I’ve always felt somewhat good about the fact that I was a Colin Firth fan before he became well known in America. I was a Colin Firth fan even before he starred in what is, for me, the definitive film version of Pride and Prejudice. I became a Colin Firth fan way back in the 1987 when the PBS Masterpiece Theater series aired Lost Empires.
I remember watching Alistair Cooke introduce each episode and explaining that if the novel/film had been set in America it might have been called “Lost Palaces” because this was a story of vaudeville in Britain and every small town had an Empire Theatre, just like every town in America had a Palace Theater. But of course it was also a play on words because it was a film looking back on the days when the British Empire was not yet in decline – pre World War I.
Firth played Richard Herncastle, a young man who loses his parents and is left with only one living relative, his uncle Nick who is a very successful vaudeville magician. Richard joins the act and travels the music hall circuit. Lawrence Olivier was in the film, playing a sad, washed up comedian.
I’ve always been fascinated with “back stage” stories that show the good and bad about theater life. Richard isn’t interested in a vaudeville career, he wants to be an artist. But he meets a lot of interesting people.
Lost Empires is being released on DVD. I’d like to see it again. Maybe someone will give it to me for Christmas …
