Mr. Selfridge - General Discussion

[LittleIggy]

Okay, I cried when Harry was going over the photo albums and they showed flashbacks (Henri!) and then when he left the building. I know there have been a lot of haters on this forum, but I really enjoyed the series (except for Rosalee and her awful accent!) and Jeremy Pivens' Harry.

[Fiddler1]

I'm going to miss it too!  I may have gotten a little choked up when he exited his office and the staff was lining the halls....then came out of the elevator and everybody was there.  And yes...the flashbacks :)

[Ohwell]

I think Jeremy Pivens did a great job as Harry.  Sure, he was ousted from his store, but the ending wasn't as sad as I had feared.

[JudyObscure]

I've been watching this whole season the following morning online, because they've scheduled it so late.  Today, for the first time, the  episode  is not on the PBS site.  You can only see the finale if you make a donation and become a member.   Jerks!  I've paid a thousand dollars for a TV, hundreds of dollars in cable bills, and watched what seems like a million Ralph Lauren commercials -- don't tell me I haven't paid for this.

[SusanSunflower]

I'm finding the episode is available both on line and on Roku ... It wants you to sign into your (free) PBS account ... but it's not demanding a paid membership on either as far as I can tell.  

As for the episode .... I was not expecting a surprise happy ending ... not at all ... although he retired in 1941 and died in 1947, so god know what "fun" he had in store for Mae prior to shuffling off his mortal coil 

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In 1941, he was forced out of Selfridges. On a reduced pension, he retired, aged 83, to a rented three-bedroom flat with Rosalie, his eldest surviving child.

Has it been noted before that May (Mae) is not mentioned in his Wikipedia entry? it is said she is a fictional  character --  http://footprintsoflondon.com/2016/02/the-fact-and-the-fiction-behind-mr-selfridge/  (glad I didn't know this before)

[txhorns79]

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I've been watching this whole season the following morning online, because they've scheduled it so late.  Today, for the first time, the  episode  is not on the PBS site.

I found the episode on the Masterpiece website.  No donation was requested prior to watching. 
 

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As for the episode .... I was not expecting a surprise happy ending ... not at all ... although he retired in 1941 and died in 1947, so god know what "fun" he had in store for Mae prior to shuffling off his mortal coil 

 

The only thing I can guess it that this version of Selfridge is so highly fictionalized that most of what happened on the show doesn't reflect the reality of the guy's life.  I mean, the real Selfridge was in his 70s at the time this season began, and obviously, Jeremy Piven barely looks 50, much less 70.   

Edited May 23, 2016 by txhorns79

[JudyObscure]

Thanks all for encouraging me to try harder.  I went back to "PBS Mr. Selfridge official site," and, again if I clicked on "watch online," it wouldn't let me watch anything past episode 8 and said,  "to watch episode 9, make a donation and become a member" -- I think it may keep track of how many shows you've watched  for free before it says that.  But that's okay!  I then went one option to the right and clicked on "programs," and that took me to "episode 9 full episode," all ready and waiting for me.  That's my PBS.  Great shows, difficult to access.

Has it been noted before that May (Mae) is not mentioned in his Wikipedia entry? it is said she is a fictional  character --  

I had read enough of his bio to guess she was fictional.  I think Harry was probably typical of his time.  He loved the virginal, sweet women like his wife and he lusted after the young hot burlesque girls, but someone like Mae who was neither of those types, but independent and sophisticated would have been incomprehensible to him.  His reaction to Gordon marrying a shop girl demonstrates the hard line he drew between "women you marry,"  upper class sheltered virgins, living at home with their parents, and  "women you could spend money on and have  a good time with but never marry," which was everyone else. The true accounts make it sound like he completely lost his head over the one Dolly sister, spent the last of his fortune on her and that was it for Harry.  No more money, no more women.

[SusanSunflower]

but in the vein, Mae would represent both a "moral"redemption arc and character development for Selfridge ...moving beyond "putting on airs" and rigidly upholding class boundaries by becoming romantically involved and spending his (fictional) golden years with a (an extraordinarily talented and intelligent) career woman ... when apparently 

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On a reduced pension, he retired, aged 83, to a rented three-bedroom flat with Rosalie, his eldest surviving child.[26]

I haven't been following the show closely. I don't know if Jenny Dolly's 1933 car wreck (on a trip with beau Max Constant during where she was supposed decide whether to accept Harry's proposal of marriage for $10 million) was covered ... She also committed suicide in 1941 in Hollywood where she had gone with her two adopted daughters (following separation from her husband from a marriage in 1935) to pursue a career. 

