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How did you buy your ticket? View All Photos Movie Info. The adventurer turns on the charm, seducing Elizabeth so that she'll support his mission. The deceptive games are further complicated when Raleigh falls for lady-in-waiting Beth Joan Collins.
The two must hide their love or face the wrath of the virgin queen. Drama, History. Henry Koster. CinemaSerf 11 December Historically, it is safe to say that Elizabeth I and Sir Walter Raleigh didn't always get on, but I am not sure their relationship was ever quite this verbose. This is a good enough looking melodrama with Bette Davis and Richard Todd out to enrich England and themselves co-starring Joan Collins as the suitably "pathetic" lady in waiting who falls for Raleigh - and in so doing they both earn the enmity of a jealous queen.
Herbert Marshall tries to bring a little weight to the proceedings; Dan O'Herlihy a little humour but ultimately we are left with a colourful, but pretty mundane, wordy, historical costume drama with the odd flash of character from Davis. Bunuel 24 January Although Davis unsurprisingly dwarfs the rest of the participants in the acting stakes, she is still surrounded by a most able cast that also includes Joan Collins as one of Elizabeth's ladies-in-waiting who, much to the latter's chagrin, becomes Mrs.
Walter Raleigh and is carrying his child , Herbert Marshall as the long-suffering Chancellor of England , Robert Douglas as Elizabeth's villainous chief adviser , Dan O'Herlihy as, controversially, an Irish lord and Raleigh's best friend and Jay Robinson as Douglas' reptilian henchman.
There are some good lines especially when Davis and Todd indulge in verbal sparring , two good fight sequences both involving Todd a vigorous swordfight in a tavern at the start and an animated fistfight with Douglas towards the end , a serviceable score from Franz Waxman and, as is to be expected from a Grade-A studio product, the film is very handsome to behold the costume designers nabbed its sole Oscar nod.
AlsExGal 10 October Personally, I thought 's "Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex" was better, but it is hard to compare the two since this film takes place 15 years earlier in history than "Private Lives" and has Davis essentially playing Elizabeth at the age - 47 - that Davis actually was at the time. The earlier film had Davis at 31 playing Queen Elizabeth in her sixties, and thus the two films make for an interesting comparison.
Here Richard Todd plays Sir Walter Raleigh, who, like Essex in the earlier film, is a younger man who trades on Elizabeth's love for him to gain some personal glory. Richard Todd plays Raleigh effectively, but there is just no topping the charisma of Flynn's performance in the earlier movie. Also, this film is saddled with Joan Collins in a supporting role who always made any film she was in worse and almost single handedly caused the death of classic film on DVD with her box set of not so special Fox films.
JamesHitchcock 9 September The first was "The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex", made when Davis was a young woman in her early thirties, even though it is set during a period during which the historical Elizabeth would have been in her sixties. Although the film is generally classified as a historical drama, it can in fact be seen as a romantic comedy in period dress and observes most of the conventions of that genre.
It would be easy to update the plot to a modern setting; "Walt, an up-and-coming young executive with ambitious plans for expanding the business, has caught the eye of his formidable lady boss Elizabeth, but he only has eyes for her attractive young assistant".
For the business expansion plans, read Raleigh's ambitions to found English colonies in the New World, and for the attractive young assistant read the Queen's maid of honour Elizabeth Throckmorton, here generally referred to as "Beth" to distinguish her from her monarch. I doubt if anyone ever referred to the Queen as "Beth", at least not to her face. Of course, a sixteenth-century rom-com has an extra edge over a twenty-first century one in that the penalty Walt might face for a wrong step is not the sack but the loss of his head.
The film's most distinctive feature is its visual style; the background colours are fairly muted, but bright primary colours, especially reds and blues, stand out in the foreground, giving it something of the look of a painting. The clothes of the wealthy classes of this period tended to be sumptuous, so it is perhaps not surprising that the film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design.
That apart, there is little about the film which really makes it stand out. It does not really represent Davis' best work when compared to earlier films such as "Jezebel" or "The Letter". Nevertheless, as a historical romance it is a very enjoyable one. It is a misconception that Collins could only play villainesses; in her early days she was often cast as the heroine.
This is the sort of film that makes entertaining, if undemanding, watching on a wet Sunday afternoon. This film is not great, but it is also undeservedly forgotten. This film, made in the middle s when Davis's career was on a downturn has Richard Todd, a better actor than Flynn but not with half of the latter's charm and charisma. Also the plot is listless.
But aside from his rivalry with Sir Christopher Hatton Robert Douglas, in a well performed semi-villain role , which leads to the death of Dan O'Herlihy Raleigh's friend there is no tension in the plot - even with Joan Collins as a youthful beauty at court who becomes Elizabeth's rival.
