Ladies in Black is an Australian historical drama which premiered in 2018.
The main characters are four women who work at Goode’s, a fictional department store in Sydney, Australia, in December 1959 and January 1960.
Here is some basic information about this drama:
** Director: Bruce Beresford
** Writers: Bruce Beresford and Sue Milliken
** Based on a book by Madeleine St John (1993)
** Available on DVD and via Amazon Prime Video
** Run time: 109 minutes
The cast includes the following:
The first group
** Angourie Rice as Lesley Miles – a young girl who wants to be called Lisa
** Rachael Taylor as Fay – a single woman
** Allison McGirr as Patty – married to Frank
** Julia Ormond as Magda – married to Stefan
** Vincent Perez as Stefan – Magda’s husband
** Luke Pegler as Frank – Patty’s husband
The second group
** Ryan Corr as Rudi – a Hungarian immigrant
** Jesse Hyde as Michael – son of Hungarian immigrants
** Susie Porter as Mrs Miles – Lisa’s mother
** Shane Jacobsen as Mr Miles – Lisa’s father
** Noni Hazlehurst as Miss Cartwright – supervisor at Goode’s
** Nicholas Hammond as Mr Ryder – manager at Goode’s
The background
Madeleine St John (1941-2006) was an Australian author who wrote four novels.
Her first novel The Women in Black on which this drama is based was first published in 1993. It was reprinted in 2009.
In 2018, it was published again, and this time with the same title as the drama:
Ladies in Black
The title of the drama refers to the uniform which all female members of staff had to wear while working in the store: a black dress.
Madeleine was born and raised in Sydney. She studied at the University of Sydney, graduating in 1963. Among the students who studied at this university around this time we find the following:
** Robert Hughes (1938-2012), who became a famous art critic
** Germaine Greer (born 1939), who became an important voice of the feminist movement
** John Bell (born 1940), who became a famous classical actor
** Bruce Beresford (born 1940), who became a famous film director
After graduation, Madeleine left Australia and moved first to the US and later to the UK where she spent the rest of her life. Her first novel is the only one that is set in Australia. The other three are set in the UK.
In 1993, when the first novel was published, Bruce Beresford read it. He liked it and since he knew Madeleine from the time at the University of Sydney in the 1960s, he decided to contact her.
He told her he wanted to turn her novel into a movie. This was easier said than done. It took him more than twenty years to find some people who were prepared to invest in his project.
Sadly, Madeleine did not live long enough to see the project come true. She suffered from poor health. She died in 2006. More than ten years before the project was completed.
The drama
As stated above, this drama focuses on four women who work at a department store in Sydney. They have different personalities and different backgrounds:
** Lisa (whose real name is Lesley) has just taken a special exam that will allow her to enter university. It was called the Leaving.
While she waits for the results to be published, she takes on a temporary job at the department store. It is a summer job. In Australia, the summer falls around New Year. Lisa is a bright girl who has ambitions, but she does not have much experience with the world.
** Fay has had several boyfriends, but she does not find them interesting, because they only talk about themselves. They do not seem to care much about her. She has almost given up on men.
** Patty is married to Frank who is a very shy person. Fay wants to start a family, but Frank does not understand what she wants.
** Magda is an immigrant, a refugee from Slovenia. In Australia she is known as a “reffo.” This word is not meant as a compliment. She is married to another immigrant, Stefan, who is from Hungary. They communicate in English. They seem to have a colourful life with many interesting friends.
I do not wish to spoil the viewing for anyone. I am not going to say much about what happens in this drama.
If you want to know what happens to Lisa and the people around her, you will have to watch the drama (or read the book) all the way to the end.
What do reviewers say about this drama?
Here are some results:
65 per cent = Meta
67 per cent = IMDb
88 per cent = Rotten Tomatoes (the critics)
As you can see, the ratings are quite good. If you ask me, the ratings on Meta and IMDb are too low, while the rating on Rotten Tomatoes is too high.
Why do I say this?
This drama is good but not great. I like it and I want to give it a good rating, but I cannot go all the way to the top, because there are at least two flaws:
# 1. The story is rather thin and the characters are rather superficial. There is some development in some of them, but not enough. The character of Frank is not convincing; not credible.
# 2. There is an anachronism and there are some revealing mistakes. Perhaps the most obvious example is the scene in which Lisa wants her father to sign a form which will allow her to apply for a scholarship to attend university.
But Mr Miles cannot really be disturbed. He is watching a horse race on television. He has no time for her.
What is wrong with this scene? It is set in December 1959, but the horse race that is seen on the black-and-white screen took place in 1966!
In 1959, horse races were reported live on the radio. There was no live coverage on television yet.
The director Bruce Beresford had more than twenty years to prepare for this drama. I think he really wanted to get the historical details right, but even so he failed on several occasions. It is a shame.
I have to remove one star because of these flaws. This product deserves a rating of four stars (80 percent).
PS # 1. While the story about the ladies in black is not an autobiography, I think there is a lot of the author Madeleine in the character Lisa. This young girl wants to study at the university and she wants to become a poet.
PS # 2. Ladies in Black is a miniseries - divided into six episodes - which premiered on Australian television (ABC) in June 2024.
The new miniseries is inspired by the novel The Women in Black which was published in 1993, but is is not based on the novel. It is a continuation of the story presented in the novel.
The story in the 1993 book and the 2018 drama is set in December 1959 and January 1960, while the story in the new miniseries is set in 1961.
PS # 3. If you like Ladies in Black, which premiered in 2018, you may also like Come in Spinner, a historical drama set in Sydney, Australia, which premiered on Australian television in 1990.
Ladies in Black focuses on four women who work at a department store. The time is 1959-1960.
Come in Spinner focuses on three women who work at a beauty salon located in a five-star hotel. The time is 1944, shortly before the end of World War two.
Come in Spinner (a miniseries divided into two parts) was released on DVD in 2005. It is also available via Amazon Prime Video (where the original two episodes are divided into four short episodes).
*****
The Women in Black
A historical novel
by Madeleine St John
(First published 1993)
(Reprinted 2009)
*****
The Australian-born author
Madeleine St John
(1941-2006)
She lived and worked abroad
for many years:
at first in the US,
later in the the UK
*****
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