Except for Stephen Fry's performance, Gosford Park was a good film

Fry really was quite terrible in it, OP.

Helen Mirren has said in her autobiog that every British actor wanted to work with Altman in "Gosford Park", so he cast a ton of them and told them there was no script - Julian Fellows had written an outline, but the actors were to improvise their own dialogue. Altman also changed the plot as the improvisations went on - for example, Mirren and Eileen Atkins' characters being sisters came out of an improv done late in the shooting, which is why the revelation seems so offhand and does nothing to further the plot.

Altman also didn't want the murder mystery to be solved (the film was partially intended as a parody of those Agatha Christie English country mansion weekend murder movies) so he chose Fry to play the detective and had him bumble along and make up his own dialogue so there would be no resolution to that plot. He was successful in that aspect of the film.

I showed it to a friend who is a fan of Downtown Abbey but did not realize the template is Gosford Park. He watched the film and realized what soapy, pedestrian trash Downtown Abbey is. Its a great film, one of Altman's best. I think Phillipe only works because he's supposed to be playing a bad actor.

Stephen Fry is 6'5". I don't know how many "stones" that is, or "hectors", or whatever unit the Brits are using these days, but it's tall in any language.

Fry rocks.

It was a great movie.

R4,

A"stone" is a British measure of weight, usually in reference to humans.

One Stone = 14 pounds

R7, Why aren't you asleep and dreaming of sweetbread or Boxing Day or Churchill or something?

Julian Fellows is also the writer for Downton Abbey. Anyone catch this evenings PBS Downton Abbey preview of Season 5. The hostess, Bernadette Peters looked spaced out, reading from a teleprompter and her forced smile indicated recent botox treatments..very tight.

R8,

Because I'm an American posting from New Jersey.

Wow, r4/r8... quite while you're behind. Please.

Gosford Park is streets ahead of Downton Abbey which is a very poor reproduction IMHO.

A few things amounted to small beer.

Henry Denton's (Ryan Phillippe) horrible Scottish accent. Surely it wasn't just those downstairs including the Dowager's maid who pick up upon it. Or perhaps everyone upstairs was just too charmingly English to mention.

What was Sir William McCordle doing wondering around the kitchen's so late. It normally falls to the lady of such a household to issue directions to servants including the housekeeper. If His Nibbs wanted something for dinner or whatever why didn't he tell his wife to see to things.

How did everyone downstairs know that Mr. Denton had been in Lady Sylvia McCordle's bed.

Still you have to give credit to how historically accurate the film is; right down to how dreadfully cold those country houses were before central heating.

Then there is Jeremy Northam's singing.

Although the casting was great, the film in my mind had too many characters for the audience to fully digest and appreciate. It was very hard to follow on the first viewing and was one of those films that you had to see again to fully understand the relationships between all of the characters. To this day, some of the bit players scenes don't make sense, however knowing that the film was made without a script does go a long way to help understand the ambiguity.

I still don't really know why the characters of Mr. Blond (Trent Ford) and his friend some McCortal relative were at the house other than to enjoy a weekend of shooting, and in their final scene together the McCortal heir hits up his sister I think for money or a marriage proposal (who marries their sister?) then leaves the house disappointed or in the dog house. That made no sense, nor did Mr. Blond screwing the fat kitchen maid (he could do much better even as a gentleman of more modest means). I also didn't buy the marriage between (William McCortal)and the Lady of the house. It was obvious she was only with him for the money and spent as little time together as possible. Given that they were at eachother's throats constantly, how they could have had kids together didn't make a lot of sense. She seemed more like the trophy second wife, then the Lord's first marriage. Why he didn't divorce her before his demise remains a mystery?

R11 = killjoy. That's "killjoy" in British, too, a happy coincidence.

R13, it would not have been plausible for the Lord to divorce his wife after his demise. I think that would have strained credibility.

R2, I loved it that Helen Mirren and Eileen Atkins' characters were revealed to be sisters at the end of the movie. I don't know how you can say It doesn't further the plot. I think it ties up the plot and puts a bow on top. It relates to why the women hate each other so much. The fact that they work together despite being sisters, both having had affairs with the boss, and hating each other speaks to the powerlessness of the lower class. I love how the Atkins character comforts the Mirren character at the end, too, despite decades of hatred. It's something that only a sibling could pull-off.

