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Ron Miller's DARK CORRIDORS VOL. 4, No. 22 |
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'DEAD GORGEOUS' |
 Fay Ripley, left, and Helen McCrory dispose of a body |
Two unhappy wives
settle with their husbands
By DONNA J. PLESH
of TheColumnists.com
Man trouble--or in this case husband trouble--leads two women along a path that involves them in murder, a cover-up and lies piled upon lies. Oh, there's also a body cooling in a refrigerator.
That's the intriguing premise of "Dead Gorgeous," a drama kicking off the new series of "Mystery!" on PBS on this summer. (The program premiered July 6 on most PBS stations, but check local listings for delayed premiere dates or repeat telecasts in your area.).
"Dead Gorgeous" is based on the novel "On the Edge" by Peter Lovesey, who wrote the "Sergeant Cribb" Victorian detective series that played on "Mystery!" during its first two seasons in the early 1980s.
Unlike the rest of the
summer "Mystery!" programs, "Dead Gorgeous"
is a two-hour movie rather than a series. It's set in 1946 London,
where much of the city is still in
rubble from World War II bombings, and people still must queue
up for necessities of life.
By chance, two wartime friends, the glamorous Antonia Ashton
(Helen McCrory) and Rose Bell (Faye Ripley) meet on the street.
Over tea, the two catch up on their lives since their last meeting.
Both are married. Antonia to the wildy rich Hector, a Czech who
manufactures refrigerators, and Rose to an RAF hero turned low-rung
civil servant. Antonia wants out of her marriage with a pile
of Hector's money, so she can live happily ever after with her
lover, a college professor. Rose, living with the penny-pinching,
philandering Barry, wants out of her loveless marriage, too.
But she sees no way to do it.
Offhandedly, Antonia suggests there's a way for them to get out
of their marriages. Rose listens, but believes Antonia's just
joking. After all, what she is proposing is premeditated murder!
Antonia will do away with Barry, and Rose will return the favor
by knocking off Hector. It's what you might call a "Strangers on A Train" plan.
Rose puts Antonia's outlandish plan out of her mind, until a
knock on her door changes everything. An insurance agent calls
for Barry who, it seems, wants to cash out a life insurance policy.
Why, Rose wonders, since Barry never mentioned it to her? Knowing
Barry won't tell her a thing, she decides to do a little checking
up on him. What she finds out is that Barry needs the insurance
money to support a second family.
Suddenly Rose starts thinking a little more seriously about Antonia's
plan. Good thing, too, since the next knock on Rose's door is
from the police, telling her that Barry has been killed in an
"accidental" fall from a crowded train platform. Rose
realizes, like it or not, she's involved in Antonia's scheme.
Making matters worse, the police and the insurance agent are
suspicious about Barry's death and Rose's alibi for the time
that it happened. Rose is a nervous wreck, and Antonia is no
help. Instead, she forces Rose into helping do away with Hector.
The husbands are gone, but the problems keep adding up for the
women: The insurance company reluctantly pays Rose Barry's life
insurance money--but the agent makes it clear he feels all is
not on the up and up--and a detective keeps snooping into Barry's
death, adding to Rose's nervous state.
Then there's the little matter of Hector's body. The women stash
it in one of his own refrigerators until they can figure out
a way to dispose of it.
"Dead Gorgeous" isn't so much a mystery, since we know
"whodunnit," as it is a black comedy. A seemingly simple
plan to do away with two husbands becomes as involved as trying
to find a way out of one of the great mazes in Britain. You know
there's a way out, but you just can't find it.
McCrory, probably best known on these shores for her starring
role as "Anna
Karenina," is a perfect
fit as Antonia, a woman with a somewhat suspicious past who can
pretty much get away with doing what she pleases because she
has pots of money to spend. Rose, as portrayed by Ripley, is
the more interesting character. Early on, she's a mousy woman
who dresses sensibly and would never do anything wrong. But after
the hubands have been done away with, her stature and confidence
grow. Deep down she might not be completely comfortable with
what she and Antonia have done, but she's become more adept at
juggling the lies she's been forced to live with in the
wake of the murders.
While nowhere near the greats of past "Mystery!" seasons--"Prime Suspect" and
"Inspector Morse" to name but a few--"Dead Gorgeous"
is still interesting enough to keep this viewer glued to the
set wondering if the women, despite their bumbling, will get
away with murder. Hint: There's a neat twist at the end.
Next up on "Mystery!" are "The Mrs. Bradley Mysteries" (July 13-Aug. 3),
"Hetty Wainthropp
Investigates" (Aug.
10-Aug. 24), and "The
Inspector Lynley
Mysteries" (Aug.
31-Sept. 21).
©2003 by Donna J. Plesh. The photo is courtesy WGBH Boston.
| DONNA J. PLESH is a veteran television critic, formerly on the staff of the Orange County Register in Santa Ana, California. She specializes in mystery programs and is now a regular contributor to Ron Miller's DARK CORRIDORS. |
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