[JudyObscure]

Finally watched it.  Saaaaad.

I am glad they gave us a little montage of past highlights while Harry was looking through the photo albums.  I loved those  fashions in the early seasons, remember those gigantic hats Rose wore?  Agnes with her red gloves. George when he was so timid he almost seemed learning disabled.  Little Gordon running away from school to work in the store like Pa.

Overall, I found the show very entertaining.  I'll miss it.

[Arwen Evenstar]

Seeing hm ousted from his life's work was sad to watch, and I like that they did it in a classy way.

 Jenny Dolly's storyline up to her suicide in 1941 the same year he was ousted should have been part of the storyline as well even if they just showed the newspaper headlines. He spent most of what was left of his money on medical bills for her after a car accident that maimed her for the rest of her life. My apologies if I missed it during a toilet run.

[JudyObscure]

No, Arwen you didn't miss anything. I don't know why they chose to show the Dolly sisters as ditzy airheads when they were more artistic, more interesting and more tragic than that.  I would watch a series about the real Dollys, if it was done right.

[txhorns79]

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George when he was so timid he almost seemed learning disabled. 

I honestly believe the character was initially played as though George has some kind of mental disability, and at some point, they decided to go in another direction. 

I thought it was a sad, but deserved ending for Selfridge (and honestly much happier than the real Mr. Selfridge had).  He made really bad choices, and, for once, was unable to save himself.  The flashbacks were very nice.   

Edited May 24, 2016 by txhorns79

[SusanSunflower]

I was really startled to find that Selfridge had not only proposed to Jenny Dolly, but had offered her 10 million dollars to marry him .... that's not a "minor detail" either in terms of his intentions or his recklessness with money and/or as a reason for him to be depressed, down in the dumps, lose interest in things.... the two suicides of nearest, dearest, most confidential friends, in one year would also be enough to unmoor many people ... Getting old is hard enough (even if we were never really shown Harry dealing with his advancing age) without the sudden loss of two major players, even more so when they're quite a bit younger (the Dollys were 30+ years younger) 

[howiveaddict]

I  can't wrap my head around the fact that they were only celebrating Selfridges 20th anniversary.  According to wiki, Harry opened the store in 1909 and had to retire in 1941.  A lot longer than 20 years.  The styles looked like they were in the roaring 20s still.  That anniversary would have been in 1929.  He dated the dolly sister in the 1930s as above quoted. It would have been interesting to see how the store did during the depression of the 30s instead of this false time line.  Also the beginning of World War 2 took place during Harry's reign.

[J-Man]

2 hours ago, howiveaddict said:

I  can't wrap my head around the fact that they were only celebrating Selfridges 20th anniversary.  According to wiki, Harry opened the store in 1909 and had to retire in 1941.  A lot longer than 20 years.  The styles looked like they were in the roaring 20s still.  That anniversary would have been in 1929.  He dated the dolly sister in the 1930s as above quoted. It would have been interesting to see how the store did during the depression of the 30s instead of this false time line.  Also the beginning of World War 2 took place during Harry's reign.

It was all VERY fictionalized. The show ended in 1929, but the events relating to Harry's ouster took place almost 10 years later. In the little "behind the scenes" video they showed after the episode, one of the writers came right out and said that pretty much all of the peripheral characters (employees, etc.) were fictional. And then the "Secrets of Selfridge's" show that came on after (at least on my PBS station) made it clear that the series was basically made up around a few central characters and some general facts. They even interviewed Gordon's daughter, and it was made clear that Harry never even knew that Gordon had married a shopgirl or had children--he never even knew the granddaughter despite that fact that he lived to be 90.

I also found it interesting in the "Secrets" documentary that nearly everyone referred to Harry as Gordon---apparently he used his middle name in real life. They even showed something that he'd signed as "H. Gordon Selfridge."

I know that as of the end of last week's episode they intended us to think that Jimmy had committed suicide, and that turned out to be true, but while watching last week I wondered why someone would die just from jumping from a not-very-tall bridge into a river. Of course this week we had confirmation that he did, indeed, die, but was it really from the fall? Or perhaps he couldn't swim? Or hypothermia? Since I'm sure he was another made-up character, I guess it doesn't matter.

[J-Man]

Apparently they included the "Secrets of Selfridges" documentary that aired immediately after as part of the two-hour package.

