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Because the screenplay for Mountains of the Moon is based in part on the men’s surviving journals, there are vivid, eye-filling details of their exploits in Africa. Their groundbreaking exploration of that continent is a major element of the film. It is also inspired by a biographical novel written by William Harrison, who collaborated with Rafelson on the script, so we cannot take everything we see as the gospel. But what makes this film so special is that it manages to embrace the sweep of an epic with the compelling details of a highly personal story. It isn’t an old-fashioned “boys’ adventure” like King Solomon’s Mines, but a realistic drama about the hardships these men faced on their journeys, and the equally trying problems they had to confront upon their return.

It certainly captures the spirit of its time, when men like Burton defied the constraints of Victorian behavior and Speke sought personal gain in a way that seems curiously modern.

93. MRS PALFREY AT THE CLAREMONT

(2005)

Directed by Dan Ireland

Screenplay by Ruth Sacks

Based on the novel by Elizabeth Taylor

Actors:

JOAN PLOWRIGHT

RUPERT FRIEND

ZOE TAPPER

ANNA MASSEY

ROBERT LANG

MARCIA WARREN

MILLICENT MARTIN

LORCAN O’TOOLE

MICHAEL CULKIN

TIMOTHY BATESON

CLARE HIGGINS

EMMA PIKE

The problem with many films about elderly characters is that they strive—often much too hard—to be cute and endearing. What sets Mrs Palfrey at The Claremont apart from the crowd is that it succeeds without condescending to its characters or, for that matter, its audience.

The film’s strongest asset is its leading lady, the formidable Joan Plowright. This veteran actress is not above chewing some scenery, as she’s shown in a number of Hollywood movies, but here she exercises admirable restraint. Mrs. Palfrey is a lonely widow who moves to London to distance herself from her grown daughter and be closer to her grandson. The only problem is that she hasn’t consulted the young man, who doesn’t return her calls. So it is that the proudly independent woman checks into the Claremont, a residential hotel where the other residents immediately start sniffing her out.

Then, through happenstance, Mrs. Palfrey meets a nice young man named Ludovic (Rupert Friend) who helps her at an awkward moment and quickly befriends her; in time their relationship deepens. And, in an amusing turn of events, Mrs. Palfrey is obliged to explain away Ludo’s presence by pretending that he is her grandson.

If you refuse to accept the premise that a man in his twenties could express genuine friendship for a woman in her seventies, this is not your kind of story. Indeed, this is a wish-fulfillment movie, with only one foot firmly planted in the real world—but it’s just real enough to win us over, especially in the skilled hands of Plowright, Friend, and such fine actors as Anna Massey, Robert Lang, and Millicent Martin. (Mrs. Palfrey’s grandson is played by Lorcan O’Toole, son of Peter O’Toole.)

The screenplay is based on a novel from the 1950s by Elizabeth Taylor (the author, not the movie star), adapted by Ruth Sacks, who was in her seventies when she wrote the script. The director is considerably younger: Dan Ireland, cofounder of the Seattle International Film Festival, who made an impressive directorial debut with The Whole Wide World (1996). His evocation of a dowdy residential hotel is perfect, as is his handling of the mostly senior cast. And if the film never soars to the heights of Noël Coward’s Brief Encounter, which Mrs. Palfrey cites as her all-time favorite, it does provide eminently satisfying entertainment, and a great showcase for its glowing star.

94. MY FIRST MISTER

(2001)

Directed by Christine Lahti

Screenplay by Jill Franklyn

Actors:

LEELEE SOBIESKI

ALBERT BROOKS

DESMOND HARRINGTON

CAROL KANE

MARY KAY PLACE

JOHN GOODMAN

MICHAEL MCKEAN

RUTANYA ALDA

I’m a sucker for Albert Brooks. That may explain why I was more enthusiastic about My First Mister than some other critics, but I don’t intend