MovieChat Forums > A Fine Romance (1981) Discussion > Ages...

Ages...

posted 16 years ago by boisenewbie
7 replies | jump to latest

I wonder why they decided to go with the characters being 37 and 43 when the actors themselves were 47 and 48. ... It doesn't really matter, people play younger all the time. It's just odd. I mean they could have played there actual ages and it wouldn't have made a difference to the script. It might have actually improved on it ... A woman pushing 50 trying to find Romance. Or was that too ahead of it's time? Who knows, maybe back then if you were 50, people expected you to have one foot in the grave.

For a long time I never knew how old Laura was supposed to be. (I remember Mike said he was 43) ... but when I found out I said "She looks more like 47" (No insult! Dame Judi is very attractive ... but I am 35 and I know what 37 should look like.) Then I found out she WAS 47.

[–] brandy5 16 years ago

I suppose they had to keep Laura under 40 because of her desire to become a first time Mum. I always felt that her wanting a baby was either because her little sister had one or because it was sort of an 'impulse buy'. When she had that awful short, straight hairdo I thought she looked every bit of 47 but in the episode with Georges she would easily have passed for 37 with her new hairdo. She claimed to be two years younger than Jane Fonda which would have put her at 39 in the first episode which was her age in the novelization.
A similar subject I have been wanting to post about was the ages of the two sisters. In real life, Dame Judi was 15 or 16 years older than Susan. In one episode Susan (Helen) spoke of people over 30 being positively geriatric and mentions she married an older man. Laura spoke of Helen always wanting her toys which makes it sound like they shared the same playpen. So what was the age difference in the two sisters? I figured that Helen was perhaps 29 in the first eppie and Laura 39. Not exactly play pen sharers. I'd be interested to know what anyone else thinks of this. Ta.

[–] boisenewbie 16 years ago

I had the same thought.

At first I thought Helen was in her 20's but on closer examination maybe she was in her early 30's. (The actress who played her was) ... The only way some of the comments they make would make any sense is if they were no more than 5 years apart ... That would put her at 32 ... but back then 32 was a little old to be a first time Mom! (especially in England)

But that is just the thing. Shows where there is no clear definition of people's ages NEVER see to make any sense. This is off topic a little, but I am a HUGE fan of the show Golden Girls. In that show Bea Arthur played a woman about 10yrs younger as well ... but it never made sense. - She was supposedly married at 18 and pregnant already and in the first episode of the show she is supposed to be at least 50... but the age of her first born never really matched that.

Anyway, I just brought that up because this is kind of the same ... maybe we are just analyzing things too much and we should just enjoy the show.

ON THE OTHER HAND, writers get paid lots of money and they should have their scripts make sense!!

LOL

[–] stepperry2008 16 years ago

I think that part of the reason Laura wants a baby is because her sister is having one and thereis another part to which is that she really does love Mike. Even though it would unusal at that time that in England for a women her to even consider having a baby. I also think that at the time Mike comes into her life she has been alone for along time(they both have been alone for a while).

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] stepperry2008 15 years ago

I have a feeling that with Mike it was really ever that he did not want kids. But it was akward for him few reasons which are they are not married, feeling forced in a corner, and he does not speak well at all when he around her. Laura is mainly harping wanting to have a baby after Helen does get prageant, however, this is partly because it reminds that she herself is nearly past it.

Since she is 38ish. It is also because she loves Mike but does not even fully admit it to herself until after she returns from Brussles. There were also a few time Mike felt very much backed into a corner like when helps the first at his work and she books three jobs (he does not exactly mind it), the sofa,and when she wants to a baby (what actually bothers him is that she does not seem to do without the permenancy marriage). Most of the time Mike is around Laura
he can hardly string more than two words together.

[–] jashobeam5 13 years ago

According to the episode A Weekend Away Laura was 4 years old on V-E day. That would make her 40 when the first episode was aired and 43 when the series ended. In the same episode it's mentioned that Laura was reading when her sister was a baby. I'm guessing she would be 8 or under for it to be amazing she was reading, so they shouldn't be more than 8 years apart.