The Best Moments of Mrs Levinson | Downton Abbey
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- Watch some of the best moments of Mrs Levinson.
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#DowntonAbbeyThis is the official TH-cam channel for Downton Abbey. Immerse yourself in the much loved British historical drama and relive some of your favourite moments and tragedies, access to exclusive interviews with all the cast and keep up-to-date with the latest news!
Subscribe for more here: / @downtonabbey
Watch Downton Abbey on iTunes: bit.ly/Downton...
Twitter: / downtonabbey
Facebook: / downtonabbey
Instagram: / downtonabbey_official
#DowntonAbbey #MrsLevinson
I love that line, "Mary, you must tell me all of your wedding plans, and I'll see what I can do to improve them," pre gold.
Why is pure gold? Are you that literarily daft? I’ll tell you why think it’s pure gold. Becoz you’re a paid commenter in an Indian call center
24K Gold.
The only woman who could truly render the dowager countess speechless!
Isobel too, now and again
I also like that she was one of the few to call the dowager countess just plain Violet.
A true clash of titans
At 5:59. This is why I liked Martha Levinson. She was not delusional, she knew precisely who she was and what people thought about her, and she was not going to be bowled over or impressed by British aristocrats and their titles. She knew where she stood, and she knew her likes and dislikes very well. That type of self-knowledge and confidence is very commendable and not uniquely American.
Exactly. At first I didn't like her, but quickly changed my mind. I appreciate the writing.
Yes, she didn't want him, but she knew that some of her friends might, so she helped him out anyway. I think that's grand. And both of them made a new friend.
And the fact that when the chips were down, the brits came to HER for her money .. TWICE.. first through her daughter, then again when the great lord grantham LOST Cora's money. And she probably was thankful to her husband for locking the money tight as to not have sheisters, con artists and thieves try to pilfer his assets. She knew she had what they did not.. MONEY.
@@neilgerace355 So he did visit Newport?
@Huw Wilson Yes, they new the facades they had to put on so well...
"Violet, forgive me, and I don't mean to be offensive, but are you always this stuck-up?" Martha Levinson was the only true match for The Dowager Countess in a battle of wits. LOL
I LOVE the “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” serenade to Violet!! SO funny!! Adore Violet’s ‘I’m barely tolerating this’ expression!!
It's the most polite recoil away from someone that I've ever seen!
"Harold, Harold... we've came 3000 miles to change the subject."
How on earth did Shirley McClain and Dame Maggie Smith shoot the scene of Mrs. Levinson singing to the Dowager Countess and not Absolutely burst out laughing?!? 🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂
I have no idea. That part does me in EVERY SINGLE TIME
@@amandaljohnson Their facial expressions is what kills it. Here we have the Dowager asleep in her chair, only to waking to see Mrs. Levinson approaching and then she takes Violet's hand. PURE. POETRY.
The short answer is - they're both professionals at the very top of their game! But you want to bet they burst out laughing just as soon as the camera stopped rolling??
They might have shot that scene a few times over, for the two old birds to finally stop giggleling....
✌😂💬🗨 😂👍
I wish I could have been part of the dress and make-up crew, to create these two grande dames must have been so much fun!
‘Well you’ve got to spend it something!’ The way she looks and says that line is just the best
"Harold, No! We came Three and a Half thousand miles so we could change the subject." I love Martha 🤣
I love Mrs. Levinson's solution to Lord Asgarth. She will rustle up lonely, rich widows who want a title more than she does. That is exactly what Lord Asgarth was after. A lonely old lady with money who want a title.. Mrs. Levinson is wealthy, but I highly doubt she is lonely and she has no use for a title .
Both made a new friend, instead she could have ignored him completely. She did good.
