Bel Ami is a British five part television costume drama based on the 1885 French novel Bel-Ami by Guy de Maupassant. It aired in 1971 on BBC 2. The series starred Robin Ellis as Georges Duroy, Suzanne Neve as Madeleine Forestier, Garfield Morgan as Jacques Rivat, Elvi Hale as Clotilde de Marelle, Margaret Courtenay as Madame Walter, John Bryans as Monsieur Walter, Maurice Quick as Duroy's manservant, Peter Sallis as Norbert de Varenne, James Cossins as Forestier and Arthur Pentelow as Tattel. British television historian Claire Monk wrote, "BBC Two's five-part Bel Ami indicatively exhibited the sexual attitudes of its time in its makers' insistence that the story of penniless opportunist Georges Duroy— a social outsider in Parisian society who ruthlessly uses sex to pursue his ambitions— as basically a comedy with the charms of a fantasy world."
Contents
Cast
Robin Ellis as Georges Duroy
Suzanne Neve as Madeleine Forestier
Garfield Morgan as Jacques Rivat
Elvi Hale as Clotilde de Marelle
Margaret Courtenay as Madame Walter
John Bryans as Monsieur Walter
Maurice Quick as Manservant/Duroy's Manservant
Peter Sallis as Norbert de Varenne
James Cossins as Forestier
Arthur Pentelow as Tattle
Wendy Allnutt as Suzanne Walter
Michael Gover as M Larache-Mathieu
John Wentworth as Comte de Vaudrec
Gillian Bailey as Laurine
Mitzi Rogers as Rachel
Production
Robin Ellis was cast to the play the central main character, specifically for his sex appeal.
Episodes
All five episodes from the series aired on BBC Two in colour from 8 May 1971 - 5 June 1971. The series is completely intact although none of the episodes have been released on VHS, DVD or any other home media platforms. The series is also not available to watch anywhere.
"Georges" (8 May 1971)
"Clotilde" (15 May 1971)
"Madeleine" (22 May 1971)
"Virginie" (29 May 1971)
"Suzanne" (5 June 1971)
Reception
Seán Day-Lewis of The Daily Telegraph, praised the series and highlighted Robin Ellis' performance as Georges Duroy, noting that the character ends the story "nicely receiving the spoils of his wickedness".
John Pinkney of The Age, gave the series a broadly favourable review. He said that Robert Muller's script and the production faithfully mirrored the author's cloud shifts of attitude toward his characters. He also praised the series its atmosphere, period detail and its visual style. Although Pinkney regarded the story and its themes as morally bleak and found the protagonist unpleasant. He concluded that every episode of the series deserves to be put down in bottles and labelled: Vintage BBC.