Actress Sarah Marshall tells the story of her celebrity parents and her lifelong process of working through her feelings toward the two glamorous, talented, and courageous people whose secrets took their toll on family life.
Perfect Lover is about Sarah's encounter with the mute, sometimes stunning, sometimes murky impressions of moments in time--her young and handsome father, Herbert Marshall; her "glorious" mother, Edna Best. In the mid-1920s, they were the West End's "ideal lovers," on stage and off, and the toast of London--weekending at Red Roofs, country home of matinee idol Ivor Novello; sailing with Gerald DuMaurier; holidays at Antibes. We see what Sarah saw, while her narration informs, reminisces, and ponders.
One day, Sarah Marshall sat down in the living room of her Hollywood apartment to watch her parents' home movies that her son had transferred for her to video. "When I first saw these movies, I was shell-shocked. I sat there for a whole afternoon." That was the day Sarah made peace with the memory of her extraordinary and imperfect parents.