March 9, 1994: “Four Weddings and a Funeral” Premieres

Left to right: Kristin Scott Thomas, Hugh Grant, Simon Callow,

Andie MacDowell, Charlotte Coleman, John Hannah and James Fleet

March 9, 1994: Four Weddings and a Funeral premieres, directed by Mike Newell. Charles (played by Hugh Grant, his last name is never mentioned) lives on Highbury Hill in North London, just down the block from the Arsenal Stadium. At the 1st wedding, at which he is the best man, he meets an American woman, Carrie (Andie MacDowell), and falls in love with her, and she with him. Over the course of a year and change, they fool around, though she is officially unavailable.

Although the 1st wedding is set in Somerset, in England's West Country, and the 3rd in Scotland, all 4, and the funeral, were filmed in or around London:

* 1st Wedding: Wonham Manor, Betchworth, Surrey, south of London.

* 2nd Wedding: Royal Naval College Chapel, Greenwich, South-East London.

* Mall where Carrie shops for her wedding dress: Southbank Centre, south bank of the River Thames.

* 3rd Wedding: Albury Park Mansion, Guildford, Surrey, southwest of London.

* Funeral: St. Clement's Church West, Thurrock, East London.

* 4th Wedding: St. Bartholomew the Great, Central London.

This is one of the few movies where the "Edited for Television" version is better, because "Bugger!" is a funnier word than "Fuck!"

While the film has its funny moments, at heart, there is a darkness to it. And I don't mean the fact that Gareth (Simon Callow, who is gay in real life) and Matthew (John Hannah, who is not) couldn't legally get married then, in either Britain or in America, and can now.

I mean, Charles is a terribly manipulative man, and it's only after Gareth's funeral (he died during the reception for the 3rd wedding) that Charles realizes just what he's been – and then compounds his mistakes by preparing to marry the wrong woman. Come to think of it, while MacDowell is one of the most beautiful actresses in film history, her Carrie isn't exactly the most decent of people, either, and she also pays for her mistakes.

Hugh Grant was right about one thing: If I were Andie MacDowell's husband, I would die of pride. (At the time, she was married to Paul Qualley. Their daughters, Rainey Qualley and Margaret Qualley, are also actresses.)

Charlotte Coleman, who played Scarlett, died of an asthma attack in 2001. She was only 33 years old. Corin Redgrave, of the Redgrave-Richardson acting family, played the 3rd wedding's groom, Hamish Banks. He died in 2010. As of March 9, 2022, every other major actor from the film is still alive.

In December 2018, a short film was made as a 25th Anniversary sequel, for Britain's annual Red Nose Day charity event. In reflection of the fact that gay marriage had been legalized, Charles and Carrie's daughter married Fiona's daughter.

In 2019, Hulu aired a miniseries titled Four Weddings and a Funeral, but aside from the London setting, nothing was the same. Nathalie Emanuel, a black British actress noted for her role as Missandei on Game of Thrones, played an American going there for one wedding.

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March 9, 1994 was a Wednesday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There were 8 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Atlanta Hawks, 90-83 at The Omni in Atlanta.

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Detroit Pistons, 114-97 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan. Joe Dumars scored 44 points.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 117-101 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. Shaquille O'Neal scored 40 points.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Washington Bullets, 142-106 at the USAir Arena (formerly the Capital Centre) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Miami Heat beat the Denver Nuggets, 102-80 at the Miami Arena.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 105-94 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

* The Sacramento Kings beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 104-96 at the Target Center in Minneapolis. Mitch Richmond scored 35 points.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Utah Jazz, 122-99 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

And there were 9 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Washington Capitals, 7-5... at the Halifax Metro Centre (now the Scotiabank Centre) in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Attendance: 9,535, a sellout. This was part of the NHL's experiment in the 1st half of the 1990s, of games at neutral sites, to see which ones might be good expansion markets. Suffice it to say, once Gary Bettman became Commissioner, there was no chance that Halifax (which would be way too small a market) or any other Canadian city would get an expansion team.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Vancouver Canucks, 5-4 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the St. Louis Blues, 7-2 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Hartford Whalers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-1 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Dallas Stars, 4-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Calgary Flames, 5-1 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* The Florida Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers, 5-3 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim,3-0 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center).

* And the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Los Angeles Kings, 4-0 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.