I love how her presence and comments irked the family & staff. She was not afraid to speak her mind.
often crass and rude
She treated the housestaff as something approaching equals, which is something the Crawley family rarely did. Which is why she grated on Carson so much. 😊👍❤
@markmh835 not sure. The way she spoke to the staff, pointed at them and said "I want you to get bread, cheese and ham..." That's not how you speak to an equal. Its very obviously showing the divide.
@@ellie-tk4jyIt's how someone in charge divides the necessary tasks and gets on with it. She's giving instructions very like a superior officer to subordinate officers and enlisted personnel. She has a solution, but everyone needs to play their part and do their tasks to prevent a disaster.
@@taroman7100
*Straight-forward and and confident
The Dowager Countess dozing off and then being greeted by music. Sounds like the biggest nightmare while in an online class 😂
Mrs Levinson is the only one who can read Violet to filth. the look of Violet in the end is priceless.
She represented the American sense of humour quite well. Waiting for the Gilded Age to see how well Julian Fellows portrayed the American Aristocracy.
oh absolutely. christine baranski’s character is already giving me martha levinson energy from the trailer alone, despite what seems to be her background being old money whereas martha is new
I thought it played up the crassness of Americans and their lack of background.
You're right! New Money Americans
INDEED!
I loved how she said she had no interest in being a great lady in a sing-song voice while smirking and rolling her eyes
Mrs Levinson was a force to be reckoned with. And the Crowleys , never understood exactly what to do with her. That's an exceptional part of the storyline
The Crowleys never understood what to do with her? Well, the boss marrying her daughter was a good start, surely ......
The Crawleys couldn’t understand how she was rich enough but also down to earth!
I give Mrs. Levinson so much credit for when it comes to having something to say she comes out and says it.
Rivals on screen, but behind the scenes Maggie and Shirley got along great! Shirley MacLaine was the only one Julian Fellows could see playing Mrs Levinson and having as much stage presence and wits as Maggie Smith. To their delight, she accepted!😃
She stated in an interview they had been friends for many years.Smith won an Oscar the same year MacLaine was nominated
@@johnnewcomb534 That doesnt make you friends, just acquaintances.
@@Celisar1 Huh? And you know of their friendship status personally? 😒
@@Celisar1 ideat
Violet hated admitting that the Crawleys were in desperate need of a cash infusion that came from these newcomers and from the states! It was demeaning to the dowager to even accept to herself that she was also living off that money (Cora’s money was indirectly paying for Violet’s allowance).
Two legends. Watch them acting together is exquisite
I love how Martha come in and give the old fashion family a kick. even Violet couldn't comeback with that.
Game, set & match to Mrs. Levinson.
That last line was honestly brutal and true.
Loved every single engagement between those 2 titans.
Noone can make the Dowager Lady Grantham nervous.
But mrs Levinson ! 😄
I only wish the american dragon had better taste in jewellery....😉
Her Art Deco tiara is rather ugly ! 😜
@@ninaelsbethgustavsen2131 I thought it looked like the plastic ones you give to little girls.
It wasn't a competition merely a statement of the truth as it was as that time. She didn't need to be that blunt but Lady Grantham needed a splash of truth in that moment. Isabel Crawley did a good job of this later in the series two.
I think all the sarcasm was Lady Grantham security blanket against this truth.
In the full scene, as Mrs. Levinson walks away and Violet enters her room, one can hear Violet whimper slightly, as if she knows that everything Mrs. Levinson said is true and inevitable.
"Violet! Whenever I look in the mirror, I see a woman who is not afraid of the future. My world is coming nearer while your world is slipping further and further away."
Which just goes to show, not even the Dowager Countess can win them all 😆
Some world...
Because women's lives have changed for the better huh?
@@CeeLiberty In some ways yes, others still need to be worked on. I never said anything was perfect for women or anyone else, all I did was comment on one of my favorite quotes from a character (Mrs. Levinson, Lady Cora's mother in this case) in Downton Abbey.
It doesn't get enough discussion but Martha @2:20 taking charge and saving the party is brilliant. For all her being at once snarky and seemingly flighty here she shows how cunning she is.
