Mosley (TV serial)

Mosley
Genre	Drama/historical
Directed by	John Alexander
Written by	Laurence Marks Maurice Gran
Starring	Jonathan Cake Hugh Bonneville Emma Davies Jemma Redgrave Richenda Carey
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Original channel	Channel 4
Original run	12 February 1998 – 5 March 1998
Running time	197 mins (tv-series) / 99 mins (movie-edition)
No. of episodes	4

Mosley was a 1998 television serial (or mini-series) produced for Channel Four Television based on British fascist Oswald Mosley's life in the period between the two world wars. The series was directed by Robert Knights, from a screenplay by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, both better known for their television comedy series. It was based on the books Rules of the Game and Beyond the Pale by Nicholas Mosley, Mosley's son.^[1]

The series was released on VHS and DVD.

Episode details

The series was in four parts.

Part 1: Young Man in a Hurry (1918–1920) In 1918, as Britain rejoices at winning the First World War, a young army officer, Tom Mosley (Oswald), decides to run for government office. Utilising friends to gain entry to the most important houses, Mosley soon finds himself introduced to the Prime Minister David Lloyd George - and indebted to a sharp-edged American Maxine Elliott - who in turn will see her debt repaid in the bedroom. Mosley is elected as the youngest member of Parliament, and raises his profile by attacking more senior politicians - including his own Prime Minister. Seeing an opportunity to step up in the world by seducing Cimmie Curzon, the second daughter of Lord Curzon, he unashamedly seduces her stepmother on the way.

Part 2: Rules of the Game (1924–1927) Mosley's marriage no more guarantees his faithfulness to Cimmie than his election as a Conservative MP guarantees his loyalty to the Party. Deeply immersed in a relationship with Jane Bewley, the wife of a Tory MP, Mosley's politics take him to the left and the new spirit of the Labour Party. But the Party finds Mosley's concepts of economic regeneration unrealistic. Nevertheless, he stands for and wins a front bench seat with the opposition Labour Party, although a blatant sexual scandal may cripple his prospects for the future.

Part 3: Breaking the Mould (1929–1933) Mosley and Crimmie both run for seats with the Labour Party and win as the Party sweeps the old Conservative rule from power. Disappointed that he is not appointed to their newly formed cabinet, Mosley finds comfort in forming his own New Party and forming an attachment with Diana Guinness. It isn't long before Cimmie and Mosley's old comrades find themselves at odds with the New Party - both its politics and its methods of enforcement by appointed "stewards." Meanwhile Benito Mussolini's rise to power in Italy encourages Mosley to remake himself in the mold of a Fascist, once again turning with an opportune tide.

Part 4: Beyond the Pale (1933–1940) Mosley is distraught at the decline in health of his wife Cimmie who, after years of his philandering, has lost the will to live. Financially supported by Mussolini in Italy, Mosley decided to establish the British Union of Fascists in her honour. While Diana Guinness establishes relationships with Dr. Joseph Goebbels in Germany, Mosley develops a relationship with Cimmie's sister Alexandra (Baba) in France. At a major meeting of the new organization, hecklers in the audience are beaten to the ground by the Fascist Blackshirts who salute their leader with Roman salutes. On a visit to Germany, Mosley marries Diana Guinness in the company of Goebbels and Adolf Hitler. But the health of the party will not last long.

Cast

Because Mosley lived his life in 'high society' the number of high profile people he knew from all walks of live were reflected in the characters of the Drama, the principal characters and those that appeared in more than one part, are those that appear first:

• Jonathan Cake .... Oswald 'Tom' Mosley
• Jemma Redgrave .... Cimmie Curzon
• Hugh Bonneville .... Bob Boothby
• Flora Montgomery .... Baba
• Ralph Riach .... Ramsay MacDonald
• Windsor Davies .... David Lloyd George
• Gresby Nash .... Fruity Metcalfe
• Karl Draper .... Makin
• Emma Davies .... Diana Mitford Guinness
• Roger May .... John Strachey
• Paul Ireland .... Allan Young
• Orlando Wells .... Cecil Beaton
• Ken Jones .... J.H. Thomas
• Eric Allan .... Philip Snowden
• Berwick Kaler .... Arthur Henderson
• Arturo Venegas .... Count Grandi

Part 1

• Debora Weston .... Maxine Elliott
• Philip Dunbar .... Philip Sassoon
• Robert Langdon Lloyd .... Lord Curzon
• Devon Scott .... Lady Grace Curzon
• Hugh Simon .... Winston Churchill
• Richenda Carey .... Lady Mosley
• Dermot Martin .... Sgt. O'Sullivan

Part 2

• Caroline Langrishe .... Jane Bewley
• Jeremy Child .... Major Bewley
• Roger Brierley .... Neville Chamberlain
• Edward Highmore .... Derek Johnson

Part 3

• Jonathan Coy .... Harold Nicolson
• Ben Pullen .... Peter Howard
• Sonya Walger .... Barbara Hutchinson
• David Henry .... William Morris

Part 4

• Stephen Gressieux .... Benito Mussolini
• Nigel Davenport .... Lord Rothermere
• Colum Convey .... William Joyce
• Mike Burnside .... Neil Francis Hawkins
• Brigitte Kahn .... Margherita Sarfatti
• Anouschka Menzies .... Unity Mitford
• Stephan Grothgar .... Putzi Hansfstaengl
• John Straiton .... James Maxton
• Reinhard Michaels .... Adolf Hitler
• Erich Redman .... Joseph Goebbels
• William Boscaven .... Nicholas Mosley

References

1. ^ Mosley British Film Institute Film & TV Database.

External links

• Mosley at the Internet Movie Database