[Quilt Fairy]

51 minutes ago, J-Man said:

I know that as of the end of last week's episode they intended us to think that Jimmy had committed suicide, and that turned out to be true, but while watching last week I wondered why someone would die just from jumping from a not-very-tall bridge into a river. Of course this week we had confirmation that he did, indeed, die, but was it really from the fall? Or perhaps he couldn't swim? Or hypothermia? Since I'm sure he was another made-up character, I guess it doesn't matter.

I think jumping into the Thames was a pretty common way to commit suicide. At least in Dickens' London it was, not sure about 60 years later.

[AZChristian]

Just for the record, I've been to Selfridge's.  The best part was the fact that the young lady didn't move before the picture was taken.  How cute is she?????

[KLovestoShop]

I thought I was losing my mind when the last episode was never shown on my PBS station. I kept looking for it and it never showed up on my recorded list.   What a pile of bullshit!   Are the PBS stations going to pull this crap from now on, forcing people to become members before they can see the final episodes of all series?    If that's the case, I won't watch any series on PBS.  

[dcalley]

The individual stations can set their own schedules, but most of the time when they vary from the national schedule, it's just a week off or something. Have you contacted your station or gone to their Facebook page? Masterpiece seems like the kind of show that could easily get missed by DVRs because the season and episode numbering can get weird. The shows used to be available for a month online, but now it's 2 weeks. They are definitely trying to get more money from viewers, but I don't think withholding episodes is part of the plan. Anyway, I'm sorry you missed the finale. Check your library for eventual DVDs.

[TV Diva Queen]

Skipping ahead in the comments because I just starting watching and don’t want to be spoiled. However I did take a peep at Wikipedia, because the Selfridge store and the original Marshall Fields stores are exactly the same. I work down the block from fields for the last 30 years and know that store blindfolded and it’s crazy how they are exactly the same. I know it’s a set but dang...also I was so mad at myself when I learned that Rose is the Buckingham of Buckingham Fountain. I knew it was donated by some “English lady” but didn’t put it together until maybe season 3. Lol. And Rose’s cottage project is actually Hyde Park. They’re not what we think of as “cottages”. She had artist living in them. Obama has an old home in Hyde park but I think his is too “new” to be one of hers and his is different architecture (although she hired different architects to have different styles)

I have 3 more episodes. Harry as portrayed, is a complete and utter narcissist. Ugh. 

[Kirsty]

This show is lovely escapism and I just finished season three for the first time.

I enjoyed it. I loved the twist that the woman Harry fell for was a con artist. I never saw it coming! I totally believed that Nancy Webb was a dull, earnest do-gooder, so I was taken completely by surprise. Great story development. Once the show revealed it, I was dying for one of the characters to work it out. I hoped Violette would notice, when she began to work for her. But it makes sense that Princess Marie, the Russian aristocrat, would figure it out, as she was pretty shifty herself. (It was enjoyable when Princess Marie turned out to basically be a friendly rogue.)

I was very pleased that Agnes and Henri got their happy ending. I like Kitty and Frank. And I really enjoyed seeing Kitty and George growing up and turning out well this season. They were both quite immature in the first season.

Mr. Grove is a terrible arsehole but that's been the case from the start. It's too bad Miss Mardle could never get over him, because every single complaint she made about his behaviour towards her was perfectly accurate. If they were real people, I'd say that she's obviously setting herself up for a lifetime of shitty treatment by choosing him. He's only ever been entirely selfish, why would he change now? I find it odd that the show apparently wants me to root for Miss Mardle's relationship with Mr. Grove given how appalling it's been. I'd rather root for the bus that killed Doris to come back and run over him. Poor Doris.

I thought Gordon's storyline was lovely. He's no Violette. He doesn't have her boldness and courage. So becoming Deputy and pursuing Grace was his way of learning to assert himself. I liked that he made lots of mistakes but he muddled through.

There was a theme, especially at the end of the season, of fighting to hold onto the person you love. But I notice it only worked for the guys. When Gordon appealed to Grace, and when Mr. Grove appealed to Miss Mardle, well, they were heroes fighting for love. Of course they triumphed and got who and what they wanted. But when Violette appealed to Victor, and when Nancy appealed to Harry... Suck it losers! Don't be pathetic. They end up crying alone.

The French aviator was insanely arrogant and it's too bad Violette intends to marry him on the rebound.

Also, Lady Mae was missed!

I don't mind the short, curled hair-style in fashion for women during this period, but man, I'm not keen on the mad strong lip colour they all wear.

Edited September 12, 2021 by Kirsty