Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont, directed by Dan Ireland, a movie about a lovable elderly widow, is based on a 1971 novel by Elizabeth Taylor (not the actress), though the story in the film is set in the present. Arthur, the husband of septuagenarian Mrs. Sarah Palfrey (played by Dame Joan Plowright), has recently died. She has sold their home somewhere in upcountry England, leaving her a small endowment. After visiting her daughter Elizabeth (played by Anna Cateret) in Scotland, she decides to take up residence at the Claremont Hotel, a pension in the Lancaster Gate section of London that accommodates guests on a monthly basis and advertises "excellent cuisine." Upon arrival, Mrs. P tries to telephone her grandson, Desmond (played by Lorcan O'Toole), who works in the British Museum archives, but he has an answerphone, so she leaves a message. Meanwhile, she gets acquainted with other residents during meals in the dining room. Mrs. P is a most pleasant and proper lady, whereas many of the other guests are strangely eccentric; they live in the past, acting unaware of such developments as computers. Mrs. P remarks, "I had expected something quite different," as the food is not to her liking, the accommodations are drab, and the company is lacking in gentility. On the latter score, she declines an invitation from an overfriendly widow to see an episode of Sex in the City on the telly. Most are elderly, though a middleaged husband and wife are staying for a few months while their London abode is being remodeled. When her grandson does not return further calls and does not visit Mrs. P, she walks a few blocks to post a letter to her daughter to complain of his neglect. On the way back to the hotel, she falls down. A handsome young man in his mid-twenties, Ludovic Meyer (played by Rupert Friend), sees her take a tumble, comes to her rescue, invites her to join him for tea in the nearby flat where he is housesitting, and applies peroxide to her wounded leg. She finds his company very enjoyable, and vice versa, as they both cherish the poetry of Blake and Wordsworth, so she visits him again and hatches a harmless plot. She asks him to join her for dinner at the Claremont, masquerading as her grandson. He agrees, much to the delight of the other guests, who are eager to see what one guest describes as her "mythical grandson." The ruse succeeds, and Ludo indeed returns to the Claremont for meals as well as to take her on excursions, some of which are visits to places where she has fond memories of her late husband. Ludo, a budding writer, takes advantage of his new friend to begin a novel about Mrs. P's experiences, entitled "We're Not Allowed to Die Here," an epigram of one of the guests which means that those who get ill must leave the hotel for the hospital to die. Indeed, his comments about the hotel's residents is "We're trapped in a Terence Rattigan play," referring to England's Tennessee Williams who was the source of many films, from Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969) to The Winslow Boy (1999). Ludo's girlfriend meanwhile, has given up on him because he is unproductive. Now, while seeking to rent a DVD of Mrs. P's favorite film of yesteryear, he meets in the rental store another aficionado of the movie, Gwendolyn (Zoe Tapper), whereupon the two socialize, have sex, and Ludo neglects Mrs. P, to the latter's dismay. One day, the only male guest at the Claremont invites Mrs. P for a date; she accepts, not realizing that his motive is to get a little drunk and then to propose marriage. Although Mrs. P quickly learned that the life at a hotel largely for senior citizens is rather lonely, she replies to the widower that she has spent all her life taking care of others and now wants to live independently, contrary to her obvious zest for the company of Ludo. Inevitably, Desmond comes calling unexpectedly one day, and her daughter also bursts on the scene, so she is called upon to cover up the ruse and does so smoothly, though both her daughter and grandson are taken aback. Then Mrs. P falls again one day, injuring her hip. An ambulance is summoned, and Ludo is the one who attends to her daily in the hospital. What is mostly a feel-good movie, with many hearty laughs and smiles throughout, then descends into a noir phase as she slowly loses strength and dies, evidently unable to acquire a replacement hip. Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont delightfully fits into the genre of films about writers and inspirations for novels, and arrives on the heels of Capote, in which the roles are reversed. MH
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