One of the greatest frustrations in running this site is updating our Upcoming Movies page. We hear about so many potentially interesting frock flicks, and we scour IMDB and the trade press for premiere dates, but some things just don’t show up in our part of the world. You’d think in this digital streaming on-demand video age, all content would be at our fingertips regardless of where you live, but nooooooooooo! At least not legally. And while, yeah, we sometimes resort to underhanded means to find really tempting frock flicks, ethical issues aside, it’s a hassle and it’s hard to guarantee quality.
I just want all the costume series and movies to show up on PBS or Netflix or Amazon so I can watch them at my leisure! Is that too much to ask? C’mon, throw me a bone here! These are a few frock flicks I’ve heard of but have yet to find airing on American broadcast, cable, or streaming services, nor do I know of Region 1 DVD availability.
Maison Close (2010-2013)
This short-lived French series set in a 19th-century brothel was compared to Harlots when the later first came out, so of course I tried to find it. But to no avail, other than some sketchy downloads without subtitles. Why hasn’t Netflix picked it up in their extensive international purchases yet? The subject matter is prime territory for this blog.
The Broken Crown aka La Corona Partida (2016)
By the same producers as Isabel (2011) and Carlos, Rey Emperador (2015), this biopic of Juana of Castille could possibly come to Netflix since Isabel finally made it there. The costumes look elaborate, if not accurate, and I’ll say the Spanish historicals that take on their own history tend to be better than when they try other countries’ history.
Quacks (2017)
This BBC show about Victorian doctors only had one series (so far) and was well-reviewed as funny and reminiscent of Blackadder. Rupert Everett was a regular player, and characters met Charles Dickens and Florence Nightingale. Who doesn’t love some comedic butchery and historical humor?
Interlude in Prague (2017)
This film seems to have had a short theatrical release in the U.K. and is only available on non-U.S. DVDs that I can find. It’s a fictional tale of Mozart writing Don Giovanni and includes James Purefoy as Mozart’s fictional foil, Baron Saloka. The costumes don’t look half bad, and it was filmed in beautiful Czech palaces so there’s got to be some eye candy worth watching.
The Long Song (2018)
This miniseries just aired on the BBC so maybe it will come to PBS. Set in 1830s Jamaica, it’s based on a novel of the same name about a young enslaved woman named July (played by Tamara Lawrance) and her unpleasant mistress (played by Hayley Atwell). The show has gotten excellent reviews, although people on IMDB complain there are zippers on the gowns. No matter what, I want to see this.
Have you seen any of these frock flicks? Are there others you’re hoping will make it to American screens?
Not seen any but keep meaning to follow up on Quacks. The French brothel one looks terribly ‘Reign’ in the hairstyles and Pussycat Dolls poses…
quacks is quite amusing, they really play the comedy mysogyny angle with one of the wannabe female medics
The 1st series of Jamestown was finally shown on PBS. I would love to know what you guys thought of it. I have the last 2 episodes plus all 4 episodes of the Woman in White to watch. Also, the CBC Frankie Drake mysteries which are set in Toronto in the 1920’s. I’ve heard of Quacks and The Long Song. I have a region-free DVD player, so I may hop over to Amazon UK to purchase.
We watched the first ep of Jamestown last year when the 3 of us were in the UK & could.not.stand.it — we have a podcast about it (search the site). I’d noticed it on PBS & I just couldn’t bring myself to watch further!
I believe Maison Close is on Hulu right now
Quacks was a cute enough short series
Interlude in Prague was pretty but varied in my interest level
The show I want them to give me more of is Timewasters. Darn ITV being hard to get at.
Awesome news about Maison Close! Glad someone finally added it.
Maison Close is on Amazon
Isabel isn’t on my Netflix. BOO. :P I’d watched some of it on Hulu, but fell behind and no longer get Hulu.
The Long Song I think is scheduled for either late spring or early summer on PBS.
I’ve been scouring PBS press releases but can’t find a date (& I can’t get on their PR list, dangit).
Hmm. Can’t find it now, but I could have sworn reading early BBC press releases that they said it would “be coming to PBS later this year.”
A multi system DVD player is your friend and can be had cheaply. Add to that – the DVD’s are usually so much cheaper even w shipping over the pond. I’ve gotten Aristocrats, Miranda (the unaired in the US ending) and Upstart Crow.
