A Woman of Substance Trilogy (1983)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Written by Lee Langley, based on Tom Blomquist's outline adaptation of the novel by Barbara Taylor Bradford
Directed by Don Sharp
Starring Diane Baker, George Baker, Barry Bostwick, Liam Neeson, Deborah Kerr, Jenny Seagrove, and Lindsay Wagner

Features:

• The three telefilms, A Woman of Substance, Hold the Dream and To Be the Best
  
• Interview with executive producer/actor Baker
  
• Interview with author Bradford
  
• Cast filmographies
  

Released by: Acorn Media
Rating: NR; (mature audience suggested)
Region: 1
Anamorphic: N/A; appears in its original 1.33:1 format

My Advice: Rent it, but you'd better be ready for a thick period drama

Emma Harte (Seagrove, then later Kerr) started out her life as a servant in Yorkshire. However, through her dealings with the family she served, her fortune has changed somewhat, but it's not as easy as all that. A bitter love in her life has turned her into quite the jaded little business woman. As such, she has worked her way to the top of Harte-McGill, the retailing enterprise she started all by herself, and she's worth billions of dollars. As approaches the age of eighty, she hands down control of her vast empire to her granddaughter, Paula (Seagrove...I'll explain in a bit, and Wagner). However, over the years, Paula learns that there is quite a diference between taking control and maintaining control of this huge enterprise.

This trilogy of telefilms is one large story that spans over three generations in control of this vast retailing empire. As far as mini-series go, there have been better, although one thing is certain: the period costumes in all three mini-series are impeccible. If only the performances could have been as spectacular. Each of the actors seem to be only going through the motions with their characters across this huge story. Seagrove plays the young Emma Harte in A Woman of Substance and Emma's granddaughter, Paula, in Hold the Dream. Confused? Frankly, I was a little bit as I transitioned between the first and second installments of this story. Now, granted there were two years between the release of these two productions so people had time to get used to the idea of the same actor playing two different characters in the storyline, but watching them back to back, it gets a little confusing. Otherwise, the performances are mediocre at best and flat-out boring at their worst. If they had spent half as much time on the performances as they did the costumes and settings, it would have been a much better production.

Surprisingly, the DVDs are better than one would expect. For starters, all three discs contain segments of an interview with Barbara Taylor Bradford herself. The first disc also has an interview with executive producer Diane Baker. The interviews with Bradford are the crown jewel of this set. It's nice to hear her comments on the books as well as the mini-series, but if you are not really connected to the story, you will probably find the interviews really dry and boring. And, if you thought those interviews were boring, the interview with Baker is even more arid. Again, if you are not absolutely obsessed with the story, you won't care to sit through this interview at all.

So, I'm going to recommend this one as a rental making sure that everyone knows that this one is a thick period drama. If you rent it armed with that knowledge, you'll probably enjoy it.