A Hazard of Hearts (1987)
When compulsive gambler Sir Giles Staverley has lost his estate and all his money playing dice, he realises that he only has one thing left of value: his daughter Serena. In a final game, he stakes his daughter's hand in marriage, convinced that this time he will not lose. Unfortunately, however, he does lose; to the evil Lord Wrotham. Unable to return home and tell his daughter that he has lost her in a game of dice, Sir Giles kills himself there and then. Lord Vulcan, who has witnessed the events, takes pity on Serena Staverley, although they have never met. He challenges Lord Wrotham to a game of dice in which the winner takes both Staverley Court and Miss Serena.
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One of my all time favorites.
This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
I know that Lord Grade (as producer) has been jokingly referred to as "Low" Grade and I knew that Barbara Cartland is supposed to be absolute dreck, but, even given that, this 'film' is so much worse than I expected considering some of the talent involved. Diana Rigg does seem to consciously add a bit of camp to the proceedings and has some very amusing (intentionally? maybe not) lines, but it's a shame that former Avengers writer/producer Albert Fennell couldn't come up with something more worthy of her considering the great genuine wit of that series. We even have music by Avengers composer Laurie Johnson. And one of the New Avengers has a nice little cameo. The dialogue, which I am assuming, comes full-blown from the pen of Cartland (all I can think about is that great Little Britain sketch with Matt Lucas in drag churning out yet another bad formulaic assembly-line bodice-ripper) is some of the most atrocious, cliché, and insipid I have heard in years. I thought they, thankfully, stopped making movies this bad some time in the 1930s. Some of the apparently clueless women who love this sort of coded 'romance' novel and who claim to swoon over the spoiled brat control freaks (not far removed from Cristian Gray) that supposedly pass for men in this odious world of 'romance' are just mind-boggling at not recognizing abusive behavior for what it is. It's anything but romantic.
I totally enjoyed this movie because it was terrible! The producers surely didn't mean for it to be a satire, but that's how it should be viewed. I must explain. I am a romance-addict. It all started when I was forced to read "Pride and Prejudice" in 9th grade English Lit. That was it. I was hooked and having devoured Austin, I moved on to her much less talented imitators, such as the author of this story, Barbara Cartland. This movie is a classic Regency plot. It has everything: a plucky Young Heroine, a gorgeous Rake with a Dark Secret, a Scheming Mama (who is also the Affronted Dowager), a Dissipated Lord who Loses Everything in a Foolish Wager, an Abduction, a Forced Marriage and even a Highwayman with a Heart of Gold. What a riot! The cast is great- Diana Rigg chews the scenery as she pacing menacingly in her be-feathered turbans. Helena Bonham Carter does the pouting consternation thing she at which she excelled in her Corset Days. The Hero is dressed with sartorial elegance in Biscuit-Colored Inexpressibles and Gleaming Hessians (his valet must have used champagne in the blacking!) The best-worst thing about the film is the score- the music is SO over-the-top! It really pushes the film from moderately bad to hilariously awful! I loved every minute of it! If you're a fan of costume romance and melodrama, watch this one for a good laugh at yourself!
Helena Bonham-Carter is such a divinely eloquent actress, she shines above such veterans as Christopher Plummer, Diana Rigg, Edward Fox and Stewart Granger (the latter so very underused).Plummer, Rigg and Fox are so horrifically over-the-top, you can only assume that the director was too intimidated by their previous credits to repress their cartoonish gleeful overacting.Cartland works with a formula that makes this a very standard gothic romance, but it's saved, in parts, by the charm of the two leads, the extraordinary Bonham-Carter and the still little-seen Marcus Gilbert.This also might not seem so infinitely cheesy if the predictable, derivative soundtrack didn't soar in so obviously.Still, the film is a must for Bonham-Carter fans, if only to confirm what an excellent, expressive talent she is. And, as previous commentators have noted, this is ideal rainy Sunday afternoon fare.
Good typical Regency romance. Excellent scenery and some good actors in the movie. Costumes could have been a little better but over all I enjoyed it. Except I can't believe they cut the ending where the guy never quite kisses the girl. Just an impression that he does it. Wish it was out on video