Not sure why I sat down to watch Mrs. Dalloway (1997), I must have been in the mood for something arty and literary, which this fits well. The movie does a decent job of adapting Virginia Woolf‘s novel, particularly because it uses voiceover and flashbacks to try and tease out the inner monologue that’s crucial to the story.
But I was also left thinking that this would be a good candidate for a remake because some of the themes written in 1925 were glossed over or hinted at in 1997, but today in 2025 could be made more explicit. On the surface, the novel is about upper-middle-class Clarissa Dalloway throwing a party and looking back on her youth when she decided to marry stable, boring Richard instead of exciting, somewhat suffocating Peter or the temptation of freedom with Sally. A side-plot involves a World War I veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder. Even that summary shows how much is potentially going on, and yet this 1990s movie narrows it down to “Clarissa married Richard, is wistful about Peter, and has a faint memory of Sally, oh and here’s a crazy veteran.” This isn’t bad but it could be richer with more depth if done today, like playing up the queer and Marxist sides, IMO.
That said, there’s some moody meditations going on, along with excellent costumes done in two different periods, so I enjoyed watching what was there. Judy Pepperdine designed the costumes for this film and was perhaps best known before for working on Miss Marple TV adaptions. Even though the movie starts in 1923 and flashes backward, I’m going to look at the costumes chronologically because it’s easier to group the images that way in this post.
If we’re going by the book, the flashbacks are set in 1889 when Clarissa was 17 (this is supposed to be 34 years earlier than the “modern day” of her party). We see a classic late Victorian house party, where the young Clarissa is staying with her Aunt Helena in Bourton and Sally, Peter, and eventually Richard join.
While this movie version doesn’t play up the queer relationship, it does show Clarissa and Sally constantly touching and being physically close. Look, I was there, so I remember, the 1990s weren’t exactly known for being open and frank about LGBTQ+ relationships onscreen — after all, Ellen DeGeneres’ “coming out” TV episode was in April 1997, and that was hugely controversial. The idea of same-sex love in the 1880s was just barely a concept to be explored in film.
Woolf’s prose does show how important the relationship was to Clarissa, calling the kiss between her and Sally “the most exquisite moment of her whole life.” Clarissa thinks back on that as love, however fleeting.
The “present” story is on one day June 1923, when Clarissa (Vanessa Redgrave), now age 51, is throwing a party. She starts by walking around London to order the flowers for the evening.
Her old beau Peter (Michael Kitchen) shows up to chat about his messed-up life and angle a party invite.
Then everyone gets glam for the party itself.
Clarissa’s beaded gown looks black in some lights, but some closeups and this auction listing shows that the lining is green:
The listing says the gown is made of “eau de nil silk overlaid with intricately beaded and embroidered dark brown tulle, the layers combined creating a dark green.”
The men all wear white tie, of course, and doesn’t Michael Kitchen look cute!
Sally also shows up a the party. She too is an old married lady, seeming much more conventional than her wild youth, she’s now wealthy Lady Rosseter (Sarah Badel) and proclaims she has five sons.
A few other characters are Clarissa’s daughter Elizabeth (Katie Carr), who doesn’t care about mom’s party and is falling under the spell of evangelical Miss Kilman (Selina Cadell).
Just mentioning Lady Bruton because I did a WCW on Margaret Tyzack, which might have reminded me to watch this flick.
Then there’s the doctor who connects the WWI veteran’s story to Clarissa’s party. Sir William Bradshaw (Robert Hardy) advises the veteran and his wife and has to attend to his patient, making him late to the party.
The veteran, Septimus Smith (Rupert Graves) and his wife Rezia (Amelia Bullmore) show up off and on from the start when Clarissa is shopping for flowers.
But their story is only tenuously connected in the film. Not sure if it works better in the book.
Have you read or watched Mrs. Dalloway?
Find this frock flick at:
Just wanted to say that I appreciate your daily posts so much. I had to take my dog to the hospital last night and he’s still there for observation. Having a really shitty morning, but getting a wonderful dive into these costumes is a blissful break that I look forward to every day and today it is an especial comfort for me. Thank you FF team <3
Awww, sorry about your dog, but glad we can provide a distraction. Honestly, writing these posts is a good distraction for us too :)
Margaret Tyzack, of course that brings back “I, Claudius” memories! The costumes here are beautifully done – one of the things I do miss about older movies and TV series in general is how even the low-budget ones seemed to want to make SOME kind of effort. Even if they could not afford beading and detail work, they didn’t go “what the heck, let’s hit David’s Bridal and bring out the glue gun and rhinestones and call it a costume!” Finally, that ruffled blouse and mauve belt that Clarissa is wearing in that one picture is scrumptious. I’d wear it! It honestly could fit right in at a modern garden party or festival.
Yep, even if a lot of it is pulled from rental stock, they made smart choices & dressed everyone cohesively head to foot, inside & out.
Two of my favorite actors, Michael Kitchen (I can’t look at him without expecting him to say, “My name is Foyle, I’m a policeman”) and Robert Hardy. Maybe I need to watch.
I cannot decide if the somewhat greater freedom to tackle ‘The Love that dare not speak it’s name’ in a modern adaptation balances out my concern that said modern adaptation would focus on the prurient at the expense of the profound or just chicken out all over again, with less justification.