Harnessing Peacocks 1992

Harnessing Peacocks 1992
1h 45min | Comedy , Drama , Romance | TV Movie 28 November 1993
Storyline:
The beautiful Hebe has been cast out by her family after a teenage pregnancy to a masked stranger during a fiesta in Italy. She makes ends meet and pays for her son's school fees by cooking for old ladies and sleeping with a small syndicate of adoring men (the "peacocks" of the title – from Greek mythology). The story revolves around Hebe, her "clients" and their families, and set against a backdrop of village life in South-West England. There is a sub-theme of the antiques trade which draws some of the characters together, and ultimately resolves the mystery of Hebe's masked lover.
User review:
I vaguely remember watching "Harnessing Peacocks" many years ago on North American television late at night while channel surfing, and ended up sitting through the entire movie by virtue of the compelling and winsome portrayal of the protagonist, Hebe, a single mom, disowned from a reputable family, whose charm and beauty provides for herself and her son. Although the movie surrounds Hebe with English reticence and middle-class respectability, Serena Scott Thomas's easy and affecting performance makes perfectly plausible the character's circumstances and the later plot developments concerning old friends and lovers. I actually do not recall much of the story, but I do remember with fondness Serena Scott Thomas's luminous Hebe.
Director: James Cellan Jones
Writers: Mary Wesley (novel), Andrew Davies (screenplay)
Stars: Serena Scott Thomas, Peter Davison, John Mills