The real problem is the script writer did not know what to do with the project. It detailed the tragic relationship of the elderly Queen and her youthful lover, who was too hot-headed and too ambitious. It ends with Essex's rebellion of , and his execution which one can see destroys the Queen as well. There was plenty of tension in that film, and one of the joys of it is watching how from the start every character knows how to play Essex's headstrong behavior against him.
He literally destroys himself, taking his monarch with him. Raleigh's character appeared in that film Vincent Price played the role as a rival of Essex. And they were rivals. But Essex, aside from some fitful abilities as a military leader, had nothing in him. Raleigh and Robert Cecil Essex two successful adversaries were gifted in various ways: Cecil was a brilliang politician and statesman, and Raleigh a gifted poet, writer, and explorer of the New World.
While Essex has never been forgotten, most people are better acquainted with Raleigh who eventually became a political martyr as well - being executed for treason in when King James I was "disappointed" that Raleigh's South American explorations did not bring in the gold of El Dorado to England.
A good film about Raleigh would actually concentrate on his various careers as writer, explorer, and would-be colonist. It would end in the tragedy of , and the ingratitude of a particularly obnoxious monarch. Raleigh did not find El Dorado, and his oldest son died in the attempt to settle a colony in South America.
However, his expedition created the British territory of British Guiana now the nation of Guyana which is the only English speaking country in South America. Set in the s, Raleigh arrives in the court dominated by the Queen's oldest and probably truest love , Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester Herbert Marshall , and by Leicester's rival Hatton Elizabeth's fairly able Chancellor of Exchequer.
Leicester goes to lead a military team who are assisting the Dutch. He died in the Netherlands in his death occurs off screen here. Hatton, happy to be rid of his rival finds Leicester's place filled by that upstart Raleigh, and this goes into a long, increasingly bitter rivalry that ends with the death of Dan O'Herlihy. Raleigh decides to leave the court, as he has fallen in love with Bess Throckmorton which displeases the Queen and he wishes to explore the New World, but Elizabeth convinces him to remain at court - even allowing him to marry Bess which he did do.
It's not an exciting story at all. They try to pump excitement into it, but Douglas while good as Hatton seems to frivolous a character to take seriously. Actually this is quite true in a sense: Elizabeth actually was first attracted to Hatton by his graceful dancing. It just turned out he was a competent public servant as well. The tragedy of O'Herlihy's death is sad but not enough to really make the film tense and interesting it also comes too late in the film to do much good.
While well mounted it is not a good historical movie. I think I prefer her performance when she was younger.
No one of those days would have fitted the character off Sir Walter Raleigh better than Richard Todd. The film is a dramatisation of the first and greatest conflict between him and Queen Elizabeth concerning his secret marriage with Elizabeth Throgmorton, which infuriated her as every love affair with any of her court ladies used to infuriate her more than anything else.
The film is also the story of how Sir Walter Raleigh got his first expedition to America, which led to the first British colony of Virginia in North America, the very foundation of the American colonies, and that story is very much romanticised with only the basic truth left in it.
We must remember, of course, that this is an American film, and all the American films about the Elizabethan age were very much romanticised - anything else would have been out of the question, so there is very little realism here, while instead the beauty and splendour of the spectacle is the more efficient and overwhelming.
Bette Davis was also an American, she had made Queen Elizabeth already once against Errrol Flynn as Essex, which was also an exaggerated romanticisation, and the only problem is that Bette Davis can never be convincing neither as a Queen nor as an Englishwoman - she is too much herself, too much of an American buccaneer, although one of the most splendid actresses of all, but practically all other Elizabeths are more convincing, especially Flora Robson, Cate Blanchett and Vanessa Redgrave, while Bette Davis in spite of all her splendid acting and doing well in her role makes a rather artificial impression as a dressed up doll, almost like a caricature, and her cruelty is exaggerated.
She was firm but sensible and always kept to her heart. There may have been serious arguments between her and Raleigh, and he certainly would have lost his temper a number of times, as he was a rather dynamic nature of great force and initiative, but the fact remains that he actually brought her America and was the one remaining favourite of hers to the end of her days. The film is a great spectacle of a play, perfectly bringing his character alive, and Joan Collins is also quite acceptable as his Bess, but I must prefer other Elizabeths to Bette Davis.
After repeatedly getting a very sorry eyeful of Miss Bette Davis as "The Virgin Queen", it sure got me to thinking that, if this particular queen really looked and carried on like this snivelling cow, then it was no wonder that she remained a virgin.
I mean, not only did Davis physically resemble that of an anaemic munchkin, but her character came across to me like some sort of reigning, male-castrating, bull-dyke who was clearly nothing but a repulsive eyesore to any sane man with eyes in his head with, of course, the exception of that royal ass-kisser, Sir Walter Raleigh.
And, speaking about "queens" - I sure thought that most of the high-ranking dukes, lords, earls whatever who hung out in Elizabeth's imperial court were, without a doubt, the biggest, the snottiest, most bitchiest, back-stabbing queens imaginable.
