- Source: Bel Ami (British TV series)
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."
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
Mitzi Rogers as Rachel
Episodes
All five episodes from the series aired on BBC Two from 8 May 1971 - 5 June 1971. The series is completely intact and is available to watch on TV Brain. The series is also available to watch at the British Film Institute, although the third episode is not there.
References
External links
Bel Ami at IMDb
Bel Ami at BBC Genome Project
Bel Ami at British Film Institute