I’ve been saving photos of these fabulous men in my file, savoring them, not wanting to share them with you, forgetting that you’ve already seen them in Sense and Sensibility. One can hardly believe that this fabulous film is already 12 years old!The hero is played by the ever watchable Hugh Grant. I fell in love with him in Four Weddings and a Funeral, found him eminently likeable in Love Actually, but really adored his hero turn in Sense and Sensibility as Edward Ferrars. Here’s a short dialogue from the movie:
Elinor Dashwood: Margaret has always wanted to travel.
Edward Ferrars: I know. She's heading an expedition to China shortly. I'm to go as her servant. But only on the understanding that I am to be very badly treated.
Elinor Dashwood: What will your duties be?
Edward Ferrars: Sword fighting, obviously, administering rum and swabbing.
Elinor Dashwood: And which of these will take precedence?
Edward Ferrars: Swabbing, I imagine.
Dahlings, Ms. Place goes on record by saying that Hugh Grant can swab her deck any day.
The scrumptuous Greg Wise played that dashing cad, Mr. Willoughby. As you recall, he was the man who carried Marianne over hill and dale in his manly arms. Ah, dear ones, I swoon from merely thinking about such muscular strength and manly display of testosterone. In real life, Greg married Emma Thompson. Lucky gal. Lucky man. Their child must be both beautiful AND witty.
Saving the best for last, I present Alan Rickman. Oh, I grant you, he's not the usual hero type and he's a wee bit long in the tooth. But his exquisite performance in this movie melted my heart. Alan first caught my interest in Robin Hood (in which Kevin Costner nearly killed his career by fading in and out of the worst British accent in the history of film!)
Alan played a dastardly villain in that movie, but with such dash that I wished he would tie ME up and do those things to my person that he threatened to do to Maid Marian! In Sense and Sensibility he plays Colonel Brandon, Marianne’s patient older wooer. (Do you sense the symmetry here, gentle reader?)Colonel Brandon was such a Clueless man! If only he knew that with Ms. Place he would need no patience! She would have ripped those buttons right off his uniform and done a turn or two with him on his pianoforte…
But Ms. Place digresses. She momentarily forgot her place. Here’s a bit of dialogue from the movie that is both unprim and unproper and quintessentially Jane Austen:Margaret: Have you really been to the East Indies, Colonel?
Colonel Brandon: I have.
Margaret: What's it like?
Sir John Middleton: Like? Hot.
Colonel Brandon: [mysteriously] The air is full of spices.
Mmmmm, Colonel Brandon, you have my permission to spice up my life (and rack) any way you like.As you can see, Alan's arms are as studly as Greg Wise's. I believe Kate Winslet offered both men a supreme opportunity for an aerobic workout. (Though I go on record to say I prefer her figure to Kate Bosworth's.)
For those who are as equally enamored of Alan Rickman as Colonel Brandon, click here for a 4 minute tribute video.
Well, dahlings, I've offered you three eye candies all at once! Can you believe such richness? I, for one, am overcome by all this studlines and must take a rest. Enjoy these glorious men, gentle readers. Ravish them with your eyes, then breathe in deeply.
Isn’t life simply grand?
