''Hotel du Lac'' is a television version of the 1984 Booker prize-winning novel by

Anita Brookner Anita Brookner (16 July 1928 – 10 March 2016) was an English novelist and art historian. She was Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Cambridge from 1967 to 1968 and was the first woman to hold this visiting professorship. She ...

. It stars

Anna Massey Anna Raymond Massey (11 August 19373 July 2011) was an English actress. She won a BAFTA Award for the role of Edith Hope in the 1986 TV adaptation of Anita Brookner's novel ''Hotel du Lac'', a role that one of her co-stars, Julia McKenzie, h ...

and

Denholm Elliott Denholm Mitchell Elliott, (31 May 1922 – 6 October 1992) was an English actor, with more than 125 film and television credits. His well-known roles include the abortionist in '' Alfie'' (1966), Marcus Brody in ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' (19 ...

and was released in 1986 as an episode of the BBC's ''

Screen Two ''Screen Two'' was a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC2 from 1985 to 1998 (not to be confused with a run of films shown on BBC2 under the billing ''Screen 2'' between April 1977 and March ...

'' series. It was directed by

Giles Foster Giles Foster has been an English television director since 1975, specialising in television dramas. He has also directed in Australia and in Germany (2012-2014). He wrote some television dramas in the 1970s. He is from Bath, Somerset and was ed ...

, produced by Sue Birtwistle with music by

Carl Davis Carl Davis, (born October 28, 1936) is an American-born conductor and composer who has lived in the United Kingdom since 1961. He has written music for more than 100 television programmes, but is best known for creating music to accompany si ...

and cinematography by Kenneth MacMillan. It aired in the UK on 2 March 1986.

Plot synopsis

A romance novelist, Edith Hope (who writes under the name Vanessa Wilde) goes to stay at a Swiss Hotel on a lakeside to get away from an ill-fated romance with David, a married auctioneer and having jilted another man on the steps of the wedding venue to the disgust of her friends. At the hotel she writes letters to her ex-lover David, which tell the story of their relationship, but they are never sent. Also staying at the hotel are the gauche, flamboyantly wealthy, but vulgar Iris Pusey and her middle aged daughter Jennifer, who is somewhat man-hungry; seducing the hotel staff and fellow guest Mr. Neville. Edith is befriended by Monica, the wife of a British diplomat with the EU, who is there for health reasons. Spurning Jennifer's attentions, Mr. Neville woos Edith and he proposes marriage. Edith turns him down when she realises he is still sleeping with Jennifer. She writes one last time to David to tell him she is returning to London; the only one of her letters she posts.

Cast

as Edith Hope *

as Philip Neville * Googie Withers as Mrs. Pusey *

Julia McKenzie Julia Kathleen Nancy McKenzie (born 17 February 1941) is an English actress, singer, presenter, and theatre director. She has premièred leading roles written by both Alan Ayckbourn and Stephen Sondheim. On television, she is known for her BAFT ...

as Jennifer Pusey *

Patricia Hodge Patricia Ann Hodge, OBE (born 29 September 1946) is an English actor. She is known on-screen for playing Phyllida Erskine-Brown in '' Rumpole of the Bailey'' (1978–1992), Jemima Shore in ''Jemima Shore Investigates'' (1983), Penny in '' Mira ...

as Monica *

Irene Handl Irene Handl (27 December 1901 – 29 November 1987) was a British author and character actress who appeared in more than 100 British films. Life Irene Handl was born in Maida Vale, London, the younger of two daughters of an Austria-born father ...

as Madame de Bonneuil * Barry Foster as David Simmonds *

Geoffrey Chater Geoffrey Michael Chater Robinson (23 March 1921 – 16 October 2021) was an English film, television and stage actor. He appeared in the crime drama series '' Callan'', ''Foyle's War'' and ''Midsomer Murders''. Biography Geoffrey Michael Chat ...

as George Webb

Production

It was filmed at the Park Hotel,

Vitznau Vitznau is a municipality in the district of Lucerne in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. History Vitznau was first mentioned in 998. In the 19th century, it became a popular destination for tourism, especially from England; the imposing Pa ...

Lake Lucerne __NOTOC__ Lake Lucerne (german: Vierwaldstättersee, literally "Lake of the four forested settlements" (in English usually translated as ''forest cantons''), french: lac des Quatre-Cantons, it, lago dei Quattro Cantoni) is a lake in central S ...

Reception

The TV play was nominated for nine BAFTA Awards and won three for Best Actress (

), Best Film Editor (

Dick Allen Richard Anthony Allen (March 8, 1942 – December 7, 2020) was an American professional baseball player. During his fifteen-year-long Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he played as a first baseman, third baseman, and outfielder, most notably ...

) and Best Single Drama ( Sue Birtwistle and

). One review pointed out that while there were some significant differences from the original book, the adaptation “does, finally, capture the spirit of the novel.”

Home media

The film was released on VHS in 1988 and on DVD in 2003.

References

External links

''Hotel du Lac''
at

the Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, p ...

{{Christopher Hampton 1986 television films 1986 films 1980s British films 1980s English-language films BAFTA winners (films) BBC television dramas British television films Films based on British novels Films directed by Giles Foster Films scored by Carl Davis