Elizabeth is Missing /BBC1

A discussion we  often have amongst us Arts Rusters is whether a great book has ever been turned into a greater film.

Neil Rosen came up with the Godfather Part One  but its hard to add to that list.  I offered up The English Patient.

So the producer of Emma Healey’s fine first novel Elizabeth Is Missing had something of a quandary. Generally she overcame it mainly due to to a superb performance by Glenda Jackson as Maud Horsham.

Maud is deeply troubled  by the disappearance of her best friend and that of her sister Sukey in 1949. She muddles the two incidents but remains convinced there was foul  play. Apart from a clever murder mystery it’s a wonderful insight into the demented mind and its effects upon the immediate family and contains comedy as well as pathos.

At first the  flashbacks to 1949 are confusing, possibly deliberately so, as these are part of Muad’s demented mind. Interestingly enough the clue to Sukey’s disappearance is provided at the time by “the mad woman” reflecting a different attitude to mental illness.

For such an ageing part, Maggie Smith or Judi Dench might have been more likely casting. Great actress as Maggie Smith is, she would have been too aristocratic whilst Glenda Jackson really got under the skin of the plain working class woman.

It was terrific to see her acting once again but other members of the cast – playing her daughter and granddaughter who has a  touching relationship with her –  also did very well.

For those that are interested here is a link to a review of the book that appeared in the Rust some time ago – ELIZABETH IS MISSING