God, some of you people are thick.

McCordle was wandering around the kitchen looking for Elsie, to get off with her. He wasn't checking the linen rotation.

Downstairs knew all about Sylvia's sex life... it was well established she screwed around. Downstairs knew everything and talked amongst themselves. Those people passed, mostly silently, in and out of rooms all the time. Upstairs was so used to talking in front of them that the servants' ears ceased to exist. Remember George, the footman, telling Henry Denton: 'Well, looks like you're set' or thereabouts and Sylvia's lady's maid looking embarrassed and downcast. If you watch the subtext of her conversation with her sister's husband, it is obvious she screwed him too. (There is a deleted scene or deleted script where they discuss their past and she makes a joke at his expense 'even for somebody who does it as badly as you.')

McCordle didn't divorce Sylvia because he made arrangement for a marriage of one of the Earl's three daughters, of which Sylvia was one. Sylvia won the card cut and, as a result, the money. McCordle wanted an aristocratic wife and he got her. There was no point in divorcing, it would defeat the purpose of the status marriage to begin with.

[quote]Should Gosford Park have beaten A Beautiful Mind for the Best Picture Oscar?

Yes.

R13

Neither Lord Standish nor Mr. Blonde were related to Isobel.

Isobel was being blackmailed for money by the nasty Honourable Freddie Nesbitt (James Whilby)on pain of having their affair and her subsequent abortion revealed to Lord William. Freddie Nesbitt was hard up after marrying is common but wealthy wife and found she didn't have as much as he thought.

Even late as the 1930's young Englishmen took their pleasures where they could. When you see the look that kitchen maid gives him at lighting the cigarette it was clear she was "selling" and Mr. Blonde was buying. From the conversation we later hear with the cook and others below stairs apparently Janet is known for getting around.

When you think about who Lord William was and what he was known for at his factories during the war (and why he was killed), a young maid having random sexual encounters is very much keeping with the film. Except no one is forcing Janet to do anything, she is fully in control.

As to how William and Sylvia came to marry as the Dowager Countess related the latter's father had a title but was hard up thus needed money. William had plenty of money but no breeding or position which did not bother Lady Sylvia's father one bit. He "cut cards" to choose between Sylvia and her sister Louisa.

Usually it was the other way around; hard up older sons or peers married wealthy American or other heiresses. In this case things were reversed. Sir William's wife gave him social standing (hence her lecturing about order of precedence) and he shored up her family's finances. Remember not only was Lord William giving the Dowager an allowance (his sister's aunt, not his), but also funding her other sisters and or their husbands as well. To an extent Lady Sylvia marrying *well* saved all of them from ruin.

As for children, well that is what a wife did back then. There never was any illusions about grand passion or whatever, however a man needs legitimate heirs. Had Lady S refused her marital obligations she could have been divorced and kicked out onto the streets, that was the law. It simply was a wife's duty no matter what her station to lay with her husband. Usually however once an heir and perhaps a few spares were provided she was left in peace as the husband took his pleasures elsewhere.

Marriage of convenience? Yes you could all that, but merger and acquisition also sums things up nicely.

Thanks for the incite into the characters in the film R19.

One other little curiosity in the film was the business of the house guests tipping the butler and the staff upon leaving even though they brought their own servants with them. Was that customary for house guests to treat a private house's staff like hotel employees that needed to be tipped, even though they treated them like shit during their stay? It seemed contradictory to treat the staff with disdain throughout the film then fret about leaving a good tip upon their departure, as if bribing them to keep them in their good graces really mattered. Did this practice of tipping servants actually exist or was it just part of Altman's creation?

Jeremy Northam's singing! How I love "And Her Mother Came Too", which is sweetly hilarious. Fun fact: his brother. Christopher Northam, plays the piano accompaniment.

Love this movie! I have it on DVD and I'll be watching it again tonight as I fall asleep.

The Stephen Fry character really rounds out the way the film comments on the various levels of British society: the upper class (totally dependent on the serving class), the serving class (who are the real storehouses of knowledge), and the middle class (the inspector played by Fry, pathetically kissing up to the upper class while ignoring the serving class.)

[quote]Thanks for the incite

You became riotous?

One of my all-time favorites.

Never had any interest in any Russell Crowe film. Wasn't A Beautiful Mind sanitized so RC's character's gay tearoom sex & arrests were not addressed?

