Today’s movie is a period drama with scenes that occur on February 8. Watch and enjoy this film tonight.
THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex returns to London after defeating the Spanish at Cadiz. Instead of the welcome he expected the Queen berates him for not capturing the Spanish treasure fleet and he leaves court. Essex and the Queen love each other and each grapples with how to express that love, each refusing to make the first step towards a reconciliation. However, after Irish rebels crush the English, The Queen uses this as an excuse to recall Essex. She intends to appoint him Master of Ordnance in London, but his enemies at court, including Sir Walter Raleigh and William Cecil, goad Essex into accepting command of the army sent to Ireland. However, Raleigh and Cecil trick Penelope Grey, a lady-in-waiting to the Queen, who also loves Essex into intercepting the letters Essex and the Queen send to each other. Without support, Essex is defeated by the rebels, who ship his army back to England. On February 8, 1601 [1:11:29 to 1:29:28] Essex and his army march on the Palace. Elizabeth convinces Essex she will accept him as a co-ruler, but once he disperses his forces, he is arrested, convicted of treason and beheaded.
Elizabeth I by Anne Somerset (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1991) at page 541 gives the date of Essex’s rebellion.
Producer - Hal B. Wallis
Director - Michael Curtiz
Screenwriters - Norman Reilly Raine and Aeneas MacKenzie
Awards – The film was nominated for Best Art Direction, Best Color Cinematography, Best Sound Recording, Best Special Effects and Best Original Score Oscars at the 12th Academy Awards
Runtime – 1 hour 46 minutes
Released – November 11, 1939
Cast –
Bette Davis as Queen Elizabeth I
Errol Flynn as Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex
Olivia de Havilland as Lady Penelope Gray
Donald Crisp as Francis Bacon
Alan Hale, Sr. as Earl of Tyrone
Henry Daniell as Sir Robert Cecil
Vincent Price as Sir Walter Raleigh
Henry Stephenson as Lord Burghley
James Stephenson as Sir Thomas Egerton
Nanette Fabray as Margaret Radcliffe
Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2016.
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