Guys, I need to apologize to each and every one of you on behalf of the Frock Flicks team. We have had not one but TWO Man Candy Mondays featuring the talented and charming Colin Firth, but both of them have focused ONLY on his stellar role as Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice and omitted all of his other roles! Alright, I’ve just discovered Trystan did a post with many of his highlights, but THERE’S MORE AND I’M A COMPLETIONIST.
Now, he is the one, the only Mr. Darcy, I’m not arguing there. But the guys has charmed in many many roles, and we must pay our due! Last week as Mr. Firth’s birthday, and in an attempt to rectify our failings, I give you Colin Firth’s complete historical costume movie/TV oeuvre:
Another Country (1984)
With Rupert Everett and Cary Elwes.
Camille (1984)
Lost Empires (1986)
A Month in the Country (1987)
The Secret Garden (1987)
Valmont (1989)
The Advocate aka The Hour of the Pig (1993)
Circle of Friends (1995)
Pride and Prejudice (1995)
Nostromo (1996)
The English Patient (1996)
Shakespeare in Love (1998)
Blackadder Back & Forth (1999)
My Life So Far (1999)
The Turn of the Screw (1999)
Conspiracy (2001)
The Importance of Being Earnest (2002)
Girl With a Pearl Earring (2003)
Nanny McPhee (2005)
The Last Legion (2007)
Easy Virtue (2008)
Dorian Gray (2009)
A Single Man (2009)
The King’s Speech (2010)
Magic in the Moonlight (2014)
Genius (2016)
Coming Up
The Happy Prince (2017)
Mary Poppins Returns (2018)
What’s your favorite historical costume movie or TV role of Colin Firth’s?
They are all so great! I always enjoy seeing Colin Firth.
Besides P&P, The Importance of Being Ernest is a favorite of mine. Such a delight!
Shakespeare in Love is another fun one.
How many times has Colin Firth worked with Rupert Everett?
Good question! They’ve definitely appeared in a lot of film/TV together :)
They’ve made six films together, the four mentioned above, plus St. Trinian’s (2007) and St. Trinian’s: The Legend of Fitton’s Grove (2009).
Does that one scene in Mamma Mia where we flash back to the 70s and get to see him all punked out count?
I love Easy Virtue! Noel Coward is someone I’m coming to appreciate more and more. You forgot to include Relative Values, another Coward piece, in which Mr. Firth camps it up as the swishy friend/relative (can’t remember which) of Julie Andrews.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0210943/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Oh gosh yes, that movie is so much fun!!
Besides P&P my favourite Colin Firth movies are Shakespeare in Love, The King’s Speech (with HBC), The Importance of Being Earnest, Girl With the Pearl Earring. And I’m confident that the Happy Prince will join the list.
As a sex symbol he doesn’t do it for me. But I do enjoy his acting, and I’ve loved some of the movies he’s been in.
But not The Importance of Being Earnest. Not his fault, but acting with people whose accents were dodgy, to say the least, and the way the scriptwriters mangled the original made that film unwatchable. And all the women had Floppy Hair Syndrome. I struggled through it because it was my father’s favourite play, but honestly? Michael Redgrave every time. And what is Lady Bracknell without Edith Evans? Pointless. And without Joan Greenwood to balance her out there is no Gwendoline.
He’s not my Darcy, either – that’s David Rintoul. But he had a good shot at it, and it was certainly a fun, frothy version of the book. But his hairstyle was so not right.
Valmont was a disaster, costume-wise. So many gowns that looked like they were made from duvet covers! And let’s face it, Dangerous Liaisons had All The Polonaises.
The King’s Speech was fabulous, and the costumes pretty much on point, as far as I could see. And Another Country is gorgeous and poignant, and Firth shone in it.
Wow! I’m with you on every point–especially re: Redgrave and Rintoul.
I like the David Rintoul version too–mostly on the strength of Elizabeth Garvie’s Elizabeth. Tart, pretty, and bang-on with the “fine eyes” that appeal to Mr. Darcy. Rintoul is rather stiff, but then again, so is Darcy. Favorite Austen dude? Henry Tilney! Go for a guy who can make you laugh.
A Month in the Country deserves a wider audience–it’s a lovely, delicate film about people damaged by war, the presence of history in daily life, and forging new friendships.
So, where’s that review of Hour of the Pig?
It was the first Firth film I ever saw, and I blame a friend for it. (She was obsessed with Middle Ages France.) It was weird and to me the clothes seemed weird and filthy enough :D
We’ve been bugging Sarah to write it! She forced us all to watch it once, but still hasn’t written the blog post.
I loved The Advocate. I’ve seen it several times and own a copy. The costumes were well done and reasonably authentic. That’s the first film I remember seeing Colin Firth in. If you know anything about French history of the time, it was all about he Albigensians in the south of France and their heretical ways. This forms the subplot of the film. I recommend it highly.
Colin Firth is one of those guys who gets better looking once he has some mileage on him.
Colin Firth in…eye makeup???? BE STILL MY HEART!!!
I must see ALL THESE IMMEDIATELY. Because I haven’t seen them all which is a crime!!!