (U.S.). It was broadcast on the ITV network from 7 to 8 December 1997 in the UK and in the U.S. PBS's Masterpiece Theatre 26 April 1998.

Plot summary

Maggie Sheridan (Mirren), a washed-up blues vocalist from the 1960s who had long since stopped performing, had settled into a comfortable life on the Dublin estate of the father of her childhood friend, Sir Charles Stafford (Iain Cuthbertson). When Sir Charles is murdered in what appears to be a bungled robbery (in which a valuable sixteenth-century painting is stolen), Maggie is drawn into the world of illegal art trade in an effort to solve the mystery and avenge her friend's murder, donning the persona of Polish Countess Magdelena Kreschinskaá.

The story centers around Judith Beheading Holofernes, the masterwork of Artemisia Gentileschi, who was a 17th-century female Italian painter who survived a rape. The painting fictionally travels to Dublin and New York City, and Gentileschi's tragic story eventually figures into the plot. There are other visual references to notable paintings in the film.

Cast

Paintings featured:

References

  • John Leonard (27 April 1998). "In Brief: Painted Lady". New York Magazine. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  • John Carman (26 April 1998). "Painted Lady Thriller Crowds An Already Bursting Sunday". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  • David Mermelstein (27 April 1998). "Review: Painted Lady". Variety. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
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