THE ROMANCE COLLECTION 2 - Literary Classics - 14 DVDs
HORATIO HORNBLOWER Running time approximately 200 minutes
From midshipman to commander, experience the thrilling escapades of the ultimate high-seas hero, Horatio Hornblower (Ioan Gruffudd). Joining the British navy at the outset of the Napoleonic Wars, the enterprising Horatio rises quickly from raw recruit to seasoned sailor, charting a course from the West Indies to the coast of Africa in the name of the Crown. Along the way, he encounters roiling sea battles, mutiny, plague and love, but always proves himself equal to the task.
NICHOLAS NICKLEBY Running time approximately 9 hours
A comic, brutal and passionate tale of greed and love in Victorian England. A top-notch cast of actors and rising young newcomers shine in a lavish production of the Charles Dickens classic.
Cast out into the cold cruel world, Nicholas Nickleby deals adroitly with friend and foe alike, eventually coming full circle to mete out just desserts to his unspeakable uncle. The hero, a penniless young gentleman struggles to make his way in the world and protect his mother and sister, meeting up with the worst and best of humanity along the way.
Nicholas eagerly takes on a teaching job at a boys' boarding school, but flees after rebelling against the unspeakable horrors there. Meanwhile, his sister's beauty attracts menacing attention from a group of rich, boorish swells. With powerful enemies marshaled against him, Nicholas struggles to find his way in the world and rescue his family.
VANITY FAIR Running time approximately 5 hours
In a culture obsessed with status, Becky Sharp -- beautiful, clever, and poor -- is determined to earn her place in society. Her childhood friend, Amelia Sedley, enjoys the privileges Becky lacks, little realizing how fickle these blessings can be.
From post London ballrooms and country estates to the battlefield at Waterloo, they pursue love and fortune in the self-absorbed world of the British upper crust. While the delightfully amoral Becky manipulates the men around her, Amelia's innocence and the vagaries of fate leave her at the mercy of others. VANITY FAIR faithfully preserves the bon mots and stinging satire that has made the novel one of the enduring classics of English literature.
THE FLAME TREES OF THIKA Running time approximately 5 hours 50 minutes
A young Edwardian family leaves the shores of England to build a home in the wilderness of East Africa. Based on the beloved autobiographical novel by Elspeth Huxley, THE FLAME TREES OF THIKA brings to life the color and adventure of turn-of-the-century Kenya. In 1913, Robin (David Robb) and Tilly Grant (Hayley Mills) arrive in Kenya with the dream of transforming a barren plot of land into a thriving coffee plantation.
But torrential rains, relentless insects and murderous animals, as well as relations with natives and other settlers, challenge their ambitions. Will England call them back? Or will the wide-eyed wonder of young Elspeth (Holly Aird) help unlock the mysteries of a foreign land and open the doors into the pleasures and rewards of a new home?
From the creator of Upstairs, Downstairs, THE FLAME TREES OF THIKA is an enchanting, critically acclaimed mini-series featuring all seven episodes authentically shot on location.
THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE Running time approximately 200 minutes
Common sense suggests that no good can come of auctioning off your wife in a drunken fit, but Thomas Hardy's classic novel, THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE turns this dark story, set in rural England in the mid-1800s, into a compelling, compulsive ride. The discarded wife returns after 19 years with her daughter in tow, only to discover that her former husband, Michael Henchard has risen as a merchant and a politician.
But though he welcomes her back and arranges to renew their bond without public shame, Henchard's pride and fear remain intractable; the struggle for love and happiness collides with shame and secrets as Hardy's complex tale unfolds.
CATHERINE THE GREAT Running time approximately 100 minutes
A sweeping costume drama from A & E, CATHERINE THE GREAT tells the story of a young woman who rises from a relatively obscure position in the royal court to become one of the most remarkable monarchs in history.
In a role predating her U S breakthrough in The Mask of Zorro, Catherine Zeta-Jones dazzles as a 15-year-old German princess in 18th century Russia. We follow Catherine's ascent in the court of Empress Elizabeth (Jeanne Moreau), her triumph over the despicable Peter (Hannes Jaenicke), the empress's nephew (who becomes her husband), and her eventual crowning as Tsarina of Russia -- CATHERINE THE GREAT.
Omar Shariff and Mel Ferrer round off the all-star international cast with ample supporting roles. A gripping, real-life fairy tale begging for multiple viewings, CATHERINE THE GREAT is an intriguing role from Zeta-Jones past, one that clearly foreshadows the talents of a superstar in the making.
TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES Running time approximately 180 minutes
Tess is a teenager captured between happiness with an educated man (Oliver Milburn) and a dreadful existence with a scheming aristocrat (Jason Fleming).
Justine Waddell stars as Tess D'Urbeyfield, the poor relation to the prosperous D'Urbervilles, a rural family. Sent to work on the farm of her distant relatives, Tess stirs up an intense romantic rivalry between her cousin Alec D'Urberville and handsome "local" Angel Clare. Tragedy ensues when the rapacious Alec "has his way" with Tess, inaugurating a chain of events that will ultimately find the heroine on trial for her life.
THE GREAT GATSBY Running time approximately 100 minutes
The '20s never roared louder than in this sumptuously romantic retelling of F Scott Fitzgerald's Jazz Age classic. Toby Stephens stars as Jay Gatsby, who had once loved beautiful, spoiled Daisy Buchanan (Mira Sorvino), then lost her to a rich boy.
Jay Gatsby is a man possessed - driven by greed, ambition, and, most of all, an unwavering desire for a woman he met before the Great War, when he was poor and she was unobtainable. F Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece is an extraordinary journey into the heart of the American Dream and out the other side, where the spoils of success do not always suffice. As Gatsby reinvents himself in an attempt to buy his way into the social elite of Long Island's Gold Coast, he yearns to rekindle his romance with the woman who stole his heart years before.
But when the chance finally arrives, a shadow of tragedy is cast over what Gatsby long-imagined would be his most triumphant moment. THE GREAT GATSBY is a mesmerizing, tangled tale of wealth and entitlement, love and longing.