Sainte Victoire Theatre 1974 – The episode opens with Genevieve Harris (Bettina Paris) rushing into a dressing room. She glances at an infant in a crib before adding a few words to her script, “The Life And Death Of King John.” After adjusting the mirror with a wooden box, she sits down to fix her hair when the door opens. She demands to be left alone before attempting to slap her assailant. She hits her head on the dressing table when shoved backward.

La Couronne Sainte Victoire Couronne – Judith Lloyd James (Sue Holderness), Gloria (Sue Vincent), and Jean White (Sally Lindsay) discuss menopause. Judith asks if they’ll lose the theatre. Jeremy Lloyd James (Robin Askwith) assures her that it’ll be fine but they need to find a replacement for Anna to keep the Council from taking the plot for flats. Jean agrees to step in temporarily. Gloria rushes over as Jeremy hangs up a poster for “A Doll’s House.” When he asks if she fancies the theatre, she claims to not be interested. She scolds herself as he walks away.

Jeremy asks Vivienne (Julia Montgomery Brown) if she’s interested in claiming her mother, Genevieve’s position. Jules Dumonet (Gerald Morales) suggests she isn’t interested in theatre. Vivienne admits to loathing the theatre. Jean asks if he’s wearing a The Order Of The Stage pin. He says, “Yes.” Jeremy describes it as a great British charity when their family attorney, Gendarme Richard (Jacqueline Berces) approaches.

Vivienne tells Jules that Genevieve was her birth mother, not Anna. After denying any knowledge of the deception, Julies says someone murdered Genevieve before he met Anna when she was 18 months old. He says Anna claimed to be her biological mother and her father left when she was born. She assures him that not knowing her father never mattered but her mother is different.

Brodeur & White Antique Shop – Vivienne visits Jean and Charlie Brodeur’s (Sanchia McCormack) antique shop. She informs Jean of Anna’s sister, Genevieve being her biological mother. Genevieve was murdered 48 years ago before handing her a Victorian ring. Jean discovers a hidden compartment with a miniature photo of a man. Vivienne suggests the man’s her father.

Caron (Alex Gaumond) gives Jean a box of evidence from Genevieve’s case. She removes the King John script from the box. Genevieve told Anna that hadn’t heard from her love, Count Christoph who she believed was being held against his will in Moldova. She tells Anna that he gifted her a treasure from the royal family collection. She hid the piece at the Sainte Victoire Theatre to keep the royal family from finding it.

Gloria visits Georgina (Clelia Murphy) at the theatre. Georgina admits to being penniless for the last two years. Gloria reminds her daughter, Claudette who was devastated when she left. Georgina pleads with her to keep her location from Dom Hayes (Steve Edge).

Jean tells Vivienne that her father was Count Christoph. The stage keeper is the one who found Genevieve’s body and Vivienne in a crib. Vivienne asks what to do now. Jean suggests she accept the position to gain access to the theatre’s historical files.

Jeremy asks Cedric (Antony da Silva) to repair a broken window in Dressing Room 11. Cedric reminds him that no one will date enter the room. Jeremy convinces him to change his mind with a cash tip when Vivienne approaches to discuss her mother’s position. He reminds her of what she said about loathing the theatre. She tells him that it’s in her blood. He agrees to let her set on the theatre committee.

Jean tells Vivienne that the Moldovan secret police were possibly spying on Genevieve because she had one of their treasures. Vivienne asks if her father may be alive. Jean says he died in the Transnistria War of 1990.

When Cedric enters Dressing Room 11 at midnight, he has a flashback of Genevieve lying on the floor. He pulls back the dressing table to access the broken window when someone clunks him on the head. The assailant opens the box to find it empty.

Caron informs Jean and Dom that Cedric died after a piece of glass lodged in his skull from impact. He shows her the empty box. The theatre is deemed a crime scene. Georgina calls her tour manager, Susie to ask where she is supposed to go with no money. Susie says it isn’t her problem before disconnecting the line.

Jean tells Dom that the empty box from the theatre was made of wood from the holly tree. She suggests the box held the treasure that Count Cristoph gave Genevieve. She says the aristocrats were known to be collectors. Dom asks what did they collect.

Jean finds out that Vivienne and Jules’ attorney, Madame Belvoir (Elizabeth Bourgine) saw Genevieve’s King John script a week before her. Caron questions her when Jean points out an abrasion on her hand. Belvoir claims it’s an injury from her garden. Jean reminds her that it occurred on the same day the theatre worker was murdered with a glass bottle. Belvoir threatens them both for detaining her at the police station.

Gloria’s Garage – Gloria reluctantly accepts a theatre invitation from Georgina.