Mrs Levinson: You two look like you're dressed for a barbeque.
Troy: WHAT KIND OF BARBECUES DO YOU ATTEND!?
Check out Mapp & Lucia. A party "Hitum" was a formal affair, so white tie and tail coat. "Titum" meant black tie and a dinner jacket. "Scrub", the least formal attire, was a regular suit. For women in the late 20s and into the 30s the corresponding dress would be Evening dress, usually floor length or slightly less. Titum would be what is now called a cocktail frock, so the he.would have come to just below the knee and the fabric being taffeta or something like that. Scrub would have been a day dress. Yes, people did, and sometimes still do, change clothes 2 or 3 times a day.
7:08 “Well, that’s very sensible. A woman your age needs her rest.” When I tell you I SCREAMED
Shirley MacLaine is 8 months older than Maggie Smith!
The Dowager Countess vs Martha Levinson Showdowns are better than any MMA fight 😂
What's an MMA fight ?
@@ninaelsbethgustavsen2131 Mixed Martial Arts.
I love it when she serenades Violet!! 😂
Me too! The discomfort of Violet is purely priceless hehehehe.
I love how ugly they made her look with that hairdoo. And when she says "Well, youve got to spend it on sumpthin'" the stunned look on Violet's face is priceless.
I absolutely adored Ms. MacLaine in this role. I also think it was very smart to have a character like her in the series. She underscores the stark contrast between a dying, antiquated way of life and modernity.
or the diff between class and tacky new money
@@taroman7100 You can't really call it tacky; it was the Levinson money, new and ostentatious as it was, that saved and enabled the continuation of the facade and illusion of sustained grandeur at Downton Abbey. This is what forms the basis of her confidence, much like all the American Gilded Age industrialist aristocrats--at the end of the day, the lifestyles of the elite costs money and so focusing on titles and birth was nothing more than a distraction from that fact.
@Joanie Adams You should check out The Gilded Age. It’s written by Julian Fellows as well. It focuses on this very point. Old money New York vs new money New York. It’s the American version of Downtown Abbey and quite good
Who knows which is the one and which is the other?
@@taroman7100tacky new money" that endlessly bailed the stuffy British out.
0:55 “Dearest Mary, now you tell me all of your wedding plans and I’ll see what I can do to improve them!”
The best "cut down to size moment is 5:50 when Martha Levinson is introduced to the haughty Mrs. Dudley Ward, paramour to Edward VIII, the future Duke of Windsor. Mrs. Dudley Ward "Have met?" Mrs. Levinson "No, I've read about you in the American newspapers-gossip really. Nothing to worry about-but never give them a real story". The look on Mrs. Dudley Ward's face is priceless as she is hiding the secret that a love note sent to her by Edward VIII was stolen and almost sold by an unscrupulous card sharp.
I wish Shirley MacLaine and Paul Giamatti would have came back in later seasons and episodes. I definitely wish they would have showed up at the ending of Downton Abbey. Also I wish at least Shirley MacLaine would have came back for Edith's second wedding. Also I would have loved to have seen if Harold relationship with Madeleine went anywhere.
shame she wasnt in more episodes as she gave so much life to the series
She wasn't intimidated at all by their way of life was she - and she brought her sense of fun to Downton!
The scene with kissing Violet's hand killed me😆😆😆😅😅😅😅Added so much humour, awesome acting😃.Loved the character!.A character with a mind, honesty and humour.And Harold was superb!
Notice how Martha wipes Violet's glove of any lipstick residue.
I couldn’t stand Martha Levinson, at first. Gradually, as I watched her, she became marvellous. Wealth certainly gives confidence to deal with the Dowager, who is also, by the way, absolutely marvellous.
Mrs Levinson is such a fresh breeze for that time
The Dowager and Martha Levinson, the original clash of the Titans.
