Showing results by author "Henry James" in All Categories

Inspired by an incident recounted to him by a friend, this ghost story by Henry James is often regarded as one of the best of its genre and is all the more haunting because of its understatement. A governess hired to take care of two small children at a country estate soon finds herself beleaguered by the shadowy apparitions of a man and a woman who once worked there.

Catherine Sloper, the heroine of this tragicomic tale set in mid-19th century New York, is absolutely ordinary in every way except for her exceptional capacities in love and loyalty. These latter qualities are of no interest to her father, the successful society Doctor who is constantly disappointed by his daughter's failure to be brilliant, either physically or intellectually. For this reason, he is highly suspicious when Morris Townsend begins to woo her and is convinced the handsome young man's interest is only in the fortune Catherine will eventually inherit.

NBC University Theater initially started in Chicago with a remit to bring adaptations of classic novels, usually Anglo-American, to a radio audience. In its later years, it also included short stories and plays and went on to win the distinguished Peabody award. University Theater relied on excellent distillations of the novels and first-class acting alongside high production values.

NBC University Theater initially started in Chicago with a remit to bring adaptations of classic novels, usually Anglo-American, to a radio audience. In its later years, it also included short stories and plays and went on to win the distinguished Peabody award. University Theater relied on excellent distillations of the novels and first-class acting alongside high production values.

Theatre Royal. The very name summons up something of grandeur and eloquence. And it was. Hosted by Ralph Richardson, these big-name productions also included the creme de la creme of acting talents from John Gielgud, Robert Morley and Orson Welles to Trevor Howard, Michael Redgrave and Laurence Olivier. They were based on works by the world's leading authors, among them Charles Dickens, Henry James, Oscar Wilde and Anton Chekhov. These are but a few of whose company we shall be keeping as we raise the curtain on our first instalment of theatrical history.

Theatre Royal. The very name summons up something of grandeur and eloquence. And it was. Hosted by Ralph Richardson, these big-name productions also included the creme de la creme of acting talents from John Gielgud, Robert Morley and Orson Welles to Trevor Howard, Michael Redgrave and Laurence Olivier. They were based on works by the world's leading authors, among them Charles Dickens, Henry James, Oscar Wilde and Anton Chekhov. These are but a few of whose company we shall be keeping as we raise the curtain on our first instalment of theatrical history.

Theatre Royal. The very name summons up something of grandeur and eloquence. And it was. Hosted by Ralph Richardson, these big-name productions also included the creme de la creme of acting talents from John Gielgud, Robert Morley and Orson Welles to Trevor Howard, Michael Redgrave and Laurence Olivier. They were based on works by the world's leading authors, among them Charles Dickens, Henry James, Oscar Wilde and Anton Chekhov. These are but a few of whose company we shall be keeping as we raise the curtain on our first instalment of theatrical history.

Isabel Archer is a young woman who has inherited a large sum of money after the death of her father. She is invited to visit her aunt and uncle’s estate in London, where she is greeted by a cast of eclectic neighbors, many of whom offer her marriage very quickly due to her status. Isabel is set on maintaining independence though and refuses several offers of marriage as she lives in pursuit of her destiny. Eventually, she does fall prey to the people trying to gain her fortune and settles into an unhappy marriage with an egotistical man named Gilbert Osmond. 

This is Henry James' witty, sympathetic account of the impact of American journalism and scandal on a family in Parisian society. 

Contrasts in British and American manners and customs are cleverly drawn in this novella. We are thrown headfirst into the middle of an erupting marriage and an emerging love match. And we are introduced to the marvelous Lady Davenant. 

The old world of experience, personified by Felix and his sister, Baroness Munster, meets the innocent new world as they visit their American cousins in New England.

Eugenia, a baroness divorced from a German prince, and her bohemian brother, Felix, are coming back to America. Raised and cultured in Europe, they are returning destitute to New England to seek out their rich and innocent cousins. In a bungle of culture clash and love triangles, the Europeans hang their fortunes upon their ability to adapt. Where their scheming leads them is the last place they expect.

It's November 1983 in Essex, and there are reasons to be cheerful. 'Uptown Girl' is sitting pretty at the top of the charts, Risky Business is raking it in at the box office and there are now four channels on the telly. However, social tensions are beginning to bubble beneath the surface: Mrs Thatcher has embarked on her second controversial term, and the situation in Northern Ireland is ever-escalating. Yet in the garrison town of Colchester, it's another deadly standoff that is hogging the headlines. 

On a quiet Christmas Eve, a governess’ manuscript detailing her encounters with the supernatural is read. She tells the story of moving into an estate to take care of two children and becoming slowly aware that the area is overrun with ghosts of the previous inhabitants - and that the children are aware that these ghosts exist.

Horror, mystery and suspense abound in this collection of the nation’s favourite gothic stories. From the foggy streets of London to the hills of Transylvania and the grounds of a country estate, relive the fear that these tales have been igniting in listeners for more than 100 years.These classic stories are read by Born Free’s Virginia McKenna; Dr. Who’s Tom Baker; and A Touch of Frost’s Bruce Alexander.

When a young governess is hired to care for two orphans in a country estate, she soon realises that something is lurking in the grounds of the house. But is it a mere ghost or an altogether more sinister presence at work? The tension of this timeless horror is perfectly captured by stage and screen actress Virginia McKenna.

James' admiration for one of America's greatest authors is contagious. Hawthorne's life, novels, and short stories are all touched upon with reverence - yet James gently takes him to task when the need arises!

In "The Great Good Place", a man searches for peace and respite from the demands of success. The fascinating, searching novella In the Cage tells of a young girl in a Mayfair post office becoming more aware of the great social world and of a certain gentleman's affairs through the telegrams that he sends.

Hudson is a young law student in Northampton, Massachusetts, who shows such surprising ability as a sculptor that the rich Rowland Mallett, visiting a cousin in Northampton, decides to stake him to several years of study in Rome, then a center of expatriate American society. The story has to do not only with Roderick's growth as an artist and the problems it brings, but also as a man susceptible to his new environment, and indeed his occasional rivalries with his American friend and patron.

Washington Square tells the poignant and gently comic story of Catherine Sloper, a sweet and unassuming young heiress, and her fortune-seeking suitor Morris Townsend. Set in New York City during the 1840s, the story follows Ms. Sloper's conflicts with her concerned father, who attempts to thwart Mr. Townsend, and her busybody aunt, who encourages the attachment. But amid all the duplicity and folly, Ms. Sloper slowly grows towards independence and maturity, and begins to make her own decisions.