Did anyone see HOUSE OF BOYS? Fry has a small part as a doctor, and he stinks up that film as well - quite a feat, as much of the cast are Non-native English speakers acting in English.

I thought Alan Bates was absolutely terrific in this, very low key. A perfect performance. I remember being impressed with Kelly Macdonald as well, and since then she's given very good perfs in TRISTRAM SHANDY and NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, too.

But poor Stephen Fry was just way out of his league in this.

r20, let's hear what Lady Troubridge has to say on the subject in "Etiquette and Entertaining: To Help You On Your Social Way" (1939).

The ‘house-guest’ does incur the necessity of tipping the butler at the end of a visit, the idea being to offer compensation for the extra trouble brought upon him by the presence of a visitor in the house. The amount, too, will vary slightly with the trouble caused.

For instance, if he has unpacked for the male guest, done any valeting, looked out trains, or sent off telegrams and telephone messages, he will expect a ten-shilling note even for a week-end. If he has merely ‘buttled’ and done no extra little jobs, the amount can be less, from five shillings upwards. So much for him.

Now for his underlings, the stately footmen, who are found in large establishments. One of them is usually deputed to ‘valet’ one or two gentlemen visitors, and for a short visit a five-shilling tip will amply satisfy him, but it must be given in addition to the butler’s tip, or he may not see any of it! Should yet another footman have carried up the breakfast-trays for the lady visitor, half-a-crown must go to him for this service, and will be much appreciated.

In these times, however, a trim parlourmaid is probably more likely to be found in any house visited, and unjust through it seems, her tip is less than that of a manservant. Five shillings for a week-end is right and proper in this case, with another half-crown for the housemaid, unless she has packed for you, and then, her tip, too, should be five shillings.

Now for the ‘one-maid household’. This treasure, on whom so much devolves, should receive half-a-crown for a week-end, though she deserves more.

But the scale of tipping is adjusted to the size of the establishment and wages received by the staff.

Choosing the moment for bestowing the tip is a bit difficult sometimes, and rather a test of savoir-faire. The tip left on the dressing-table is quite all right for an hotel, but too coldly impersonal for a private house. So if you don’t happen to see the nice maid who has attended you, when the time comes to leave, ring the bell and demand that, like the genii of the lamp, she shall appear before you forthwith. Then, with a little word of thanks, hand her your money gift. She will like it much better this way. Tipping the butler or parlour-maid under the eyes of your host and hostess is a bit awkward, I admit, so leave this little ceremony till he or she is putting the rug round you in the car. Then let the note slip from your hand into theirs, even although your friends are still waving from the front door.

R19

Correcting my own post. The Dowager Countess was Lady Sylvia's aunt and not Lord William's. I said "sister".

Sorry.

Two great gay British actors, Alan Bates and Derek Jacobi. Then you have James Wilby who came to fame in the iconic gay film "Maurice". GP was just loaded! *LOL*

While am thrilled Sir Derek is still with us to see how things have "evolved", sad Alan Bates didn't make it to the show.

Have GP both as a VHS recording (taken from a PBS broadcast) with the DVD as well. In both instances cannot hear nor understand clearly what is being said half the time! *LOL*

Finally gave in one night and turned on the subtitles for the DVD.

A biography on Alan Bates' ex-lover, skater John Curry, has recently been published. Has anyone read it?

Easily one of my favorite Altman films. Such a pleasure from start to finish. Have to agree about Fry. I ADORE Stephen Fry as a cultural figure and he was hilarious in the Fry & Laurie shows and specials he did; not to mention in Black Adder, but he's not a great actor. He was the weak link in the otherwise magnificent Twelfth Night production on Broadway last year.

Peculiar that people who do not understand the film (OP) or recognize plot elements that "further the plot along" simply MUST prattle.

If you don't get a movie, you don't get a movie. But arguing backwards doesn't help your points, nor does it fill space here well.

Shoo.

R20

May one recommend a great book; What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew. It is all about daily life in 19th century England, especially country houses, royalty, nobility and so forth.

Yes, guests at country houses were expected to tip certain servants for the extra work they did. The amounts and how one went about it spoke to one's breeding (or lack thereof), and servants of course spoke of it at least among themselves.

