Vidago Palace

This 2017 Portuguese TV-aired six-part miniseries is set at an iconic luxury hotel during the summer of 1936. A civil war is raging in neighboring Spain and the threat of an even greater war is percolating out of Hitler’s Germany. But these conflicts pale in comparison to the melodramatic romantic angst swirling around Carlota (Mikaela Lupu), the lovely daughter of the Count and Countess of Vimiero, and Pedro (David Seijo), a waiter and the son of the hotel’s concierge. Carlota’s parents are pushing her to marry the filthy rich César da Silva (Pedro Barroso)—who they see as their last hope to recoup their frayed fortunes. But Carlota can only pine for her handsome young waiter and rendezvous with him in secret. Pedro, however, is eager to cross the border and help the Spanish forces fighting against Francisco Franco’s fascist army. Added to the mix are foreigners who seem like stock characters occupying the background in a 1940s Warner Bros. melodrama: a German businessman, a Portuguese-Jewish jeweler, a British writer, and an unsubtle police inspector, who all flatfoot their way around the edges of the story. Shown stateside on Acorn TV, Vidago Palace is a visually opulent production, but is also somewhat intellectually puerile in its connect-the-dots plotting and broad emoting by the leads. Still, this is a strong optional purchase. (P. Hall)