Product Description

Academy Award-winner Jim Broadbent stars as Alfred Salteena, 'an elderly man of 42,' who falls in love with young Ethel Monticue at first sight. To impress her, he treats Ethel to a visit at the sumptuous country house of Lord Bernard Clark, the only lord Alf actually knows. Their ensuing adventures in London's colorful high society reveal the young author's alarmingly keen insights into class, the foolishness of adults and the power that young girls have over men.

DVD Features:
Biographies:Cast/Author bio screens
Featurette:Behind-the-scenes featurette

Amazon.com

This peculiar and delightful BBC movie springs from an equally peculiar and delightful novel written in 1890 by a 9-year-old girl and published with her spelling left uncorrected--hence the title, The Young Visiters. Mr. Alfred Salteena (Jim Broadbent, Topsy-Turvy) falls in love with an ambitious young beauty named Ethel (Lyndsey Marshal, The Hours), who only agrees to visit the clumsy and unctuous Alfred if he introduces her to nobility. Alfred cajoles an invitation from Lord Bernard Clark (Hugh Laurie, Stuart Little), whose own interest in Ethel leads him to send Alfred off for lessons in manners, launching Alfred on his own road to high status. The story's mixture of offhand naivete and precocious insights into class results in something daft, funny, and thoroughly charming. Also featuring a delicious turn by Bill Nighy (Love Actually) as the earl who agrees to "rub up" Alfred. --Bret Fetzer

Product details

Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ NR (Not Rated)
Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.5 x 5.5 x 0.75 inches; 3.84 ounces
Media Format ‏ : ‎ NTSC, Color, Closed-captioned, DVD
Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 30 minutes
Release date ‏ : ‎ June 26, 2007
Actors ‏ : ‎ Jim Broadbent, Bill Nighy, Hugh Laurie, Geoffrey Palmer
Language ‏ : ‎ English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
Studio ‏ : ‎ BBC Home Entertainment
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00062J0ZS
Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1

Best Sellers Rank: #160,129 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #6,309 in Romance (Movies & TV)
- #14,663 in Action & Adventure DVDs
- #17,138 in Comedy (Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews:
4.3 38 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

Important information

To report an issue with this product or seller, click here.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

38 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

R. Crane

Family Entertainment at its Best

Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2009

Verified Purchase

It is incredible yet true that "The Young Visiters" was based on a book written by a nine year old in 1890 in twelve days. To be so young and have such sophisticated ability, both as a writer and as a social observer, is remarkable.

This is a charming, family oriented movie that is not a Disney production. It is a "feel good" heart-warming story about a lonely "old" man, Alfred "Alf" Salteena, (age 42) and an ambitious social climber, Ethel Montacue. Alf and Ethel meet on a train, and he deliberately entices her by implying that he hob-nobs with royalty and nobility. Nothing could be farther from the truth as he is in fact a butcher's son, lacking proper manners, etiquette and at a loss what to do or say in almost any social situation. However, he is willing to do whatever it takes to attract and marry Ethel.

Ethel decides to visit him for the purpose of meeting eligible nobility, and in turn he keeps his promise by contacting an earl and arranging for them to visit his palatial estate. Through this connection, everyone's life is changed in unexpected and enchanting ways.

This movie is a wonderful experience and should be enjoyed by all ages. Bill Nighy and Hugh Laurie's performances add sparkle to the story. Whether it is true to the book or as good as a previous version, is irrelevant. On its own it is a marvelous way to spend a few hours.

12 people found this helpful

Helpful

Abigail Stone

The Young Visiters HUGH LAURIE!

Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2008

Verified Purchase

The young visiters is based on a book by a nine year old victorian girl. I have not read the book so I cannot say if the movie lived up to it or not, but I loved this little movie. I bought it because it stars Hugh Laurie, my favorite fellow of the day, and he is wonderful in it. The other actors are fine too, terrifically peculiar... especially the wealthy alcoholic friend of the Prince. This is not a movie with a giant storyline but more of a collection of weird and wonderful characters and strange scenes. It really gives the feeling of being seen thru the eyes of a child.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Cynthia L. Harris

do me a favor. Just try this movie once.

Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2011

Verified Purchase

it doesn't have sex or violence or car chases, or even sexy love scenes, but it is hilarious. See my review of the book for more details, but, if you are a fan of the unexpectedly hilarious, this is the movie to see.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Sandra

Fun little film, great cast.

Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2019

Verified Purchase

As a big Bill Nighy fan I look for any film he might be in so off we go to this little saga. Well Mr. Nighy is perfect (of course) and the film moves along quickly and appealingly to the eye. The storyline cute and the cast up to the rolls. 'Ethel' is perfect, maybe not to look for film she might be in.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Jeanne Arnold

Entertaining & most enjoyable

Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2012

Verified Purchase

Have thought about getting this video for a long time & am so happy I finally did. This was thoroughly entertaining & went by very fast. Have watched it several times already & look forward to watching it several more.

Highly recommend this for everyone who loves British comedies.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

SARA MONTGOMERY

Lovely Absurdity

Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2014

Verified Purchase

Lovely little film. I saw this on netflix originally years ago and was instantly charmed. Very amusing and fun to see so many talented actors in this great film based on the book written by an 8 year old.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Mary Ann Farrell

Movie

Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2014

Verified Purchase

I bought this movie as a gift for my sister who loves Bill Nighy. I know she will love it.

Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2012

Verified Purchase

Whimsical little treasure. I'll watch it again and again. The movie would be engaging for older children as well as adults.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

George Jones

great entertainment

Reviewed in Canada on August 26, 2013

Verified Purchase

For all who love British costume drama, this is a satire you don't want to miss. This BBC production is based on the writing of a nine year old, Daisy Ashford in 1890. She wrote her version of high society and the British class system in just twelve days. It's totally delightful, and I would expect it to be entertaining for the whole family, although the satire would probably be lost on younger children.

2 people found this helpful

Karweb

Young Visiters

Reviewed in France on November 10, 2009

Verified Purchase

C'est surprenant qu'une gamine de 9 ans ait pu écrire une telle histoire.
Le filme balance entre une certaine naïveté dû au jeune âge de son auteur et un très bon sens d'observation des relations amoureuse des adultes. Un filme agréable a voir. Dommage qu'il soit en Zone 1, c'est plus difficile de le partager.

Translate review to English

B. H. J. Hammond

A surreal and magnificent comedy!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 9, 2007

Verified Purchase

Written originally by a young Victorian girl one summer, The Young Visiters has never been out of print since it was rediscovered some years later. This 9-year-old's brilliant observations of a surreal society have been flawlessly translated to the small screen by the BBC, resulting in a comedy that - although entirely suitable for children - is at times as black as other classic BBC comedy ventures.

The style of it reminded me almost of The League of Gentlemen (although, obviously, lacking the mature content) since the extremeties that the hero Mr Salteena endures to find his way over to the 'right side of the blanket' are at times a bleak prospect, while at the same time being side-achingly funny.

The simple (but also surprisingly insightful) story woven by young Daisy Ashford only gains from Patrick Barlow's sympathetic screenplay. He cleverly chose to retain as much of the original dialogue as possible and the writing, which at times incoperates some strange sentence structures and interesting adjectives - as one might expect from a 9-year-old - only adds to subtle charm of this adaptation. Every area of the piece from the unreal monarchy to the love scene is given new life from the visual gags. As with countless other BBC adaptations, you notice new things each viewing.

Fans of Jim Broadbent and Hugh Laurie will not be disappointed either - both perform flawlessly, as does Bill Nighy. Stretching their wings in these surreal roles, the comic timing between them is stage-quality. It is obvious that these people had a lot of fun making this - it is evident in the character of even the cameos.

As you may have noticed, I would thoroughly recommend this to anyone, even if BBC costume dramas are not usually your thing. I would defy anyone to not find a single funny scene. Buy it now! (And then read the book =)

9 people found this helpful

billy babbitt

disappointed to have only US version but not a problem ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 5, 2015

Verified Purchase

lovely film, disappointed to have only US version but not a problem with a bit of VLC.

airbears

The Young Visitors

Reviewed in Canada on August 24, 2013

Verified Purchase

The film is based on a book written by an eleven year old. It is reminiscent of of Dr. Seuss, nonetheless most adults could easily enjoy it. I did.

One person found this helpful

See more reviews

Genre	Romance, Action & Adventure
Format	NTSC, Color, Closed-captioned, DVD
Contributor	Geoffrey Palmer, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Laurie, Bill Nighy
Language	English
Number Of Discs	1

Image Unavailable

The Young Visiters [DVD]

Product Description

Product Description

Amazon.com

Product details

Videos

Important information

Customer reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries