Which actress did you feel was better in the role of Hilda? Peggy Thorpe-Bates or Marion Mathie? Or did you feel Joyce Heron, who was Hilda in the "Rumpole of the Bailey" episode of Play for Today, portrayed the character best?
"I think Homo sapiens and Lebanese should be left to their own devices."-Fred Scuttle
Marion Mathie was more imposing. When she got mad, people tended to pay more attention.
Mike (ardent Rumpole fan)
she definitely was more imposing. That's why it's hard for me to imagine Rumpole courting her in earlier days. I thought Peggy Thorpe-Bates fit my mind's eye of Hilda. She was kinder, yet ruled with an iron glove. I think the ideal Hilda would be somewhere in between the two of them.
shareI agree with the other two posters in that Marion Mathie was the better of the two Hilda's. Ms. Mathie was indeed a more imposing presence on the show, and while some may find it difficult to believe that Rumpole courted her, try this one on for size: She courted him. Remember, it was while he was under the tutelage of C.H. Wystan, Hilda's father, that he had the opportunity to meet Hilda in the first place as it was her idea he be brought home for dinner.
The early bird may get the worm, but it's the second mouse that gets the cheese.
That was how you got on in the law. Her father was Head of Chambers. Rumpole "fell in love with a rich attorney's elderly, ugly daughter", like the Judge in "Trial by Jury". "She may very well pass for forty-two in the dark with the light behind her."
In fact, like many a marriage of convenience, their partnership is happy enough. The constant sparring and grumbling is none of it serious.
While Peggy Thorpe-Bates was a fine actress, she was no where near imposing enough to earn the title "She Who Must Be Obeyed." Marion Mathie was far better at making herself feared, and probably thus a better choice.
shareaggreed, marian mathie was definatly someone who must be obeyed. When she told rumpole to do something or that she didnt like something she really seemed to mean it. Marian mathie better fit the role of hilda.
share[deleted]
No - definitely MM. Perhapps however, somebody can tell me why there were two "She who must be obayed" in the first place. I watched the original series when it first came out and don't remember there being two Hilders. I am now watching the re-runs, which seem not to be shown in any sort of sequence, and therefore there is a constant switching of Hildas. It is so regular that I almost don't notice the change, which, one could suppose, is a testiment to both actors.
shareI am going to jump in and cast my vote overwhelmingly for Peggy Thorpe-Bates. Even though Hilda had been played by even another actress prior to her (in Plays for Today), there really was no one who had such a charm and class, while still being imposing and living up to her moniker "SWMBO." Of course MM is a fine actress, no denying it. But she seemed so mean, without even a hint of love for Rumpole. ... On a related note, I've always thought that a very interesting project would be "young rumpole" - starting with rumpole at university and following him through law school to the bar and eventually courting Hilda as he argues the Penge Bungalow Murders. I would love to watch such a series...
share[deleted]
I had the good fortune to meet Sir John Mortimer, the author of Rumpole, at a book signing at Hatchard's book store on Piccadilly. He is a charming person and we had a brief conversation. My wife was with me and I introduced her to Sir John as the real "She who must be obeyed." When we left he grinned and said "Goodbye, She."
shareI watched an old episode on ITV3 this morning....Still good...
Aitch,
http://web.ask.co.uk/web?q=%22Harry+Fielder%22
I'm new to this board, and might be getting on this thread a bit late, but...
I've been watching (and reading) Rumpole since he made his first appearance. I have to say that Peggy Thorpe-Bates is always Hilda in my mind's eye as I re-read Rumpole (or read the later stories that have never been turned into TV episodes). I've recently been watching Rumpole on DVD, and still think that Peggy Thorpe-Bates was the 'right' Hilda - Marion Mathie seems too young for a start. MM took over the role because PTB was not well enough to start shooting the fourth series. Of course, Rumpole never actually proposed to Hilda Wystan - if anything, she proposed to him, though of course it was really more of an 'understanding' that 'Daddy's pupil' would end up marrying Hilda. The recent "Penge Bungalow Murders" novella provides all the background (though it isn't always consistent with the early Rumpole stories, and they also tend to be inconsistent themselves).
I will also cast my vote for Peggy. Like many long-married husbands, Rumpole's poetry-laced protestations about his "imposing" wife were mostly tongue-in-cheek. Peggy TB was perfect as the long-suffering wife who battled to keep her eccentric husband on the rails. Marion Mathie's version of Hilda plainly and simply detested Rumpole, there is not a speck of warmth or a glimmer that she ever cared about the man. I care about Horace, and can't see he'd ever marry the second Hilda, even if it was to get into chambers.
shareI cast my vote for Marion! I found PTB to play the character in a sort of ditsy way, which is not how I really envision her. I think of her as being very intelligent, but in a completely different and comically mismatched way from Rumpole, which is what I think Marion Mathie achieves wonderfully. I think she is much more imposing, but also has the ability to be forgiving and even border on warmth when it is called for. No slant against Peggy Thorpe-Bates, who I thought did a more-than-adequate job, but I think that Marion Mathie realized the role perfectly, and I would even wager, based on his dedication of the Rumpole "Omnibus," that John Mortimer might agree with the Mathians.
shareWhat a special memory you have of Sir John Mortimer. Thanks for sharing it with us.
I thought both actresses portraying Hilda Rumpole were perfection. There is very little about casting or story line that I can object to in Rumpole. It was an anomaly in television production and ahead of it's time. I thank my lucky stars that it's available in DVD. I'm still watching my old VHS tapes and they're on their last legs.
Completely agree. I found MM far too one-dimensional and inexpressive. She is in fact the reason I didn't give the 7 series 10/10. Peggy Thorpe-Bates rules!!!
shareI have 15 eps left to watch, and I have yet to see Mathie show any glimmer of affection for Horace. She also seems completely humorless. She never smiles. I liked Thorpe-Bates much more. She smiled and enjoyed mixing at the social functions.
I'm glad Mathie was not SWMBO in the episode where Hilda puts on the lingerie and lowers the lights.
It's been a while since I watched any episodes, but I'm about to watch some. I seem to recall liking Marion Mathie better. I just watched the "lost episode", the very first one, with Joyce Heron as Hilda, and as Rumpole fans who've seen it know, it had a much darker tone than the eventual series - I don't think it would be unfair to say that both Rumpoles display signs of being alcoholics.
01/10/09 Edit: I'm definitely enjoying Marion Mathie. Peggy Thorpe-Bates was good. The Rumpoles didn't seem to be a very happy couple in their debut play - one has the feeling in the Mathie episodes that, beyond the fussing, they really do care about each other. And though Hilda still enjoys a G&T now and then, Rumpole himself is the only alcoholic in the family.
"Somewhere along the line the world has lost all of its standards and all of its taste."
I'm not sure of her name but as I just started watching Rumpole recently I noticed that there was a new Hilda in season 3. I actually preferred the earlier Hilda. She was somewhat obnoxious, but had a great deal of humor, and that is important in the series I believe.
share