The French Lieutenant’s Woman

The French Lieutenant’s Woman, British motion picture in which two actors have a secret affair on the set of a movie about an illicit affair that happened a century ago, based on a book by John Fowles. Meryl Streep earned a Golden Globe Award for her dual performance as the French lieutenant’s woman Sarah and the present-day actor Anna. Sarah toys with a young man (played by Jeremy Irons) who loves her, and she struggles with the restrictions placed on women during the Victorian era. The two actors playing the Victorian lovers start to have an affair on the set. English playwright Harold Pinter wrote the screenplay.

Director

• Karel Reisz

Cast

• Meryl Streep (Sarah, Anna)
• Jeremy Irons (Charles, Mike)
• Hilton McRae (Sam)
• Emily Morgan (Mary)
• Charlotte Mitchell (Mrs. Tranter)
• Lynsey Baxter (Ernestina)
• Jean Faulds (Cook)
• Peter Vaughan (Mr. Freeman)
• Colin Jeavons (Vicar)
• Liz Smith (Mrs. Fairley)
• Patience Collier (Mrs. Poulteney)
• John Barrett (Dairyman)
• Leo McKern (Dr. Grogan)
• Arabella Weir (Girl on undercliff)
• Ben Forster (Boy on undercliff)
• Catherine Willmer (Dr. Grogan's housekeeper)
• Anthony Langdon (Asylum keeper)
• Edward Duke (Nathaniel)
• Richard Griffiths (Sir Tom)
• Graham Fletcher-Cook (Delivery boy)
• Richard Hope (Third assistant)
• Michael Elwyn (Montague)
• Toni Palmer (Mrs. Endicott)
• Cecily Hobbs (Betty Anne)
• Doreen Mantle (Lady on train)
• David Warner (Murphy)
• Alun Armstrong (Grimes)
• Gerard Falconetti (Davide)
• Penelope Wilton (Sonia)
• Joanna Joseph (Lizzie)
• Judith Alderson (Red-haired prostitute)
• Cora Kinnaird (Second prostitute)
• Orlando Fraser (Tom Elliott)
• Fredricka Morton (Girl)
• Alice Maschler (Second girl)

Awards

• Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actress—Drama (1982): Meryl Streep