Edward & Mrs. Simpson

Given the current Windsorian state of affairs, it's hard to believe that in 1936, a relationship between the newly sworn (though not crowned and anointed) Edward the VIII and Mrs. Wallis Warfield Simpson caused a constitutional crisis and was taken with utmost seriousness by the likes of Winston Churchill, not to mention other heads of state within the British Empire. This superb Emmy-winning seven-episode British miniseries offers a window on the world between the wars and succeeds on every level both as an entertaining period piece and a social document. Edward (Edward Fox), the Prince of Wales, could have made the cover of People as World's Sexiest Man. Given to dangerous liaisons with married women such as Freda Dudley Ward and Lady Thelma Furness, Edward led a social life centered around cafes, fashionable boîtes, and his country home, Fort Belvedere. Enter Wallis (Cynthia Harris), with husband Ernest in tow, sparking the adulterous affair that ended with Edward's famously romantic abdication, “….I have found it impossible to…discharge my duties as King….without the help and support of the woman I love.” Told in rich, compelling detail, and boasting a wonderful cast (many of the actors bear an uncanny resemblance to their real-life counterparts--the principals, as well as Kika Markham as Dudley Ward, Nigel Hawthorne as Walter Monckton, and Dame Peggy Ashcroft in a star turn as Queen Mary), 1978's Edward & Mrs. Simpson captures the social milieu to perfection (from the poverty of the working class to the reverence toward the monarchy), backed by authentic interior/exterior locations and costumes. DVD extras include a slightly cheesy A&E Biography episode on Wallis Simpson. With the recent nuptials of the current Prince of Wales and his longstanding “friend,” this splendid production should have special resonance. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (J. Reed)