This review was written for the theatrical release of "Gosford Park."

USA Films' "Gosford Park" is Robert Altman's distinctively American take on the distinctively British domestic world of "Upstairs Downstairs." As the camera prowls an aging, brilliantly appointed country manor where a large house party gathers in 1932 for a hunt with all of their valets and personal maids, Altman has his knives out as he takes on the collapsing British class system of that era -- its manners, snobbery, etiquette, blood sports, personal tragedies and conflicts of ambition. But the British comedy of manners is such a well-carved bird, you wonder what Altman could possibly bring to the genre.

No worries. "Gosford" is Altman's best film since "The Player" and one of the best in his long career. A sharp, witty, dexterous script by Julian Fellowes (based on an idea by Altman and actor-producer Bob Balaban) nicely contains a huge cast and nearly as many subplots as there are rooms in the stately home. The British, of course, have been making this movie for years, but Altman turns familiarity to his advantage: Needing no introduction to this deeply stratified world, he jumps right into the human predicament of its many characters and their interlaced lives.

Altman, Balaban and Fellowes presume there was plenty of traffic between below and above stairs, owing to lust, schemes and betrayals. Indeed, the movie's focus gradually shifts to below. More crucially, the viewpoint belongs there as well. When someone remarks that his master thinks he's God Almighty, another chimes in, "They all do."

In November 1932, Sir William McCordle (Michael Gambon), wife Lady Sylvia (Kristin Scott Thomas) and daughter Isobel (Camilla Rutherford) host a shooting party. Among the guests are Lady Sylvia's sisters, Louisa and Lavinia (Geraldine Somerville and Natasha Wightman), and their husbands, Raymond and Lt. Cmdr. Meredith (Charles Dance and Tom Hollander); Sir William's sister Constance (Maggie Smith); matinee idol and songwriter Ivor Novello (Jeremy Northam); and a Hollywood producer of Charlie Chan mysteries (Balaban) who has a constant need to call California. (Some things never change.)

Below stairs, the ranks swell. The dignified butler, Jennings (Alan Bates), oversees Gosford Park with the practical housekeeper, Mrs. Wilson (Helen Mirren). First footman George (Richard E. Grant) is pure libido on the loose (and there appears to be no end of willing maids), while Sir William's valet (Derek Jacobi) represents the old-fashioned notion of dedicated service.

The parties and hunt mark the culmination of many developments already in the works. Meredith, a war hero but broke, is desperate for Sir William to invest in a business scheme. Nesbitt (James Wilby) is blackmailing Isobel, who is being courted by Lord Standish (Laurence Fox).

Below stairs, head housemaid Elsie (Emily Watson) is conducting a none-too-discreet affair with Sir William. Mrs. Wilson and cook Mrs. Croft (Eileen Atkins) maintain an animosity that stretches back for years. Weinstein's valet (Ryan Phillippe) seems not to know his place, while a smoldering rage burns within Raymond's valet (Clive Owen).

Then a murder occurs, and an inept police inspector holder (Stephen Fry) arrives -- and here the movie winks at the producer researching "Charlie Chan in London."

Altman maintains both period and national authenticity even as he gives the environment the well-known Altman touch -- overlapping dialogue and two cameras to catch the actors' improvisational exchanges. But this is hardly one of Altman's unstable free-for-alls. The film feels tightly knit, with all of its pieces fitting marvelously together as the curtain falls. The only grating slip-up is the occasional use of American-style obscenities, which if anyone uttered in 1932 England, he would do so in a whisper.

Watson, who seemingly gets more beautiful with each film, and Kelly Macdonald, as Constance's new maid, anchor the below-stairs activity. Smith is in glorious form as a snob and gossip hound who delivers every insult in the form of a compliment. Scott Thomas is the epitome of a world-weary titled aristocrat, while Gambon is a classic new-money monster. Mirren brings genuine emotions into a shallow milieu. And Balaban and Northam make a nicely contrasting pair of showbiz types, feeling their way through a world of ungentle gentility.

Designer Stephen Altman pieces the manor together from two country homes plus a studio set for below stairs that is a marvel of hectic corridors, stairways, work areas and tiny sleeping rooms. Cinematographer Andrew Dunn splendidly lights these quarters and keeps his cameras flowing so one senses the geography of the manor.

GOSFORD PARK
USA Films
USA Films in association with
Capitol Films and the Film Council
A Sandcastle 5 production in association with
Chicagofilms and Medusa Films
Producers: Robert Altman, Bob Balaban, David Levy
Director: Robert Altman
Screenwriter: Julian Fellowes
Based on an idea by: Robert Altman, Bob Balaban
Executive producers: Jane Barclay, Sharon Harel, Robert Jones, Hannah Leader
Director of photography: Andrew Dunn
Production designer: Stephen Altman
Music: Patrick Doyle
Co-producers: Jane Frazer, Joshua Astrachan
Costume designer: Jenny Beavan
Editor: Tim Squyres
Color/stereo
Cast:
Sir William McCordle: Michael Gambon
Lady Sylvia McCordle: Kristin Scott Thomas
Constance: Maggie Smith
Raymond: Charles Dance
Ivor Novello: Jeremy Northam
Morris Weissman: Bob Balaban
Jennings: Alan Bates
Mrs. Wilson: Helen Mirren
Mary: Kelly Macdonald
Mrs. Croft: Eileen Atkins
Probert: Derek Jacobi
Elsie: Emily Watson
George: Richard E. Grant
Robert Parks: Clive Owen
Henry: Ryan Phillippe
Isobel: Camilla Rutherford
Running time -- 137 minutes
MPAA rating: R