Description: MAKE OFFER FOR EACH ADDITIONAL VHS TAPE PURCHASED AT THE SAME TIME through me for $ 2.00 per additional VHS tape. Gosford Park is a 2001 satirical black comedy mystery film directed by Robert Altman and written by Julian Fellowes. It was influenced by Jean Renoir's French classic La Règle du jeu (The Rules of the Game).The film stars an ensemble cast, which includes Eileen Atkins, Bob Balaban, Alan Bates, Charles Dance, Stephen Fry, Michael Gambon, Richard E. Grant, Derek Jacobi, Kelly Macdonald, Helen Mirren, Jeremy Northam, Clive Owen, Ryan Phillippe, Maggie Smith, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Emily Watson. The story follows a party of wealthy Britons plus an American producer, and their servants, who gather for a shooting weekend at Gosford Park, an English country house. A murder occurs after a dinner party, and the film goes on to present the subsequent investigation from the servants' and guests' perspectives.Development on Gosford Park began in 1999, when Bob Balaban asked Altman if they could develop a film together. Balaban suggested an Agatha Christie–style whodunit and introduced Altman to Julian Fellowes, with whom Balaban had been working on a different project. The film went into production in March 2001, and began filming at Shepperton Studios with a production budget of $19.8 million. Gosford Park premiered on 7 November 2001 at the London Film Festival. It received a limited release across cinemas in the United States in December 2001, before being widely released in January 2002 by USA Films. It was released in February 2002 in the United Kingdom.The film was successful at the box office, grossing over $87 million in cinemas worldwide, making it Altman's second-most successful film after M*A*S*H. Widely acclaimed by critics, Gosford Park was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actress for both Mirren and Smith, and won Best Original Screenplay; it was also nominated for nine British Academy Film Awards, winning two.The TV series Downton Abbey—written and created by Fellowes—was originally planned as a spin-off of Gosford Park, but instead was developed as a standalone property inspired by the film, and set earlier in the 20th century (from 1912 to the mid-1920s).PlotIn November 1932, wealthy English industrialist Sir William McCordle, his wife Lady Sylvia, and their daughter Isobel host a weekend shooting party at their country estate, Gosford Park. The guests arrive: Sylvia's sisters Louisa and Lavinia, and their husbands Lord (Raymond) Stockbridge and Commander Anthony Meredith; her aunt Constance, Countess of Trentham; the Hon. Freddie and Mabel Nesbitt; actor Ivor Novello and American film producer Morris Weissman; and latecomers Lord Rupert Standish and Jeremy Blond. Mrs Wilson, the housekeeper, assigns the visiting servants to their rooms and takes notice of Robert Parks, Lord Stockbridge's valet, who mentions being raised in an orphanage. Head housemaid Elsie guides the inexperienced Mary MacEachran, new maid to Lady Trentham, through the gathering.Following dinner, a silver carving knife turns up missing after an inventory count by the kitchen staff. Henry Denton, Weissman's valet, raises the staff's suspicions with intrusive questions at the staff’s group supper. Henry then attends to Weissman in his room, and Weissman asks Henry if he’ll visit him later in the evening and Henry replies that the risk doesn’t seem worth it, heavily implying a sexual relationship between the two. Later that evening Henry has a late-night sexual encounter with Lady Sylvia under the guise of bringing her some hot milk. Isobel asks Elsie to speak to Sir William about hiring Freddie, who is blackmailing Isobel over their affair and her aborted pregnancy. Freddie mistreats Mabel, whom he married for her money when he overestimated her wealth, while Rupert courts Isobel. Lady Trentham confides to Mary that Sylvia and Louisa cut cards to decide which of them would marry Sir William, whose fortune, earned in business and thus despised by these aristocrats, was nonetheless necessary to sustain their father, an earl, and themselves. When the men go pheasant shooting the next morning, a stray shot grazes Sir William's ear. The ladies join them for lunch, and Sir William withdraws from Anthony's business scheme, leaving the commander financially ruined.Lady Sylvia informs her aunt Constance that Sir William may halt her allowance, on which the grand lady is entirely dependent. During dinner, Lady Sylvia berates Sir William and Elsie comes to his defence, inadvertently exposing their affair; Elsie leaves the room disgraced while Sir William abruptly exits to