I Love Vicky
I read the Chicago Tribune for the funnies and the grocery ads. (You wouldn’t want me to miss an ice cream sale!) In deference to my blood pressure, I avoid the Trib’s op-ed page–it is always FDR’s fault–but I have no real dread of the movie reviews. Perhaps I should. Today’s review of “Young Victoria” left me sputtering.
Either the film recast Albert’s nationality or the reviewer did. He is described as a Belgian prince. In fact–if facts have any relevance–Albert was a German duke. His name Saxe-Coburg-Gotha infers the family’s connection with Saxony; they used to own it. (But that is another story, which I don’t mind repeating: https://finermanworks.com/your_rda_of_irony/2009/06/30/the-waiting-game-2/ )
The reviewer also compares Victoria and Albert to Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. Well, Tracy and Victoria were both squat, and if Hepburn had been constrained and humorless she could have been Albert. But a more apt comparison would be to Lucy and Desi. Let’s work on the pilot of “I Love Vicky”:
She is earnest but not terribly bright; he is intellectual, puritanical and foreign. She adores him, and he lets her…and she does have her way. There are nine children. The oldest daughter, Vicky, is Miss Perfect; she is practically her father in drag. The oldest son, Bertie, is a classic goof and party-animal; he is the despair of his father. Of course, Vicky and Al also have some zany neighbors: Lou and Genie Bonaparte. (Lou is a rogue who always coming up with some get-rich-quick scheme, such as trying to setting up an empire in Mexico. He is the despair of his wife–who is dumb but gorgeous.)
Unfortunately, during the 22nd season of “I Love Vicky“, Albert does a John Ritter. There are a series of guest male leads to keep Victoria busy for the next 39 seasons. Among the guest stars are the charming, hilarious Ben Disraeli and the impossibly pompous William Gladstone. Of course, Bertie is still undermining the Victorian household; he now is a serial adulterer. And his oldest son may be Jack the Ripper. The oldest daughter, the perfect Vicky, has produced a perfect monster for a child: Willie to his grandmother, Kaiser Wilhelm to his subjects.
That is the basic outline. If we market it to cable, we’ll have to include nude scenes.
p.s. And let’s not forget the historic significance of this day: https://finermanworks.com/your_rda_of_irony/2008/12/18/december-18th-mishapsburgs/
I’m told I am distantly related to Albert via my paternal great grandmother, a German who flounced along as a minor member of his retinue when he moved to Vicky’s place. The funny thing is, the grandmother who married into the family was the humorless one.
I see that Paul Bettany is portraying the Prime Minister Lord Melbourne. Bettany is 20 years younger than Melbourne was at the time of Victoria’s coronation. Apparently the history is being youth-enized.
Expect Charles Dickens to be portrayed as a rapper. Oliver Twist does sound like a dance.
Eugene
Happy belated Hanukkah! I’d like to see the movie despite it’s laughability, but it’s only in 2 theaters. Maybe that’s for the best. I still think Rowan Atkinson did Vicky and Albert best in his Black Adder Christmas Carol. Track it down if you’ve never seen-it’s brilliant!
Dear Mary Ann,
Happy Holidays to you.
Emily Blunt is much too pretty to be Victoria. Now Miriam Margulies, who played the Queen on Black Adder’s Christmas, has the equivalent pulchritude of Victoria–although Victoria did look more Gentile. Ironically, Jim Broadbent as Albert was not as goodlooking as the real Prince Consort.
Eugene