Memento Mori (1992) (TV)

Director:

Jack Clayton

Writers:

Muriel Spark (novel) and
Jack Clayton (writer)

Genre:

Comedy | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

A group of old people is being frightened by mysterious phone calls.

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Awards:

2 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Maggie Smith	...	Mrs. Mabel Pettigrew
Michael Hordern	...	Godfrey Colston
Renée Asherson	...	Charmian Colston
Stephanie Cole	...	Dame Lettie Colston
Thora Hird	...	Jean Taylor
Maurice Denham	...	Guy Leet
John Wood	...	Ex-Inspector Henry Mortimer
Zoë Wanamaker	...	Olive Mannering
Peter Eyre	...	Eric Colston
Cyril Cusack	...	Percy Mannering
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Baskcomb	...	Fat Old Man
Elizabeth Bradley	...	Mrs. Anthony
Jan Carey	...	Tea Shop Manageress
Andrew Charleson	...	Policeman
Anna Cropper	...	Mrs. Mortimer
Brenda Cullity	...	Tea Room Guest #2
Aimée Delamain	...	Ambulatory Grannie
Robert Flemyng	...	Ronald Sidebottome
Damaris Hayman	...	Miss Lottinville
Mary Healey	...	Ward Sister
Arthur Hewlett	...	Ancient Man
Barbara Hicks	...	Tempest Sidebottome
Richard Lawry	...	Photographer
Alan Leith	...	Detective
Jacqueline Leonard	...	Gwen
Preston Lockwood	...	Deaf Old Man
Brigitte Loesser	...	Tea Room Guest #3
Leonard Maguire	...	Mr. Willoughby
Paul Opacic	...	Jeff
Muriel Pavlow	...	Grannie Valvona
Emma Richler	...	Young Nurse
Hilda Sachs	...	Tea Room Guest #1
Frank Shelley	...	The Stranger
Terence Soall	...	Publisher
Walter Sparrow	...	Stallholder
Martina Stanley	...	Nurse Lucy
Dominic Taylor	...	Young Journalist
Margery Withers	...	Grannie Barnacle

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Anything but deadly

I have had the pleasure of reading many of Muriel Spark's novels and stories, the first being "The Abbess of Crewe," whose deadpan satire of Watergate made me laugh so hard that I thought my face might freeze into a mask of idiot's delight. "Nasty Habits," its unfortunate film version, was a disappointment. I therefore feared an even sadder fate would befall any screen treatment of "Memento Mori," which has long since become my favorite of Ms. Spark's works, having, I think, the most impressive balance of satire and warmth in her entire oeuvre.

I was delighted, then, when I saw the film broadcast on PBS. To this day I can't decide whether the lion's share of the credit for its brilliance belongs to Maggie Smith and her fellow actors or to the director or the screenwriters. It doesn't matter; it's not my place to judge.

However, I have always been at a loss to understand why this effectively lost masterpiece has not been available to the public after all this time. Surely PBS or BBC America could at least air it again, so that we happy few who were blessed to have caught it might at least record it off the TV.

In the meantime, we will have to subsist on our fond memories.

Heavy, heavy sigh.