Jean asks Jeremy and Judith how many dressing rooms are in the theatre. He says all but one are in use. She informs Vivienne and Jules of Belvoir reading the script a week before her. Jules asks if she murdered Cedric. She tells him that Belvoir doesn’t have an alibi for the night he was murdered.

Gloria reminds Georgina of how she broke Dom’s heart. Georgina claims she tried to reach out to her daughter but she changed her phone number. Gloria suggests she leave and not come back.

Georgina is attacked in her room by an unknown assailant. She hurriedly calls the police. When Dom arrives at the theatre, he finds Caron with Georgina. He demands to know why she’s there. She asks if it would be okay for her to stay at his place for the night. He asks if she’s being serious. Caron pleads with him because she has nowhere else to go. Dom reluctantly agrees to let her sleep in Claudette’s room but she’ll have to leave tomorrow. She asks if he’d like to stay with her but he refuses.

Dom wakes up in his car. He admits to Jean that he couldn’t bear being around Georgina. She assures him that he’s a great father. He tells her that it’s partially his fault for marrying her. She invites him to sleep in her spare room.

Genevieve’s “The Life And Death Of King John” is dated 12/2/89. The same year, The Garrick Theatre opened in London with electric-powered lighting. The Sainte Victoire Theatre was installed with electricity. She suggests Genevieve’s treasure is inside the lighting box.

Dom pulls the electric box from the wall to expose a hidden compartment. He sticks his hands inside the compartment and brings out what looks like a light bulb, not a Faberge Lilies of the Valley

Jean packs Georgina’s things when she spots a The Order Of The Stage pin lying on the floor. A quick search reveals Jules and Genevieve were engaged before he married Anna. She dumped him for Vivienne’s biological father.

Caron asks Jules if he can identify The Order Of The Stage pin. He claims to have worn it for years. Jean admits to finding it in the theatre dressing room of an actress who was attacked last night. Caron demands to know why he was in the actress’s dressing room. He admits Genevieve’s script urged him to find the treasure at all costs. Jean asks why he wanted it. He tells them that he was deeply in love with her. She came back to him after a brief fling with Count Christoph that resulted in a pregnancy. They were on tour when she called off their marriage. He killed her during a confrontation.

Jean finds out that 12/89 isn’t a date, but a page in Genevieve’s script. Line 12 reads, “To gild refined gold, to paint the lily, to throw a perfume on the violet.” She removes a Faberge Lily of the Valley flower from a vase. Jean says around €800,000.

Georgina leaves Claudette a letter under her pillow before leaving. Dom rips the letter to shreds when he receives a call from Claudette as the episode comes to an end.

 

The Madame Blanc Mysteries Review

In 1974, theatre actress, Genevieve Harris is murdered in her dressing room. Forty-eight years later, Vivienne finds out that Genevieve is her mother. Anna, Genevieve’s sister, raised Vivienne as her own daughter. Anna’s death brings more questions than answers so she turns to Jean to find out what happened to her mother and father.

Genevieve fell in love with a Moldovan aristocrat, Count Christoph. In a script, she told Anna that he gifted her a treasure from the royal family collection. She hid the treasure to keep the Moldovan secret police from confiscating it.

Vivienne’s stepfather, Julies denies any knowledge of Genevieve. When he attacks Dom’s ex-wife, Georgina in her dressing room, his The Order Of The Stage pin is dislodged from his jacket. He comes clean when confronted by Caron and Jean. Genevieve had gotten pregnant by Count Christoph before he returned to Moldova. She decided it was in Vivienne’s best interest to marry Jules until she received Christoph’s gift. Jules was madly in love with Genevieve. During a confrontation, she was fatally injured.

Jules kills Cedric while searching for Genevieve’s valuable treasure which Jean believes is a Faberge Lily of the Valley egg.

Count Christoph was killed while fighting in the Transnistria War of 1990.

After Jules is arrested, Vivienne and Jean search the theatre for Genevieve’s treasure. They find it nestled among a bouquet of artificial flowers. The Faberge Lily of the Valley flower is valued at €800,000.

Georgina walks away from Dom and their daughter, Claudette. Dom moved on while Claudette left for America. Georgina returned to the theatre when it reopened.

A great episode with a bit of history sprinkled into the script. The Lily of the Valley flower – House of Faberge – dates back to the late 19th or early 20th century in Russia. The design included gold stems, Siberian nephrite leaves, and pearl bell-shaped flowers with rose diamonds.

The episode deserves a 6.8. Get more The Madame Blanc Mysteries recaps here. Support Reel Mockery by clicking the link. To learn more about our advertising packages, click here.