The Madness of King George
by Jim Byerley, HBO reviews
You'd be crazy to miss THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE (Samuel Goldwyn). Alan Bennett's engrossing play has been turned into a splendid movie. It's full of pomp, circumstance and stool samples.
George III (King of England from 1760 to 1810) has a debilitating disease similar to porphyria, a metabolic imbalance, and the 18th-century doctors are mystified. They stand around examining recent bowel movements, or applying those torturous suction cups to the royal backside.
Meanwhile, the King is running around conversing with pigs, seemingly madder than any hatter. Of course, this erratic behavior fuels all sorts of intrigue at court. The Prime Minister, William Pitt, wants to keep it all very hush-hush, so as not to jeopardize the fall of his own government.
The eldest royal child, the Prince of Wales, who is a raging (dare we use the "F" word?) fop, has designs on the throne himself. Can the radical new doctor, called in by Pitt, effect a cure in time? Thank your lucky stars that someone had the brains to hire Nigel Hawthorne to recreate the part he played on the stage. More than deserving of his Oscar nomination, Mr. Hawthorne's King is full of extraordinary life. Also nominated was Helen Mirren, as the perplexed Mrs. King. Good show, what, what.
