MovieChat Forums > The Two Mrs. Grenvilles (1987) Discussion > Missing scenes???

Missing scenes???

posted 13 years ago by miriamwebster
4 replies | jump to latest

First saw this years ago on TV, but when I recently watched it again on new DVD was struck by how many plot points lurched along without any foreshadowing. After all this time, hard to say with any certainty but seems like somewhere along the line, several scenes were lost (if they were ever included in broadcast version to begin with). Disintegration of William and Ann's marriage is given dramatic short shrift--in one sequence they're ecstatic newlyweds; in the next at each others' throats. Suicide/death (?) of another supporting character is also handled in bafflingly shorthand method that doesn't make it clear exactly what transpired. Fun to see Ann-Margret and Claudette Colbert in one of the most glamorous TV movies ever but story shortcomings suggest that one way or the other, film was trimmed of key scenes for time or money.

[–] IloveKoba 13 years ago

When this was shown on Aussie TV (0ver two nights) I taped it, then a few years later bought a copy on VHS on eBay, the video was missing the 'Bratsy' death scenes which really ruined the watching, because as you have pointed out, it jumps from a happy marriage, straight to dog and cat relationship. I've found this to be the case with some DVD'S I have bought, mainly Judith Krantz's 'Till We Meet Agaín' that one is really 'butcherd' luckily I still have the taped version, and as with 'The Two Mrs Grenvilles' usually re-watch the taped TV versions.

[–] EliotTempleton 9 years ago

The Warner Archive DVD release, which I own, is identical to the first NBC telecast that I taped on my VCR in February of 1987. I doubt that the movie was initially longer and butchered for telecast, since it was one of the most anticipated events of the 1986-87 television season, and is indeed one of the highpoints of broadcast television of the entire decade. Yes, the continuity is choppy, but I think it's simply the fault of the man who wrote the teleplay. Blood and Orchids, another two-part limited series of the same era, suffers from no such choppiness, though it covers a much larger storyline in the exact same running time. It's all in the writing.

[–] Venus-25 9 years ago

Indeed. I just read the book and while I know that a film won't be identical in content I do think that there could have been a few scenes more to round out the story better.

The Fabio Principle: Puffy shirts look best on men who look even better without them.

[–] cookiela2001 8 years ago

Part of the reason the disintegration of the Grenville marriage seems off-kilter is because star Ann-Margret wanted the role of Ann softened from how she was presented in the book.

The novel has Ann pursuing numerous affairs after her husband becomes disenchanted with her, and she also takes pills (for dieting) and drinks. This unleashes a volatile temper over time and she often explodes at him, both in private and in public. Ann becomes completely immersed in redoing herself to fit into high society and is endlessly partying, while in the TV movie they have her say she has no interest in Billy's money when she contemplates divorce.

In the novel, Bratsie is killed by the foreman of his South American ranch, whose wife he's had an affair with.

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