DVD Review: Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (2022)

Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris
(DVD Mrs)

This 2022 film is the third time Paul Gallico’s 1958 novel has been adapted for the screen. In 1958, a shortened version was filmed for the American television series Studio One, featuring British comic actress Gracie Fields. In 1992, Angela Lansbury, Omar Sharif and Diana Rigg headlined a TV-movie version. And now, Lesley Manville stars in the titular role in this absolutely charming little film.

 

Mrs. Harris is a British cleaning women, who scrapes by on meager means. When she sees a Christian Dior gown in the wardrobe of one of her clients, she is enthralled, and becomes enamored of the idea of own such an elegant and beautiful item of clothing herself. She scrimps and saves, and some fortuitous changes of fate result in her having the money needed to make a trip to Paris. The bulk of this film is her adventures in Paris, where she basically forces her way into the exclusive Dior facility, and the interactions she has with the people she encounters, including everyone from Dior’s executive assistant to the clothing cutters and sewing staff.

 

Manville is marvelous in the role, and the supporting cast is terrific. The set design feels very authentic, and the gorgeous dresses are either Dior originals, or based off of his designs. This story is about a woman who is out of place but makes the best of it, and the people who aid her along the way, becoming friends while they do so.

 

It is a quiet little film with a big heart. I strongly recommend this, especially for anyone who’s a fan of couture.

(Also available in traditional print format.)

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this film ) | ( official Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris web site )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you watched this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles

The Paris Library
by Janet Skeslien Charles (Skeslien Charles)

 

You may find yourself asking, “what would I have done” when you read The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles. Would you go to the same lengths as these librarians did to help Jewish patrons and to protect the library’s collection, risking an uncertain end? The story depicts the survival of the American Library in Paris during World War II and the Nazi’s occupation of Paris.

 

It follows young Odile Souchet in 1939, newly employed in the periodical room. As Odile adjusts to working in the library, she also worries about her brother who enlists in the war. All too soon the Germans overrun Paris and the atrocities of war hit close to home. So when Jewish patrons are blocked from coming to the library and much of the collection is in danger of being destroyed, we discover the lengths that Odile and other librarians at the American Library in Paris will go to in order to help and provide materials to their Jewish subscribers and other international patrons.

 

The book alternates chapters, exchanging stories with teenage Lily. In 1983 in Froid, Montana, Lily mourns her mother. Lily has to learn how to live with a new family when her father remarries and she becomes a big sister, as well as how to survive her high school years. Here Odile is now a widow, Mrs. Gustafson “the War Bride,” and lives a very solitary life. She befriends teenage Lily. It starts with French lessons, but eventually Odile teaches Lily how to survive when your life is torn apart.

 

The Paris Library is fiction; however, it is based on the actual people who worked in the American Library in Paris and historical events that took place there. The author states she wrote the book to shed light on the brave librarians, and to show how the relationships we have during our lifetime make us who we are, helping or hindering those around us. I would recommend the book to anyone looking for a different perspective and who is interested in historical fiction from World War II.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin or The Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly.]

[ official Janet Skeslien Charles web site (also official The Paris Library site) ]

 

Recommended by Cindy K.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Services

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Lost in Paris (on DVD)

Lost in Paris

by Abel & Gordon [DVD Lost]

This is a modern gem of gentle(-ish) humor, using a formula of 1 awkward Canadian spinster + 1 rakish French bum = 2 quirky people in love. Add on a mesmerizing tango for extra credit. Blissfully comedic and connubic filmmakers Fiona Gordon and Dominique Abel have created a vaguely autobiographical adventure through the streets (and a crematorium!) of Paris, in which their characters do a dance of happenstance romance. The pivot point for this unlikely pairing is Fiona’s search for her “missing” aunt, Martha/Marthe, played by famed French actress Emmanuelle Riva in her final film role. What a goof-ily sweet treat of a movie! [Hey, US movie makers, this is what La La Land should have been more like.] Be sure to watch the special features to get a better idea of Abel & Gordon’s burlesque (no, not the definition you think you know…) techniques and 30-year career if you are not familiar with them.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try French Kiss with Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline, The Navigator and Spite Marriage with Buster Keaton or Girl Shy and Safety Last with Harold Lloyd.]

[ Internet Movie Database entry for Lost in Paris ] | [ official Lost in Paris web site ]

Recommended by Becky W.C.
Walt Branch Library

Have you watched this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

The Bookseller

The Bookseller
by Michael Pryor

First in a new mystery series, set in Paris. Hugo Marston is the head of security for the U.S. Embassy in Paris, recovering from a relationship break-up and enjoying the prestige of a job he's good at after years of intelligence work. When one of his Parisian friends, a quirky bookstall owner named Max appears to be threatened and then disappears, Hugo feels obligated to look into the matter on his week off of work -- mainly because the local authorities seem to be turning a blind eye to the situation. With the assistance of an old ex-CIA friend and a crusading female reporter (with whom he's begun a new relationship), Marston steps on lots of the wrong people's toes as he tries to discover the fate of his friend...the bookseller. Really nice descriptions of the settings, even if the characters are a bit wooden. The second volume is due out in 2013. -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[Also available in downloadable E-book format.]

[ official Mark Pryor blog ]

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!