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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
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CASTING IS A MYSTERY
I really enjoy British mysteries, and the adult actors in this production I recognized from other productions I've seen. Most of them were very good. And Gielgud was the best thing about this show. But why, with all this talent about, would you hire someone so strange for the leading role -- a lady who runs around with a stupid and meaningless smile and who has the weirdest posture and ambulation of any actor ever. Whatever else this series had going for it, and I enjoyed every other part, this flaw really stood out. I don't understand it, but there it is.
Rating: 
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Disappointed
I had high hopes for this series based on the title, but was deeply disappointed with the story line. Starring John Guilgood, I expected a quality viewing experience, but was so dissappointed I didn't finish viewing the third DVD.
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Overlooked Gem
I watched this on television years ago when it was broadcast and was completely charmed by it. Sir John Gielgud was perfect and the rest of the cast held their own along side him, especially Susan Fleetwood as his exasperated daughter. The setting is beautiful and the mystery is engaging and with enough twists to keep you guessing. I highly recommend it!
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A Fine Mystery For Anglophiles And Italophiles
Summer's Lease is a nicely done mystery series produced in the 1980s by the writer/playwright John Mortimer based on his novel of the same name. Mollie Pargeter is a forty-something London housewife who rents an Italian villa for the summer holidays. Neither her barrister husband (who is conducting a semi-respectable flirtation with a former client) nor her three daughters are very enthusiastic, but Mollie insists and they all wind up in Tuscany at the Villa "La Felicita," along with Mollie's father Haverford Downs, an ancient roue who writes a column for a magazine.
Immediately mysteries crop up. A host of eccentric characters appear, all of them cagey about the whereabouts of the owners of the villa, who are nowhere in evidence beyond some odd instructions, pictures, and lists. The water supply is shut off and the swimming pool become a murder site. And what is the significance of all the references to Piero della Francesca, especially his painting of "The Flagellation?" Mollie is fascinated by it all, and stoked by her rereading of Sherlock Holmes' "The Copper Beeches," begins to investigate. Eventually she discovers the truth, not just about "La Felicita" but about herself and her marriage as well.
The mystery is complex and takes some time to unwind, and in typical British fashion much is left for one to ponder and work out on one's own. The scenery is gorgeous (especially the scenes of the Palio in Siena) and most of the characters appealing, and the outcome, while sad and somewhat equivocal, is satisfying and leaves one happy for Mollie.
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you have a bad batch of DVDs, I believe
Dear Amazon - I'd be happy to review this product, however BOTH copies I ordered were corrupted and unwatchable. Because I was traveling a lot, I wasn't able to return them to you in time. However, I just want you to know that you may have a bad batch of this DVD.