Wow. To bear witness to something timeless. Thank you Shirley. Shirley. Shirley. Love you Shirley!
3:25 I love how Cora says "Hello Harold." You can really hear her American accent come through which makes sense. You're hearing all the history she's had with her brother back to the days when they were kids.
But doesn't she ONLY speak in an American accent? I've never heard her speak any other way. She attempts to speak the way Americans spoke in the Edwardian era, but she always speaks in an American accent nonetheless.
@@anyaw340 Don't be pedantic, you know what I mean. If you've watched the show enough to notice how she speaks, then you can plainly hear how different her voice is when she talk to him where I indicated.
No one likes a sophist.
@@Unownshipper am not an American. How did it differ?
It's spooky that as she kissed the pregnant Sibyl she told her they do deliveries much better in the states.
Foreshadow
LOVE LOVE LOVE her character!!!
Shirley McLaine as the American arm of the English Crawley ‘s was fantastic!
I’m an American and Mrs. Levinson is honest to goodness.
Splendid, pet yourself on the back and go have a burger.
@@kachi2782 Burgers are better than whatever the Bri'ish eat, like jellied eels and stuff.
@@Jose-xh5qb To an unrefined palate yes, i suppose so.
Jose
4 hours ago
@Ka Chi Burgers are better than whatever the Bri'ish eat, like jellied eels and stuff.
@@dannetterousseau4095 I second that.
@@kachi2782 And you go have a scone piled with cream and jam.
Oh the shade … the shade … the shaaaayyyde !!
ADORED ALL of these exchanges. 🥰
Last comment, I promise 🤞🏾but it's been said multiple times and allow me to be one of the First to say this in 2022...We desperately need a Downton Abbey prequel. Set in the 1850s leading up to the marriage of Robert and Cora.
The marriage of Robert and Cora took place in the 1890s. Edith was born in 1892, she said so in season 6. The 1850s would have been the Dowager’s youth.
@@maryangelaforgione6961 Exactly! We need to lead up to when the Levinson's arrived in England. Above all else see what Really happened when Lady Grantham (Violet) visited Russia. According to fandom, Violet we entered into the marriage with Lord Grantham with little to no money. Which is probably what lead the estate to fall into financial difficulties.
Hear! Hear!
@@maryangelaforgione6961 it would have taken place either in 1890 or before, because mary, the oldest daughter, was born in 1891.
@@robertandhollyscorpiofan2697 That is correct. I believe Robert and Cora married in 1890.
I love Harold. Deep voice, charming, and a warm heart underneath all that confidence.
Shirley McLaine - simply genius casting!
Love her!
👍👌
O my Golly, Is That Paul Giamatti? My goodness, This Show is Fantastic!!
I like how she reminded them that the time of the aristocracy was coming to an end
Since 1900, 1,200 country houses have been demolished in England.
@@RaymondHng If they were in India, they would've made plenty of money as marriage halls.
@@RaymondHng Their own rules about women being unable to inherit destroyed the aristocracy. George V agreed to levy heavy taxes on these estates (Labor won after WWI and the leaders had to build houses for the returning soldiers).
Yeah but the aristocracy is only the knights of old - who fought and won many battles, they were given the estates for that loyalty. Knights will always exist to protect the land and their womenfolk and families - and fortunes.
@@RaymondHng It was the loss of the great houses that prompted Evelyn Waugh to write BRIDESHEAD REVISITED.
Shirley made the day !
Martha Levinson is my spirit animal.
Every time I see this portion of the tale I think how fortunate for Robert and Cora that
the mothers-in-law live on opposite sides of the Atlantic.
Such a great character.
Truly this is one of the best of the Downton Abbey compilations. Congratulations!
That being said, as an American, it seems obvious to me that this crisp dialogue was written by an English playwright with assumptions of how an American of that era might think and speak. No American writer would write as such. Still, marvelously entertaining! 😁👍❤
Lol exactly! But the English have been quite bitter towards the USA since the 1770’s. I think of the Brits as the ex-wife who tried to abuse & control her former husband, but he escaped and now lives free! Lol so thr “ex wife” uses angry language when it comes to her former man.
