By the time I was in sixth grade all of my siblings had moved out of the house so I had a lot of time with my parents. In the evenings my Mom and I would watch TV together, usually shows like Murder, She Wrote, or the old Nick at Night line up of I Love Lucy and Mary Tyler Moore. Because of this I grew up loving Angela Lansbury. The original Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris features Angel Lansbury, so when it came on TV my Mom made a plan to record it on VHS so we could enjoy it over and over. The night came and we popped our fresh VHS into the machine and and recorded the movie while we watched it. Years later when the internet was invented and I was old enough to purchasing things online I went to eBay and bought the real VHS of Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris for my Mom. I know have that VHS at my house.
When I saw they remade this movie I was interested to see it. I love the original so I knew the new one would have trouble stacking up but I was still excited! This new version is now out on digital, blu-ray and DVD.
I watched the movie the other night with my husband. In case you don’t know the premise, here is a summary:
MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS tells a humorously heartwarming tale about a London housecleaner Ada Harris (Manville) who thinks her lonely life might turn around if she can become the owner of a Christian Dior gown. Saying goodbye to her friends like Archie (Isaacs) won’t be easy, and neither will be winning over elite people in Paris from Madame Colbert (Huppert) to idealistic accountant André (Bravo). But Ada’s irrepressible charm just might end up saving the whole House of Dior in this uplifting story of how an ordinary woman becomes an extraordinary inspiration by daring to follow her dreams.
There were similarities to the original, including trying to make some of the characters look the same. But there were also some big differences. One of the things I hated and was the completely unneeded in the movie was a night out at a raunchy dinner club. This didn’t add to the movie, and it certainly wasn’t in the original. I did, however, love the ending of the new movie more than the other.
You can probably check out the original movie from the library, and then head to the store and buy the new version! Let me know if you’ve ever seen this movie, or if you go buy the new one!