While ladies travelled with their maids, gentlemen often did not. They relied upon either their host's valet or being assigned one of the footmen or under butlers. This make sense as a woman required particular assistance (hair, jewels, dressing, undressing, etc...) that she would if possible wish to have someone who knows her routine. If you've seen Downton Abbey you know the maids often responsible for not only the wardrobe but jewels as well. Mary in GP is instructed to put the her lady's jewels in the safe, but only after being reminded to take out what would be worn that night.

Gosford Park in an interesting study of a way of life that was fast changing. A change that was accelerated by WWI but had been going on since the Industrial Revolution. That is the aristocracy (Lady Sylvia, the Dowager, etc..) were on the decline and those who made money and or engaged in commerce, trade, and so forth were on the rise. This would be Sir William who made his money basically off the Great War and got himself a knighthood out of it as well.

Constance Trentham is a snob just as the Dowager in Downton Abbey. Thing is in GP the Countess is stone broke and would be hard up if not for her niece's husband providing an allowance. She sits there cruelly insulting Ivor Novello, Morris Weissman and most of all Mabel Nesbitt when they all could buy and sell her twice over.

The social commentary is strong as well. Sir William may not have been born a nobleman but that didn't stop him from enjoying certain privileges including turning his factories into private brothels for his own use filling orphanages all over London in the process.

Down stairs you have Jennings, a man who drinks to get away from his dark shameful secret; he was a CO during WWI. That was a very loaded position to take then and was not well received. After so many families lost one or more men the idea that someone would refuse to do his duty was more than some could stand. IIRC the police officer tells Jennings he had a cousin or something who was a CO that was shot, you see his reaction.

Re [R27] and his/her valuable post, according to The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham: A Biography, exhaustively researched by Selina Hastings and using many of Maugham's "secret" diaries and private correspondence, he began his climb as a young doctor making little money but with an irresistible charm for the upper class patients he sometimes treated and their friends and relations. He was brilliant and witty and from an odd but reasonable background with a small inheritance. He was invited nearly every weekend to country houses in their great period. Not only did he make important connections as a writer doing so, but gathered a lot of material that he used in his plays, which earned him his first great fame, and his first fortune (after a tough start he had as many as four plays a season in both The West End and on Broadway). However, this was difficult for him because house guests were expected to tip the butler and all the servants who worked for him. And guests needed to be impeccably tailored, which meant several changes of clothes even for men. He was notoriously frugal, probably more from necessity than nature, but had to juggle his money to afford these visits. But all of his plays dealt with the intrigues of this class, and the tangled relationships of the hostess with her husband, various suitors and the usual opportunists.

Also, "young gentleman" who were single were expected to share beds on the crowded weekends even at the great houses. Maugham was not exclusively gay until much later in life so much of his early same sex experience came about by "playing around" with bed mates on these weekends.

I love GP too, and have read (though I don't have a link and will corrected if wrong) that the only way to get all those amazing people together at the same time was to shoot the film over a long weekend -- one reason Altman decided to do away with a written script -- there wasn't time for anyone to memorize it. The pressure of getting it all done so quickly brought out the best in those amazing people, who knew they didn't have the luxury of retakes.

I thought the mystery WAS resolved at the end - in fact, isn't Helen Mirren the killer? And it has something to do with Clive Owen - he's her son, right? I can't remember, it was too long ago. But I loved it - I saw it twice.

[qupte]Have GP both as a VHS recording (taken from a PBS broadcast) with the DVD as well. In both instances cannot hear nor understand clearly what is being said half the time! *LOL*

This is especially true of Emily Watson who seemed to talk from her vagina.

I liked her least and yet we were expected to like her the most.

[quote]A biography on Alan Bates' ex-lover, skater John Curry, has recently been published. Has anyone read it?

A whole book about him? I wonder what they manage to say.

Even the biographer of Alan Bates found it hard to fill a whole book...and just went on endlessly about his (closeted) homosexuality.

"A difficult colour, green".

I loved all the snobbery directed at James Wilbey's little wife.

In fact it was the humour that made me return for the re-watches.

Plot-wise, half the time I barely knew what the hell was going on.

IDunno, William McCordle was not Lord William. Lord with a given name is used for the younger sons of Dukes and Marquesses. McCordle held a baronetcy and would have only ever been referred to as Sir William.

IDunno, Constance Trentham was not Dowager Countess. Sylvia introduced her as 'my Aunt, the Countess of Trentham."