the library. Mrs Wilson brings him coffee which he knocks away onto the floor and orders her to leave the mess, then demands whisky, which she calmly serves him despite his surly antagonistic manner. The guests gather in the drawing room as Novello plays the piano and sings, with the servants listening outside; Freddie, Anthony, Robert, and footman George each slip away. One of the men, seen only by his trousers, puts on muddy galoshes left by a member of the shooting party to create false evidence that the attacker arrived from outdoors. The man is then shown retrieving the missing knife and entering the library, his identity still obscured by the camera placement. The man finds Sir William with his head resting on his desk, pulls him upright, and stabs him in the chest.The body is soon discovered, and the bumbling Inspector Thompson and competent Constable Dexter arrive to investigate. Henry confesses to the house Butler, Mr. Jennings, that he is an actor preparing for an upcoming role in a Charlie Chan movie set in England, which Weissman is researching via this visit. The news of Henry's true identity quickly spreads among the servants and workers whose suspicions he had aroused through his persistent questions and his failure to follow protocols of service. Henry then visits Lady Sylvia for another tryst, despite her husband having just been murdered ("I suppose life must go on," she sighs as she removes her earrings). He very briefly speaks using his regular American accent, surprising Lady Sylvia, before resuming his ruse as a Scottish servant for the duration of the tryst. It is discovered that Sir William was poisoned before being stabbed, and Mrs Croft, the head cook, tells her staff about Sir William's history of raping his female factory workers; those who became pregnant were forced to give their babies up for adoption, or else lose their jobs. Isobel gives Freddie a cheque, which he angrily tears up when confronted by Mabel. Inspector Thompson releases the guests without interviewing most of the staff.Mary confronts Robert, deducing that he became Lord Stockbridge's valet to gain proximity to Sir William. Robert reveals that he is the illegitimate son of Sir William, who gave him to an orphanage two days after his birth, and that his mother, one of his factory workers, died soon after. He tells her he did not poison Sir William, and she tells him he could not have killed him through stabbing him as he had already been poisoned to death. Robert, by this time, has already discovered that his murder attempt was actually merely stabbing a corpse. He grabs and kisses Mary, who leaves right after. As the guests and their servants depart, Freddie, his blackmail scheme of Isobel having failed, pursues a partnership with Anthony, whose business venture has ironically been saved by William's death. Isobel overhears Rupert callously dismissing his courtship of her when he hears the limits on her inheritance. The fired maid, Elsie, accepts a ride to London with Weissman, Novello, and Henry.Lady Trentham and Lady Sylvia discuss Mrs Croft and Mrs Wilson's long-standing feud, leading Mary to realize Mrs Wilson is Robert's mother. She confronts Mrs Wilson, who reveals that she and Mrs Croft are sisters. They both had children fathered by Sir William while working at his factory; Mrs Croft kept her baby and lost her job, though the child died in infancy, while Mrs Wilson gave Robert up. Realizing he was her son and that he intended to kill his father, Mrs Wilson poisoned Sir William to ensure Robert's only crime would be stabbing a dead body. Mrs Croft comforts the heartbroken Mrs Wilson as Mary says goodbye to Robert, saying nothing about his mother or the murder, and the last guests go their separate ways.
Price: 5 USD
Location: New York, New York
End Time: 2025-01-11T06:37:58.000Z
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Item Specifics
Restocking Fee: No
Return shipping will be paid by: Seller
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 30 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
Signal Standard: NTSC
Rating: R
Former Rental: No
Sub-Genre: Mystery
Director: Robert Altman
Leading Role: Eileen Atkins, Bob Balaban
Studio: Universal
Edition: Promo
Special Features: Academy Screener FYC Studio Promo edition
Language: English
Actor: Clive Owen, Helen Mirren, Eileen Atkins, Bob Balaban, Alan Bates, Charles Dance, Stephen Fry, Michael Gambon, Richard E. Grant, Derek Jacobi, Kelly Macdonald, Jeremy Northam, Ryan Phillippe, Maggie Smith, Kristin Scott Thomas, Emily Watson
Genre: Thriller & Mystery
Movie/TV Title: Gosford Park
Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