They really were. In my opinion - 's "The Virgin Queen" was a very stagy and, yes, very stuffy costume drama. And, in typical Hollywood style it was the inaccurate retelling of history that inevitably reduced this production to the level of being a decidedly tiresome soap opera, punctuated generously by some of the most pompous, unintentionally laughable dialogue that this viewer has ever heard. His Mom Liz is shown here dumping a lad by the name of Walt before hooking up off-screen with her near-Centenarian of Today, Phillip.
It's truly amazing how much Royal Trauma the invention of The Pill has alleviated. An enjoyable rich costume drama oscar 13 May The history of the Raleigh affair history is somewhat suspect in this film's plot. Fun extravagant costumes, sets and locations in full Technicolor make it a delight to view this film of the 50's. It's easy to see how Ms. Davis used her talent to build this memorable queenly role.
Renfaire actors will get a lot out of this movie and plot. The movie is 60 years old, made in the Land of Vanilla, the s. And yet, there's a baby percolating in Joan Collins, I think I heard the word "slut" used, and damned if Bette Davis, as Elizabeth Tudor with a hard-top literally walks around as if she has a pair of big brass ones.
I thought The Virgin Queen was going to be a cheesy costume drama. I was only partially right. Having enjoyed 's Elizabeth, I was looking for something that would add levels to the first Queen E. I got it. She was teetering on nuts not the brass ones in this flick.
I have never understood the cult of Bette Davis I mean. I think what made Davis work as Elizabeth was that she seemed to be having a whole lot of fun straddling that fence between crazy woman and uber-leader. The rest of the flick is so much Hollywood clanking of swords and clawing of eyes. I liked listening to Richard Todd cool voice as he pitches a golden dream to Liz. He was such a nothing--I kept thinking of all the other actors who could have been Sir Walter Raleigh--but I stuck with him.
Things actually got interesting when he would mouth off at Davis, chewing her out, banishing her from his prison cell. If Davis wasn't your typical s monarch, Todd wasn't going to fit the chivalrous mold either, and that helped this flick a lot.
Which leaves us to Joan Collins. I liked her best when she was popping off to Todd, making him want her more. As one of Bette's ladies in waiting, she got to stand around looking pretty, call Todd a lap dog, and get into a lip lock with him in his apartment that led to a nice, long fade out and in.
And you knew, you just had to know that Sir Walter, well, ahem. Wouldn't you? Joan, in her 20s, was smokin'! But how do you get by the Production Code with that long fade and the cuddly gazing out the window afterward? Goofs At the concluding scene of the movie, Queen Elizabeth looks through her window with a telescope, an invention of , five years after her death in Crazy credits Opening credits prologue: In all the roads of England led to London -- for better or worse.
User reviews 34 Review. Top review. This acceptable historical drama recreates the problematic relationship between Queen Elizabeth and Sir Walter Raleigh. A talky slice of history with Bette Davis as stubborn Queen , whose love affair , jealousy with Raleigh led to his downfall. Well played by Davis who stole the acting honors at a resolute , strong , glamour-skimping characterisation , to give the illusion of baldness, Bette shaved her head two inches in front to show a high forehead under Elizabeth's red wigs, and addition , also performed by swashbuckling champ Richard Tood as an obstinate Raleigh.
Elizabeth had learnt her political lessons in the years of intrigue before she became Queen, she was a brilliant stateswoman, managing a succession of parliaments so that she was loved as well as obeyed. Elizabeth I managed to set Great Britain to ruling and gloryfy amidst public and private confusion and she sets in motion a merciless plan to protect her people and preserve her throne.
This good historic drama recreates the wars , loves ,turmoil and struggle for power. Walter overcomes court intrigue from Sir Christopher Hatton Robert Douglas to win favor with the Queen in order to get financing for a proposed voyage to the New World.
A young ward of the court, Beth Throgmorton Joan Collins who is the secret object of Raleigh's true affections , is strongly attracted to Raleigh and goes back the attraction.
Elizabeth I's love for William Raleigh threatens to destroy her kingdom. The Virgin Queen managed to restore England glory and power amidst private and public turmoil. Bette is top-notch in the title role of this passable drama focusing on the life of known Queen. Seeking the most authenticity , Bette shaved the front of her head and eyebrows and insisted on ugly bags under her eyes , she later complained that they never grew back properly and that ever after she had to draw them in with an eyebrow pencil.
The stalwart Richard Todd plays rightly as Sir Raleigh , while Joan Collins gives a mediocre acting as the lady-in-waiting with whom he falls in love. Colorful cinematography in CinemaScope by Charles Clarke as well as magnificent production design , both of them add a spectacular ambient to the ancient atmosphere but it does help to know some history in order to keep the plot and plotters straight.
Furthermore , an evocative and sensitive musical score by Franz Waxman. Details Edit.
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