Mrs. Henderson Presents
Mrs. Henderson Presents ★★ 2005 (R)
The recently widowed Mrs. Henderson (Dench), in an attempt to relieve her own boredom, purchases the rundown and struggling Windmill Theatre in 1930s-40s London. Working her way through the theatre's revitalization, she hires Vivian Van Damm (Hoskins) as the theatre's manager. The two come up with the idea of staging all-nude revues, which are suitably tasteful but still a bit racy for the time. Once World War II breaks out, the story becomes one of British determination to cling to fragile everyday life in the face of the difficulties of war. All told, an interesting look at homefront England. 102m/C DVD . Judi Dench, Bob Hoskins, Christopher Guest, Kelly Reilly, Will Young, Thelma Barlow; D: Stephen Frears; W: Martin Sherman; C: Andrew Dunn; M: George Fenton. Natl. Bd. of Review ‘05: Cast.