The Vortex
- Episode aired Dec 10, 1969
- 1h 10m
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
79
YOUR RATING
Young Nicky Lancaster must cope with the discovery that his socialite mother is a drug addict.Young Nicky Lancaster must cope with the discovery that his socialite mother is a drug addict.Young Nicky Lancaster must cope with the discovery that his socialite mother is a drug addict.
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Storyline
Did you know
- Quotes
Clara Hibbert: Thank you Helen, darling. I shall always come to you when I'm ill.
Helen Saville: That WILL be nice.
Featured review
Noel Coward at his most merciless and eloquent - "it's never too early for a cocktail".
In every performance that I have seen Margaret Leighton in, she has appeared like slightly tipsy, and here she is so more than ever, as if that could help her in overacting, which is something that this role demands. There is nothing wrong with her performance, as usual it is absolutely flawless, but there was always something about her that gave me an uneasy feeling - I would like to see her as Miss Havisham, though, although I know there never could be any better Havisham than Martita Hunt. All the players are excellent here, and the drama is as tense as Noel Coward ever could have wished it to be, and everyone is convincing enough as well, but it is just a trifle. In spite of the tragedy hinted at, the main character of this amassment of settlements is that of a comedy, and when Margaret Leighton gets hysterical of self pity crying her heart out in bed and drowning in sobs it'a difficult to take her seriously, which even her best friend realises and leaves the bedroom out of mercy. It might have been a shocking play in the 20s, but today it seems very antiquated and at best as something on the level with Anton Tchekhov. The language though is brilliant all the way, and the main pleasure here is to follow these furious outbursts of honesty and eloquence. Everyone contributes to the party, and Margaret Leighton only finally appears as the only real sad fool of them all. Noel Coward never answers the question (of her best friend) whether she will ever realise her own delusions.
helpful•10
- clanciai
- Jan 24, 2021
Details
- Runtime1 hour 10 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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