Directed by:
Tony RichardsonScreenplay:
Allan ScottCinematography:
Steve YaconelliComposer:
John AddisonCast:
Stefanie Powers, Claire Bloom, Peter Bowles, Brian Cox, Niamh Cusack, Trevor Eve, Frederic Forrest, James Fox, Sverre Anker Ousdal, John Rubinstein, Jack Thompson, Helen Fraser, Richard Olivier (more)Plots(1)
Stefanie Powers stars as famed aviatrix Beryl Markham in this made-for-TV version of her life, which the actress also produced. She, her mother, and her brother join her father, Charles Clutterbuck (Timothy West), in Kenya in 1902, where has has been working a farm. Her mother cannot adapt to this new life and her brother becomes seriously ill, so both return to England. Beryl remains with her father, enjoying learning about Africa and the mores of the local tribe. The girl grows up playing polo and going to the parties of wealthy friends, but when drought forces her father to sell their property, she makes a marriage of convenience with Jock Purves (Brian Cox), whose brutality soon causes her to leave him. Much like her father, she becomes a horse trainer, then meets her next husband, the wealthy Mansfield Markham (James Fox), after her horse wins a race. She goes on to have a number of affairs, one with Denys Finch Hatton (Trevor Eve), which ignites an interest in learning to fly. Soon a well-known aviatrix, she's dared by Jack Carberry (Peter Bowles) to be the first person to make the east-west transatlantic flight. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Stefanie Powers
USA
Best movies:
Deceptions (1985) (TV movie)
If a Man Answers (1962)
Experiment in Terror (1962)
Claire Bloom
UK
Best movies:
Producers' Showcase (1954) (series)
The King's Speech (2010)
Limelight (1952)
Peter Bowles
UK
Best movies:
Blow-Up (1966)
Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989) (series)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
Brian Cox
UK
Best movies:
An Adventure in Space and Time (2013) (TV movie)
Braveheart (1995)
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) - a.f.
Niamh Cusack
Ireland
Best movies:
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (2012) (theatrical recording)
The Hollow Crown (2012) (series)
The Best of Men (2012) (TV movie)
Trevor Eve
UK
Best movies:
Troy (2004)
The Corsican Brothers (1985) (TV movie)
Scandal (1989)
Frederic Forrest
USA
Best movies:
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Falling Down (1993)
The Rose (1979)
James Fox
UK
Best movies:
The Remains of the Day (1993)
Pavlova: A Woman for All Time (1983)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
Sverre Anker Ousdal
Norway
Best movies:
The Last Place on Earth (1985) (series)
Kristin Lavransdatter (1995)
The Secret Life of Words (2005)
John Rubinstein
USA
Best movies:
21 Grams (2003)
Roots: The Next Generations (1979) (series)
The Boys from Brazil (1978)
Jack Thompson
Australia
Best movies:
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
Short Circuit (1986)
Wake in Fright (1971)
Helen Fraser
UK
Best movies:
Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey (1988)
A Kind of Loving (1962)
Repulsion (1965)
Timothy West
UK
Best movies:
The Day of the Jackal (1973)
Going Postal (2010) (TV movie)
Florence Nightingale (1985) (TV movie)
Geoffrey Bateman
Best movies:
Leon (1994)
The French Revolution (1989) (TV movie)
King Lear (1983) (TV movie)
Peter Graves
UK
Best movies:
I Hired a Contract Killer (1990)
The Assassination Bureau (1969)
Alfie (1966)
Rupert Frazer
Best movies:
Gandhi (1982)
Far Pavilions, The (1984) (series)
Empire of the Sun (1987)
Sidede Onyulo
Kenya
Best movies:
Nowhere in Africa (2001)
The Constant Gardener (2005)
Ivory Hunters (1990) (TV movie)
Rosalie Crutchley
UK
Best movies:
Cadfael (1994) (series)
The Nun's Story (1959)
Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989) (series)
Nicola Pagett
Egypt
Best movies:
Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
A Woman of Substance (1984) (TV movie)
An Awfully Big Adventure (1995)