FAQ for
Mary of Scotland (1936) More at IMDbPro »

The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags have been used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.

Although there have been numerous books and novels written about Mary of Scotland, this film is based on a 1933 Maxwell Anderson play of the same name. The play was adapted for the movie by American screenwriter Dudley Nichols.

Mary of Scotland [1542-1587] (played by Katharine Hepburn), known also as Mary Stuart as well as Mary I, Queen of Scots, was the daughter of James V, King of Scots. She was six days old when her father died and her French mother, Marie de Guise, assumed the regency. Mary I was crowned Queen of Scots when she was nine months old. Mary's paternal grandmother, Margaret Tudor of England, was sister to King Henry VIII of England who, with Anne Boleyn, sired Elizabeth 1, Queen of England from 1558-1603 (played by Florence Eldridge). Thus, Mary's father James V and England's Elizabeth 1 were first cousins, making Mary and Elizabeth second cousins.

As the legitimate heir of Henry VII through her father King James V of Scotland and his mother Margaret Tudor (daughter of Henry VII), Mary Stuart was next in line after Elizabeth Tudor as heir to the English throne. However, after beheading Elizabeth's mother, Anne Boleyn, when Elizabeth was 2-1/2 years old, Henry VIII (Elizabeth's father) declared Elizabeth to be illegitimate, thus removing her from the line of succession. On the death of Henry VIII, who had now become a Protestant and severed ties with Rome, Elizabeth's half brother Edward (son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour) was named King Edward VI. When Edward VI became terminally ill six years later, he also proclaimed Elizabeth and his other sister "Bloody" Mary Tudor (daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon) to be illegitimate and named Lady Jane Gray, his first cousin once removed, as successor. Jane reigned as Queen of England for only nine days before the Privy Council declared Catholic Mary Tudor as Queen Mary I of England. Upon Mary's death five years later, Elizabeth assumed the crown and restored England to Protestantism. However, many English Catholics, upset over Henry VIII's break with Rome and establishment of the House of Tudor and the Church of England as Protestant, considered Catholic Mary Stuart as the rightful queen of England, a role that Elizabeth I was not about to let her cousin take away from her.

Mary was sent to France at the age of five to be educated in the French court. In 1558, when she was 16 years old, she married François, Dauphin of France, who ascended the French throne as King François II in 1559, making Mary Queen consort of France. She was widowed one year later. In August 1561, Mary returned to Scotland as Mary, Queen of Scots, arriving in Leith (now merged with Edinburgh).

Scotland was being led by Mary's illegitimate half-brother, James Stewart (played by Ian Keith), 1st Earl of Moray (son of James VI and Lady Margaret Erskine). After Mary's return, Moray was named Mary's chief adviser.

The family name was originally spelled as James spells it...Stewart. Mary changed it to the Gallicised (French) form...Stuart...and her descendants continued to spell it that way.

As in the movie, the real Mary of Scotland married three times. Her first marriage to François II, lasted for one year until his death in 1560. Four years later, she married her first cousin, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley (played by Douglas Walton), a marriage that lasted until his death in 1567. Her second marriage produced a son James VI, who became King of Scots when he was one year old. Following the death of Lord Darnley, Mary married for the third time to James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell (played by Fredric March).

Mary is convicted of treason against England and sentenced to death. On the night before her execution, Elizabeth and Mary finally meet face to face. Elizabeth explains her actions against Mary as being because "you were born too close to my throne...A knife planted between my shoulders, and my kingdom was yours." Mary denies ever wanting that but retaliates by pointing out that because Elizabeth, known historically as "the Virgin Queen", has no heirs, Mary's son James will one day rule England. "I win!" she exclaims as Elizabeth exits the room. The next day, Mary is taken to the scaffold. (The real Mary of Scotland was beheaded on 8 February 1587. The beheading is not shown in the movie.)

Yes, he did. James VI, King of Scots, became James I, King of England upon Elizabeth's death in 1603. He ruled England, Scotland, and Ireland until his own death in 1625. James was succeeded by his son Charles I.

Mary of Scotland is considered to be a historical drama, a sub-genre of fiction that portrays fictional accounts or dramatizes historical figures or events. Whereas the names, dates, places, and familial relationships may be accurate, the portrayal of events, causes, and interpersonal relationships is fictionalized. For example, Mary is depicted as a victim to Scotland and a martyr to her love for Bothwell, whereas Elizabeth is depicted as cold, vain, and jealous of her cousin. In actuality, the rivalry between them had to do with the warring factions of Protestantism and Catholicism, a reason that is mentioned only cursorily throughout the movie. John Knox (played by Moroni Olsen) rants against Mary because she is a "jezebel of France". In actuality, John Knox was the leader of the Protestant Reformation in Scotland and spoke against Mary because she was a devout Catholic. Bothwell is depicted as a romantic figure whereas some historians claim that it was he who murdered Lord Darnley, then kidnapped Mary and carried her off to Dunbar Castle where he raped her. Finally, the finale in which Elizabeth and Mary come face-to-face is said to be inaccurate as there is no evidence that the two queens ever met.

Yes. Director John Ford was not very happy with this film, and one day he told Hepburn to direct a scene - which she did, and this movie marks her debut as a director.