IDunno, the slutty kitchen maid was named Bertha, not Janet.

IDUnno, it was the Cartons who cut cards for McCordle not the other way around as you erroneously state. Constance says to Mary: They cut cards for him. Him. There were three sisters on offer, Louisa, Sylvia and Lavinia, not two as you erroneously state.

LOVE-LOVE-LOVE this movie!!!! And YES, OP, this should have Best Picture over A BEAUTIFUL MIND and Altman most definitely should have won Best Director over Ron Howard.

Love how sweet Ivor Novello (Jeremy Northam)is to Mabel(Claudie Blakley). Her husband is such an incredible asshole to her and the other ladies are not that much better. Novello takes a shine to her and has her sit next to him at the piano as he plays for the party. Her face just lights up and you know that for once she feels special. Such a small moment, but I love it. (I know....MARY!!!!!)

[quote] Her face just lights up and you know that for once she feels special. Such a small moment, but I love it. (I know....MARY!!!!!)

Nothing MARY about it. You're just very sweet.

Not really a picture, more like a series of still lifes.

I love love love when poor Mable compliments Sylvia's dress and Sylvia cooly says "thank you" while looking her up and down disdainfully, and turns and walks away. What a cunt! Great thread and timely once again as the inferior DA is winding down. Surprised there wasn't more discussion of Ryan Phillipe. I though his "performance" was a disaster (yes I know he's supposed to be playing a bad actor). Otherwise a great film and light years better in every way than A BEAUTIFUL MIND.

Who was Ryan Phillippe fucking to get cast with all those people who can act?

Over the years GOSFORD PARK has become one of my favorite movies. It's tight, packed with plots and sub-plots and genre-twisted themes. It successfully synthsizes and presents upstairs/downstairs comedy-drama, a who-done-it, a class warfare story, a fin-de-siecle nostalgia, a comedy of manners and a costume-and-scenery romance into one piece, without ever messing up the tone. It as great performances, clever writing, and beautiful cinematography. A brilliant climax to Altman's career and a mark of distinction for the inauthentic, pompous, unappealing Fellowes, which he needs to counter the gas and shining mackerel of DOWNTON.

Fry just isn't very good, but I accepted him as a tongue-in-cheek bumbler that reminded the audience of lower-rank smarts (his constable or assistant or whoever he was, who kept spotting clues). His character could have been done better.

The only issue the film has had, really, was its muddy sound. I don't notice it in small-screen viewings as much but in a theater some dialogue gets trampled, always a risk with Altman's style.

"Difficult colour…green."

OP "our boy Ryan Phillippe" was no Laurence Olivier, so I would be careful about criticizing Fry's performance. In fact, Phillippe's dining room scene near the end of the film demonstrated such bad acting on his part it was downright laughable.

[quote]One other little curiosity in the film was the business of the house guests tipping the butler and the staff upon leaving even though they brought their own servants with them. Was that customary for house guests to treat a private house's staff like hotel employees that needed to be tipped, even though they treated them like shit during their stay?

I remember in Merchant/Ivory's Maurice the lead (played by James Wilby) is pissed at Scudder (Rupert Graves) at one point for not accepting his tip thinking that Scudder considered the amount offered to him too low.

I thought Fry was perfect as the bumbling fool police officer who is so desperate to be around the upper class (and they constantly put him down with their "what's your name again?" diss) and then saying his empty, and yet high almighty "We will catch the one who did this!" to the downstairs people.

For me Gosford Park is a masterpiece. On occasion I geek out and watch the movie once and then watch it again with one of the commentary tracks.

I was going to applaud at the end of the film but I realized that this would only encourage Mr. Altman.

I completely agree with R16. I love the reveal that Mirren's and Atkins' characters are actually sisters. I really don't see how anyone could learn that detail and not see how it informs much of their interaction earlier the film. And the moment when Atkins comforts Mirren (with her very ugly, realistic cry) is one I remember very well all these years later.

Also, Clive Owen has never looked hotter than he did when he appeared in this film.

To think that Mirren and Maggie Smith both lost the Best Supporting Oscar to Jennifer Connolly's tired supportive wife role for A Beautiful Mind still bothers me. I think Connolly is great and she most certainly should've been nominated for Requiem for a Dream the year before, but that was clearly a "makeup Oscar" of the most annoying kind.

LOVE this movie...but agree that Stephen Fry's performance was absolutely terrible. Imagine how much better it would have been with Hugh Laurie instead. He could have done "bumbling" without looking like an amateur actor. Also thought Ryan P. and Bob Balaban were bad.

But there were so many amazing performances. Maggie Smith, Helen Mirren, Kristin Scott Thomas, Eileen Atkins. I loved Emily Watson. That scene where she speaks up at dinner and the look with Kristin Scott Thomas. And thought both Sophie Thompson and Claudie Blakely were heartbreaking.

It really is a movie that gets better each time. I can deal with it losing Best Picture. But how did Altman lose Best Director? Everyone knew this was the last chance. The Oscars are such bullshit.

Didn't anyone here watch Renoir's Rules of the Game? I thought Gosford Park felt almost like a remake of that one. But while Gosford Park is just an average movie that is made more interesting by all those big names starring in it, Rules of the Game is one of the greatest movies ever made.

I think Gosford Park is every bit the equal to Rules of the Game

I love Gosford Park, but Rules of the Game is better.

But I'm with r54. I'm less upset about Gosford Park losing Best Picture than I am Robert Altman losing to fucking Ron Howard. The fact that David Lynch was also nominated and lost to Howard too makes it sting even more.

So this is streaming on Netflix and I watched it twice this weekend. I have some questions.

1. Why didn't the daughter care about her father's death? Was he that terrible to her?

2. Was the daughter slow? She looked a mess and acted so odd.

3. Was the director or producer (wh can ever tell the difference, lol) sleeping with the British actor and Ryan? We know that Ryan was trade, what about the piano playing guy?

4. How was the guy with the frumpy wife related to the family?

Some of the discussion fro years ago were wonderful. I can't wait to read The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham. I've placed it on hold at the library.

It was like a Lifetime* version of "Remains Of The Day".

Remains of the Day felt too lonely and cold. An empty palace for one stuck up asshole that sits on top of a handful of servants trying to keep the place spotless despite the fact that the guy won't even enter into more than maybe 6 rooms within the week, despite the place g=having like 100. I was just so annoyed by the wasted splendor in Remains of The Day.

Gosford Park made the home and that lifestyle come alive. Even when guests were staying for the conference with Superman in Remains of A Day, the home felt cold and empty.

Jude Law was originally supposed to have Phillippe's part but had to drop out for some reason. He'd have been better in the role.

Here's the Let's Be Gosford Park thread....

Little off topic but WHET Mrs Stephen Fry ? Did he die?

It was pointed out to me at the time that the end reveals that Sir William had been screwing pairs of sisters from both upstairs and downstairs.

I don't like Stephen Fry in general but I thought he was funny in Gosford Park.

The improvisation helps explain how unwatchable Fry was. Physically, he was right for the part, but he chewed the scenery and the dialogue was one predictable cliche after another.

[quote] I thought the mystery WAS resolved at the end - in fact, isn't Helen Mirren the killer? And it has something to do with Clive Owen - he's her son, right?

Technically both did it. The mother poisoned him and the son stabbed him (when the poison already did its work or he was still unconscious). Eileen's character immediately recognizes some family resemblence when she sees Clive's character. Then - of course - Helen's character sees the picture her son has put next to his bed.

And the famous quote is "Green. Such a tricky colour" and apparently Maggie Smith herself came up with it.

I love the little moment where the cook (Eileen Atkins) shields her face so the Lady of the House doesn't approach her, and the kitchen staff, during the servants' meal break and goes to the dinner table of the butlers and maids instead to deal with one of the guests having some special request regarding her meal.

Stephen Fry is a dumb persons idea of a smart person.

Watched this last night on Netflix.

R58, Maybe the daughter (Isobel) was relieved that now she couldn’t be blackmailed by the odious Freddie. Daddy is dead and now he can’t help him. Also, I think it was mentioned by the countess that Isobel (maybe) only invited him because they were “short a gun” and that was no reason to subject his wife on everyone. She was such a delicious bitch! And yes, Ryan’s character was sleeping with the producer.

I read the end of the film as Isobel still being pregnant. But whatever her father might have done or not done about it, she doesn't have to worry now that Mummy's in charge. She'll have Izzy off to a pet doctor in London for a D&C tout suite, then seriously set about finding the girl a rich husband. Better than having her moping around the house cramping Mummy's style.