boston globe

The Boston Globe---Feburary 28,1998

Exploring dark natures in 'Woman in White'

By Matthew Gilbert, Globe Staff, 02/28/98

''The Woman in White,'' tomorrow night's installment of ''Masterpiece

Theatre,'' more than makes up for last fall's tepid adaptation of another

Wilkie Collins novel, ''TheMoonstone.'' This time, Collins's

psy-TelevisionReview chological thrills are given enough narrative drive to

make all of the many plot twists surprising, and none of the melodrama

tedious. The movie, presented in a single episode, features an economical

script and focused performances all round, particularly from Tara Fitzgerald,

whom ''Masterpiece Theatre'' fans will recall from last year's ''The Tenant of

Wildfell Hall.'' Published in 1860 as the first-person recounting of a number

of characters, ''The Woman in White'' revolves around two close half sisters,

Marian and Laura Farlie. Marian, reserved and intellectual, has no use for

men; Laura is sweet-tempered and vulnerable. Although she has fallen in love

with a romantic painting tutor, Walter Hartright, Laura marries Sir Percival

Glyde, an enigmatic man who turns out to be a

fortune hunter as well as a wife beater. Like ''The Tenant at Wildfell Hall,''

this tale is ahead of its time in its frank treatment of spousal violence and

the helplessness and shame of abused wives. ''I have no evidence against my

husband,'' Laura cries to her sister, ''except that he is cruel. What is that?

So are half the men in England.'' At odd moments in outdoor locales, Laura,

Marian, and Hartwright glimpse a fragile woman in white, who utters non

sequiturs and fearfully offers bits of harmful information about Sir Percival.

''Never, never marry, miss,'' she warns Marian. As the identity shifts and

mysteries of ''The Woman in White'' accummulate, this haunted and elusive

Gothic creature becomes increasingly important to Marian. Also figuring into

the strange events is a relative of Sir Percival named Count Fosco, who has a

way with vicious dogs, caged mice, and laudanum. Fitzgerald, also known from

''Brassed Off,'' is perfect as Marian, a devoted woman fully aware that she's

suppressing her desire

for her loved ones. And Justine Waddell is affecting as the weak, beautiful

Laura. As the evil Sir Percival, James Wilby is appropriately creepy,

especially as he never becomes a caricature of a fiend. Simon Callow, as the

count, is typically bonkers, but with an undercurrent of malice that speaks of

all the darkness in human nature.

This story ran on page C06 of the Boston Globe on 02/28/98.