Priest of Love

Renowned thespian Ian McKellen took on his first major screen role in 1981's Priest of Love, portraying controversial British writer D.H. Lawrence. Directed by Christopher Miles, the blend of biographical fact and fiction suffers somewhat from a thin script and lack of dramatic tension, drawbacks that even the world-class cast—including Ava Gardner as wealthy art patron Mabel Dodge Luhan, and Sir John Gielgud as censorship crusader Herbert G. Muskett—can't quite overcome. Janet Suzman costars as Lawrence's fiercely protective German wife Frieda, who is related to Baron von Richthofen. After being more or less driven out of England in 1914 for their lack of wartime patriotism (Frieda's Teutonic stridency doesn't help), the couple travel to New Mexico, then Mexico, back to England, and finally to Italy, where Lawrence would succumb to tuberculosis in 1930. We see Lawrence's books being burned and banned, and ample attention is paid to the negative impact of his crusade to make “dirty words” part of the literary vernacular again. But Lawrence's inner life is neglected, and Priest of Love does not offer much of a window into the creative process behind immortal works such as Lady Chatterley's Lover and The Rainbow. McKellen's Lawrence instead comes off as a vain simpleton who cares more about provocation than art. DVD extras include a “making-of” documentary, interviews, deleted scenes, outtakes, and stills galleries. A strong optional purchase. (M. Sandlin)