BBC Arena's documentary on the Dames of British Theatre and film featuring Maggie Smith, Eileen Atkins, Judi Dench and Joan Plowright on screen together for the first time as they reminisce over a long summer weekend in a house Joan once shared with Sir Laurence Olivier.

Nothing Like a Dame poster

Nothing Like a Dame (2018)

You're invited.

★ 6.8/10 May 2, 2018 80 min

Documentary

Director: Roger Michell

BBC Arena's documentary on the Dames of British Theatre and film featuring Maggie Smith, Eileen Atkins, Judi Dench and Joan Plowright on screen together for the first time as they reminisce over a long summer weekend in a house Joan once shared with Sir Laurence Olivier.

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Trailer

Director

Roger Michell Roger Michell

Cast

Maggie Smith Maggie Smith Self Judi Dench Judi Dench Self Eileen Atkins Eileen Atkins Self Joan Plowright Joan Plowright Self Robert Altman Robert Altman Self (archive footage) Frank Finlay Frank Finlay Self (archive footage) John Gielgud John Gielgud Self (archive footage) Julian Glover Julian Glover Self (archive footage) Sheridan Morley Sheridan Morley Self (archive footage) Laurence Olivier Laurence Olivier Self (archive footage) Kim Philby Kim Philby Self (archive footage) Vanessa Redgrave Vanessa Redgrave Self (archive footage)

User Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
CinemaSerf December 26, 2024
★ 7/10

With something like 30 BAFTA, 15 Oscar and twenty odd Golden Globe nominations between them, this congregation of British Dames was always going to be a good opportunity to mix together these four lively characters with a plethora of archive and the odd sup of champagne. What we get is a mess. There's loads of cross-talking, plenty of witty asides, dead air time, hearing aid malfunctions, aching limbs and reminiscences by the pound. It's the very meandering, unstructured, nature of this chat that quite engagingly illustrates just how extensively varied the careers of these women has been since they started treading the boards in the 1960s. There's also quite a degree of camaraderie between these actors that teases out some anecdotes from both the professional and the more personal aspects of their lives on stage and screen, and it's quite a testament to the researchers - and the standard…