And streaming can be confusing – as the major sites air differently in different countries/markets.
I’m just waiting for PBS to air akin to the UK. They are actually airing ‘Victoria’ first (so much for all their excuses) though the show makes me want to throw things at the screen
Sarah has a region-free DVD player, so she’ll sometimes take that hit. I try not to buy DVDs in general bec. I don’t want the clutter anymore, so I really prefer digital & only buy DVDs if it’s something really classic that I can’t find any other way.
I want Mystery of the Eiffel Tower to be available legally. Mixed race lesbian couple in a period drama, what’s there not to love?
I know! It needs wider viewing. (And for anyone new, search the site – when I reviewed it, I linked to a semi-reliable download, shhhh.)
“La Corona Partida” is a good historical movie. The costumes are quite good in my opinion especially those of Juana & Felipe (I wish I could say the same about Juana’s sister-in-law, Margaret, as well as other characters). In general the costumes are better than in “Isabel”, locations are beautiful, the storyline is entertaining and they don’t go too far with Juana’s “madness” (personally, I don’t think she was mad, just a victim of everyone around her). At the end, Juana says to her father Fernando one of the best quotes in the movie: “In order to be a good king, it isn’t necessary to be a good father” she says this before being incarcerated in Tordesillas by Fernando.
I found interesting what you said about “the Spanish historicals that take on their own history tend to be better than when they try other countries’ history”. I don’t know if you said because of the representation of the courts of France, England and Flanders in the 3rd season of “Isabel” (I wasn’t very impressed, to be honest, there were some strange choices regarding clothes especially in Flanders) or perhaps you mean the spanish show “Reinas” about Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots? In that case I must say this show was a real shit in terms of story, accuracy, hair and clothes, and it’s a total shame.
PD. After watching “La Corona Partida” maybe you’d like to watch its continuation, the miniseries “Carlos, Rey Emperador”, it has some really good costumes.
Both the end of Isabel & esp. Reinas, but there’s others. Spain knows its own history, & I enjoy seeing their own take on costume dramas about Spain. But their writers seem to take a heavy hand on any other country’s history (tbh, it works both ways).
Glad to hear La Corona Partida goes light on the Juana Loca thing, that’s what I’m hoping to see, if / when I can see it.
Yeah, I’m from Spain and sometimes people watching period drama is like “oh they don’t know anything about our history, the Spanish are always mistreated” (Philip II in the Cate Blanchett movies being the quintessential example of this, and of course the obsession of having Spanish Monarchs being of very dark complexion when a lot of them were blond and pale) but then we have examples of the inverse situation, like Henry the 7th in “Isabel”, where he is this very old and angry man who suggests marrying Katharine of Aragon; and the people complaining about one of these situations don’t complain about the other; double moral standards everywhere.
But all in all I must say that “Isabel” and its sequels are overall very good fiction despite some weird choices in clothing & storyline. “Isabel” is part of the new quality series (historical or not) Spain needed so much. On the other hand, “Reinas” is superficial and irrelevant, a total piece of shit full of horrible clothes and old clichés, here in Spain we weren’t surprised that it was a flop bc its producer was known here as someone… Well… Obscure could be an OK word to describe him… so we weren’t surprised that “Reinas” was so bad
I’ve seen Quacks and loved it. Rupert plays a blinder. I loved The Long Song, and it was on the BBC, so probably coming to PBS. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUsPTQpQ1q4
I have some fresh hell for you to rip apart — a new still from The Spanish Princess.
https://66.media.tumblr.com/59006353fd344e17e5f434158a668a8d/tumblr_plx0gqsOMu1qzdk86o1_500.png
I do not often swear, but even I said, when I saw that, “WHAT THE FUCK IS SHE WEARING?”
Exxxxcellent rubs hands evilly
Demimonde is a Hungarian film that looks SO GOOD, but I can’t find it anywhere with English subs. This reminds me of ten years ago when all the BBC miniseries weren’t at my fingertips through streaming.
Blurb: “The story of three women – a famous prostitute, her housekeeper and their new maid – living in Budapest of 1910s, whose passionate, bizarre and complex relationship can only lead to one thing: murder”
The Long Song is currently airing on PBS. 1830’s Jamaica, if I am parsing Hayley Atwell’s froofy frocks and hair correctly.
Yep, took 2 years! Currently watching & will publish a review.