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In this delightful Merchant Ivory production, past meets present and flamboyant egos collide as two Manhattan theatre companies compete to stage a literary gem: a lost play by one of Britain's best-loved authors. Jane Austen In Manhattan blends Jane Austen's charming "playlet", tracing the seduction of an innocent girl by a devious rake, with the sexual mores of contemporary New York's theatre world. Two companies vie for the play's theatrical rights. One is led by the traditionalist Lilianne Zorska (Anne Baxter), the other by her former protege and perhaps lover, the charismatic Pierre (Robert Powell), a Svengali-like off-Broadway theatre guru. Complicating this situation is Ariadne (Sean Young), a beautiful young actress, whom Pierre is determined to seduce by way of various mind games. Modern-day events begin to mirror the play's themes of abduction and salvation as Lilianna strives to save Ariadne from Pierre's clutches, and to wrest the Jane Austen play from him for her own company.
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