"Noble House" (1988) TV mini-series

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Gary Nelson

Writers:

Eric Bercovici (writer)
James Clavell (novel)

Release Date:

21 February 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama

Plot:

Ian Struan Dunross is chairman of Struan & Co, the oldest and largest of the British-East Asia trading companies...

Plot Keywords:

Hong Kong | British Colonial | Communist Infiltrator | Spy | TV Mini-Series

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Pierce Brosnan	...	Ian Dunross
Deborah Raffin	...	Casey Tcholok
Ben Masters	...	Linc Bartlett
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Keith Bonnard	...	Tip Tok-Toh
Tia Carrere	...	Venus Poon
Eric Chen	...	Hotel Consierge
Khigh Dhiegh	...	Four Finger Wu
Richard Durden	...	Paul Havergill
Denholm Elliott	...	Alastair Struan
Brian Fong	...	Goodweather Poon
John Fujioka	...	Baldhead Kin
Helen Funai	...	Mrs. Kwang
David Henry	...	Bruce Johnjohn
John Houseman	...	Sir Geoffrey Allison
George Innes	...	Alexej Travkin
Gordon Jackson	...	Supt. Armstrong
Nancy Kwan	...	Claudia Chen
Burt Kwouk	...	Philip Chen
Harris Laskaway
Steven Vincent Leigh	...	John Chen (as Steven Leigh)
Kay Tong Lim	...	Brian Kwok
Leon Lissek
Lisa Lu	...	Ah Tam
Choy-Ling Man	...	Mary Li
Pip Miller	...	Insp. John Smyth
Julia Nickson-Soul	...	Orlanda Ramos
Bennett Ohta	...	Richard Kwang
Edward Petherbridge	...	Jason Plumm
Duncan Preston	...	Pugmire
Nicholas Pryor
John Rhys-Davies	...	Quillan Gornt
David Shaughnessy		(as David Shaughnessy)
Michael Siberry	...	Linbar Struan
Dudley Sutton	...	Commissioner Roger Crosse
Damien Thomas	...	Lando Mata
Irene Tsu
John Van Dreelen	...	Jacques DeVille
Vincent Wong	...	Lim Chu
Ping Wu	...	Paul Choy
Ric Young	...	Tsu-Yan
Galen Yuen	...	Smallpox Kin

Also Known As:

"James Clavell's Noble House"

Runtime:

355 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG)

Trivia:

James Clavell, author of the novel "Noble House" is represented in that book by a writer named Marlowe. Marlow is not portrayed in the film, but his wife is--she's the pregnant woman who jumps off the burning restaurant with Linc Barlett.

Quotes:

Ian Dunross: [reading from the legacy of company founder, Dirk Struan, in the family Bible] "To whomsoever gives me the other half of any of these coins, I will grant one favor."

Movie Connections:

Follows Tai-Pan (1986)

Excellent rendition of the fourth book in James Clavell's oriental history series

I mainly gave this film an 8 out of ten because, at least in the VHS version, the film quality is not all one could wish for. But in the main the book was translated excellently into the six hour mini-series for television and had an excellent cast. Pierce Brosnan is excellent as the ever unflappable Ian Dunross, who weathers all storms and faces ruin with determination. Debra Raffin had the tough job of trying to be many things without knowing all that her character needed to know. JohnRhys-Davies is, as always, excellent. Whether he plays a villain or a hero, he does it with style. Denholm Elliot as Alistair Struan did not have enough screen time, as indeed was the case with his character in the book. Burt Kwouk and Nancy Kwan were also up to par as always. And this film also proves that the sun never sets on John Houseman, who plays the British Governor of Hong Kong with his usual petulant aplomb. Bring lots of snacks and plan several bathroom breaks to watch this one.