Agreed on all accounts.
Actually this is quite correct to how we spoke in the 1920's to some form of an extent. Perhaps, and I ought to imagine that Shirley had her own inspiration as she was born in 1934, enough of the era to have an understanding of dialects, which were rich and colored with pure vibrancy if you've ever heard the American dialects of the 1900s-1930's.
Have you ever seen an American movie from the time "talkies" were beginning in the late 1920's? Especially Marks Brothers movies from the 1930's? Wealthy Americans of that time did not talk like we do now, nor did they talk like common Americans of that time.
@@cyrilmauras4247 I heard at talkie from 1911, very good quality sound
Love her character.
Who needed George Washington when we had Martha Levinson to conquer the British?
"Tell me all of your wedding plans. And I'll see what I can do to improve them." Bahahahahahaha. Burn! 🔥
I will always laugh myself silly over Mrs. Levinson catching the Dowager napping in the middle of the drawing room. Violet's darting eyes at 4:35 reveal that she's completely flummoxed, and she was not one to be caught off guard. I think I liked her scenes with Martha even more than her scenes with Isobel. Martha was the real bad... in the show. There was just enough of her saltiness to improve every scene she was in. Perfect!
I never thought it was possible tp loathe the glorious shirley maclaine... But she is THAT good!
I was not expecting cora's mother like this but I enjoyed her character very much
Granny vs. Grandmama!😂😂 A regular Western quick Draw!!!😂😂😂❤❤
You tell me all your wedding plans and I’ll see what I can do to improve them 🤣🤣
Mrs L : Robert aren’t you going to kiss me? Robert: With the greatest of enthusiasm! 😂 They really need her money again! 🤣
I think Robert liked her unpredictability
Everyone just looked at her with such love and respect……and she went head to head with Maggie Smith. Lolololololo
I was SO excited when I heard Shirley MacLaine was going to join this cast- My two all-time favourite actors: MacLaine and Dame Smith. (MacLaine's a 'dame'too, tho not one endowed by the former Queen. Time to re-watch this series.
Cora: 'Come quick, Robert, the ovens have broken down'
Robert: 'They can't have done, what does that mean??'.
Lol. It only just stuck me, after watching this scene for probably the 5th time or so over the years, how well crafted (by the scriptwriters) his reply was. It nicely mirrors how absolut the division of responsibilities and labor was at that time. As an aristocrat and man, he would literally not know anything about what was going on in the kitchens or laundry room, no matter how important it was to the running of the estate.
Whereas Cora and her mother both immediately grasp what the consequences of a malfunctioning oven are - even though they rarely even set foot in the kitchen and aren't really involved in running it, either.
It's as much a comment on the society back then as the fact, that Mrs. Levinson, 'the American' came up with a practical solution, while everyone else was just standing around thunderstruck.
Another way of looking at it is that as a householder with any general knowledge of how his house worked, Lord Grantham could have been genuinely confused, precisely because of this knowledge, at the idea of the ovens 'breaking down'. Ovens in a large kitchen in those days were massive cast-iron structures with very few moving parts, fired by timber or coal (certainly not electricity). Blocked flues? The estate's workers would have been keeping the flues clear as a matter of routine. So 'what does that mean' with regard to the ovens 'breaking down' was a sensible question. Also, in an establishment of that type, if for some reason it did become impossible to cook, the three professional house managers - housekeeper, butler and cook - would have come proposing a solution themselves, and would not, even from their own professional self esteem, have come empty-handed expecting her ladyship and guests to solve it.
@@andrewg.carvill4596
Good points, actually. He just looked so confused and helpless. But it's true, 'breaking down' was actually an odd and very vague way of describing the problem.
