The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex [Blu-ray]

Director: Michael Curtiz

Overview

It is no secret that Bette Davis and Errol Flynn were at each other's throats throughout the filming of The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex. Boiled down to essentials: Davis felt that Flynn was unprofessional, while Flynn thought that Davis took herself too damned seriously. Besides, Davis had wanted Laurence Olivier to play the Earl of Essex opposite her Queen Elizabeth I. She was forced to compromise on this point, but refused to allow Flynn proxy top billing via his suggestion that the film be retitled The Knight and the Lady. The finished product, a lavish Technicolor costumer allowing full scope to Davis' histrionics and Flynn's derring-do, betrays little of the backstage hostilities (though Flynn does seem uncomfortably hammy in his scenes with Davis). Adapted by Norman Reilly Raine and Aeneas McKenzie from Maxwell Anderson's blank-verse play Elizabeth the Queen (which served as the film's reissue title), the story concerns the tempestuous relationship between the middle-aged Elizabeth and the ambitious Essex. At one point, the Queen intends to marry Essex and relinquish her throne, until she realizes that his plans for advancement would ultimately prove disastrous for England. When afforded the opportunity to execute Essex for treason, she reluctantly signs his death warrant. Minutes before his final walk to the chopping block, Elizabeth begs Essex to ask for a pardon. But Essex, fully aware that his warlike policies will only resurface if he is permitted to live, refuses to accept the Queen's mercy, and goes off to meet his doom. Olivia de Havilland is wasted in the role of a lady-in-waiting who carries a torch for Essex. If the scenes of Essex' triumphant return to London after winning the battle of Cadiz seem familiar, it is because they were reused as stock footage in Warner Bros.' The Adventures of Don Juan (1949) and The Story of Mankind (1957).

Product Details

Release Date:	05/18/2021
UPC:	0883929740307
Original Release:	1939
Rating:	NR
Source:	Warner Archives
Language:	English
Time:	1:46:00
Sales rank:	23,159

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Bette Davis	Queen Elizabeth
Errol Flynn	Robert Devereaux
Olivia de Havilland	Lady Penelope Gray
Donald Crisp	Francis Bacon
Vincent Price	Sir Walter Raleigh
Margaret Fabares	Mistress Margaret Radcliffe
Leo G. Carroll	Sir Edward Coke
Henry Stephenson	Lord Burghley,Sir Thomas Egerton
Henry Daniell	Sir Robert Cecil
Nanette Fabray	Mistress Margaret Radcliffe
Ralph Forbes	Lord Knollys
Guy Bellis	Lord Charles Howard
Robert Warwick	Lord Mountjoy
Forrester Harvey	Actor
Doris Lloyd	Handmaiden
Maris Wrixon	Lady of the Court
Rosella Towne	Lady of the Court
John Sutton	Capt. Armand of the Queen's Guard
I. Stanford Jolley	Spectator Outside Whitehall Palace
Alan Hale Jr.	Earl of Tyrone
Judith Anderson	Actor
Alan Hale Sr.	Actor
Erich Wolfgang Korngold	Composer

Technical Credits

Aeneas MacKenzie

Norman Raine

Michael Curtiz	Director
Aeneas MacKenzie	Screenwriter
Hal Wallis	Producer,Producer
Robert Lord	Producer
Byron Haskin	Special Effects
H.F. Koenekamp	Special Effects
Norman Raine	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Long famous for backstage tensions between stars Bette Davis and Errol Flynn, this Michael Cutiz film is a beautifully made period piece, featuring many of the key personnel who had worked on classic Flynn adventures such as Robin Hood, Captain Blood, and The Sea Hawk. Nevertheless it can't overcome the lack of chemistry between the stars and an overly complicated plot. According to the film's apocryphal history, Elizabeth I is in love with the Earl of Essex but, anxious over his possible desire for greater power, intentionally criticizes him for the high cost of his victory after a triumphant return from Spain in 1596. This sets in motion a Byzantine series of moves and countermoves involving not only the two principals but the entire world of the court, ending with the lovers' realization of the irreconcilability of their conflicting desires for love and power. Aside from the stars' visible starchiness in their scenes together, the film also suffers from an excessive fidelity to Maxwell Anderson's play in blank verse, which has moments of eloquence but is understandably more laden with dialogue than a film can usually afford to be. Erich Korngold's superb score and Orry-Kelly's sumptuous costumes are the most notable offscreen contributions to this handsomely mounted production.

All Movie Guide - Michael Costello