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List Price: $19.95 | | Label: WGBH BOSTON
Salesrank: 12411
Released: April 24, 2007 |
| Our Price: $10.94 |
| Used Price: $10.21 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Fearless young Sally Lockhart (Billie Piper, Doctor Who) has a mind for numbers and for sleuthing, and in Phillip Pullman’s quartet of novels, set in Victorian London, she is put through the paces of melodrama and mystery. In this vivid adaptation of the first book in the series, recently orphaned Sally Lockhart, armed with a pearl-handled pistol and her keen mind, uncovers the secrets of her father’s death aboard the sunken schooner Lavinia, discovers hidden cursed jewels, and faces England’s deadliest villains with bold courage. Sally’s friends, the street-smart Jim and besotted photographer Frederick, help her expose the truth - no matter how dangerous. Sally navigates through the constantly twisting plots with the savvy dexterity of a sharp-eyed detective.
Sally Lockhart Mysteries - Ruby In the Smoke (Masterpiece Theatre) Reviews:
First of a series - only two of the series made 
2009-03-28 - Sally, as her father called her when he was alive, receives a mysterious note that throws suspicion on her father's accidental death. Pursuing this information, she soon will find herself discovering her past and unraveling a dream she had since childhood. In this pursuit, she makes many new friends and some deadly enemies.
Based on a novel by Bill Pullman (author of "The Golden Compass") you can see the Pullman pattern in the story. Pullman always has strong willed women. Adrian Hodges wrote the screenplay and kept the essentials while making it more palatable as a film. Many people watched the BBC production because Sally is well played by Billie Piper of "Dr. Who" fame. Yet all of the other actors most pretty well known in their own rights helped make this an excellent presentation; another well known actor Julie Walters who played Molly Weasley in the Harry Potter film series makes a spooky antagonist as the amoral Mrs. Holland.
The Sally Lockhart Mysteries - Shadow in the North
Another Spunky Pullman Heroine 
2008-11-11 - Interested in this because it was by Philip Pullman, author of The Golden Compass, etc. This is a video based on the 1st of a trilogy of books. Both the story and the production were very good. It has a very sophisticated plot, with many twists and turns.
saw part on TV and had to have it
2008-10-12 - we saw part of this on TV and had to have it. Part of a series based on three books. Hoping they will do the third one soon
Introducing the Victorian Nancy Drew.
2008-09-27 - "The Ruby in the Smoke" is adapted from the first book in "The Sally Lockhart Mysteries" series, written by Philip Pullman in the 1980s and 1990s to recall the style of Victorian penny dreadfuls. Indeed, as a I watched this film, I wondered if it had been written at the time it takes place, the 1870s. With its intrepid but pure young heroine, handsome men always quick to help her, opium dens, Dickensonian children, haggish villainess, and an improbable and labyrinthine plot in which key action is not always depicted, this story has the hallmarks of hacks and cheap Victorian melodrama. Maybe there is a little modernization: I doubt that Victorians would have jumped to hire a teenaged female accountant -because she is a woman, whereas now she would be dismissed for being young.
"The Sally Lockhart Mysteries" take themselves seriously enough that they don't fall headlong into camp. Even if nothing is quite believable, it is at least plausible in principle. I'm not sure who the audience is for a Victorian shilling-shocker these days -older children or adults- but these are good fun if the audience doesn't try to make anything more of them. Sally Lockhart is a woman in her late teens with little in the world to her name since her father died. Having been a shipping agent and minor adventurer, Captain Lockhart imparted to his daughter three skills: he taught her how to shoot a pistol, how to speak Hindustani, and how to keep accounts. Now the young lady is adrift in London with this odd combination of talents, with which she must make a life for herself.
"The Ruby in the Smoke" finds Sally (Billie Piper) mourning the loss of her father at sea. She receives a cryptic note about which she consults her father's business associate, who proves less than helpful, as he promptly dies. But an assistant at the Lockhart & Shelby shipping firm, Jim Taylor (Matt Smith), has overheard her conversation and pledges to help Sally solve the mystery. A Major Marchbanks (Miles Anderson) gives Sally a diary containing the story of how he acquired the brilliant Ruby of Agrapur years before and a riddle to where it is hidden now. But, before dying himself, he warns Sally that a ruthless woman named Mrs. Holland (Julie Waters) will be in pursuit. A chance meeting with dashing and kind photographer Frederick Garland (J.J. Feild) brings Sally another much-needed ally.
DVD aspect ratio ???
2008-09-23 - I've seen this on pbs and it was wide screen. Amazon lists this dvd version as 1.33:1. PBS lists it as 4x3 letterbox. Other places list it as just "widescreen" Does anyone have the correct aspect ratio for this release? BTW, excelent movie as far as those masterpiece things go. Much faster pace and not at all boring like others.