Although I'm not sure, if proposing a solution to the problem could have been expected of the staff, in this case. Since it wasn't just a minor 'hickup', but a massive problem that completely derailed the planning for the evening. Especially since the concept of a 'buffet' was, apparently, quite foreign to them.
No. Stoves do not 'break-down'. His reply was correct. The picnic idea could have as easily come from staff.
@@raraavis7782 This is fiction. Although very good fiction. The flues would not have had lack of maintenance.
@@billhosko7723
Oh, so...things can't 'break down' or malfunction, just as long as they get regular maintenance. Good to know.
Reality would like a word with you, I think 🙄.
"We travelled 3500 miles to change the subject" amazing.
4:25 Violet takes me out every time!!!! 😂😂😂😂😂😂
I LOVE HER! 😆
"Nah, you gotta spend it on something."
Violet's expression as she wakes up to Martha's singing to her just has me in stitches 😂😂she looks like kermit the frog 😂😂😂
I love her!
"This is Mrs. Dudley-Ward"
"Of course you are"
I don't know why but that cracks me up 😂
😂The entire series was about a bunch of poor folks putting on airs, lords n ladies etc. The Crawleys owed EVERYTHING to Marthas family...but they acted like Martha was the one who was low class as an American. 😂When she appeared in person, they had to eat crow.
I wish they did a few episodes of them going to America, NYC would have been cool to see in this era.
I remember when the casting of Shirley MacLaine was announced and thinking "wow, they literally could not have made a better choice" and couldn't wait to see the exchanges with Maggie Smith. And their scenes lived up to every bit of the hype
Gotta love her tenacity.....🤭😆
When you're fabulously rich, you can trash talk a whole lot of people.
- I have no wish to be a great lady...
- Clever decision, that must be reinforced whenever you look in a glass.
A - ma - zing. 😂
Oh Martha!!!😍😍😍 This video is the best New year gift!✨🎉
Amazing Shirley Maclein ❤
" I don't even know what that means but its sound almost as peculiar as your look" 🤣
Shirley McClain and Maggie Smith. Doesn't get any better.
What an artist the red-haired Shirley!
You’ve got to spend it on something! I love her.
I have a strong feeling when Cora was younger she reprimanded the union and how Robert is a “miner” and she can do better 😂 i really hope to see a prequel centered on Cora’s struggle to fit in and be accepted as a dollar princess
I saw the documentary about those dollar princesses, and the man who started this craze ended up being adamantly against what these dads have done to their girls. These young women weren’t really accepted for the lack of standing in British society, but some succeeded in loving their spouses.
@@marinazagrai1623hi could you tell me what documentary was?
7:04 - there is a quota in Brazil that says "exchanged poison doesn't kill". That what the 2 women did. hahahahaha
Beautiful. Brilliant! Obrigado. 😊
Love how she brings a dash joie de vivre
Браво 👏 Миссис Левинсон 👋💚👍🌺...
Not a big fan of Shirley but she certainly nailed it in this part.
Everyone a gem
Man I wish I could have travelled with Martha and Harold on their grand trip thru Europe. I think I would have enjoyed their company immensely.
That's exactly what I needed right now! ^^
Как я обожаю этих актрис!!! ❤🎉🎉🎉
Mrs Levinston and Violet are like opposite sides of the same coin lol
the funniest was when Violet, Mrs Crawley and Mrs Levinson are talking about the prostitutes that Mrs Crawley is helping and Mrs Levinson says "No addresses please or Alfred will be making notes"
This is Mrs. Dudley Ward.
Of course you are.
Go Shirl!
Lol I love that part with being introduced to Mrs. Dudley Ward @ 5:44.
I hope we see her on Gilded Age!
I would think it would have to be remotely, as Shirley MacLaine is in her late 80’s.
Martha sent a telegram for Edith’s second wedding, that she was “too old to make the journey.” That may well apply for Shirley as well.
Love her! Not enough of Shirley McLaine!