Mary of Scotland (1936)

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Dudley Nichols (screenplay)
Maxwell Anderson (play)

Release Date:

28 August 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | History | Romance

Tagline:

One of the greatest love stories of all time... brought to the screen in throbbing glory by a wonderful cast of stars!

Plot:

The recently widowed Mary Stuart returns to Scotland to reclaim her throne but is opposed by her half-brother and her own Scottish lords.

Plot Keywords:

England | Scotland | Queen | Escape | Throne

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Katharine Hepburn	...	Mary Stuart
Fredric March	...	Bothwell
Florence Eldridge	...	Elizabeth Tudor
Douglas Walton	...	Darnley
John Carradine	...	Rizzio
Robert Barrat	...	Morton
Gavin Muir	...	Leicester
Ian Keith	...	Moray
Moroni Olsen	...	John Knox
William Stack	...	Ruthven
Ralph Forbes	...	Randolph
Alan Mowbray	...	Throckmorton
Frieda Inescort	...	Mary Beaton
Donald Crisp	...	Huntly
David Torrence	...	Lindsay

Also Known As:

Mary, Queen of Scotland (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

123 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #2052) | Argentina:13

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

The play opened in New York City, New York, USA on 27 November 1933 and had 248 performances. The title role was played by Helen Hayes and the cast also included Moroni Olsen, who repeated his role as John Knox in the 1936 film version, Edgar Barrier (Lord Douglas), Ernest Cossart (Lord Throgmorton) and George Coulouris (Lord Burghley). The play was written in blank verse.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When an overzealous Bothwell pulls at the window bars of his cell, the prop bars move.

Quotes:

Bothwell: Dark or bright, I'll always follow your star, Mary.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Directed by John Ford (1971)

Mary meets Elizabeth!

The directors cannot refrain from showing the two queens together in one scene.Charles Jarrot -whose movie is inferior to John Ford's- did the same in 1972.And however,they never met ,not a single time during Mary's captivity.But John Ford's scene is useful for people who know little about the Virgin Queen.It's sure that Mary's childhood in France was a nice one even though her reign was short as king François II's wife.On the other hand,Elizabeth lived in fear when she was a child for her bloody sister wanted to get rid of her.

The first past begins in Scotland ,and France is only evoked in Mary's memories.This first part is the most satisfying historically speaking:Darnley's and Ricci's murders are well directed by Ford,and the town criers who ,every ten minutes announce "It's eight'o clock!All is fine!" shows his sense of humor.Biggest flaw is the little part of James Stuart, aka"the bastard" aka Maurey:This man is really the stringman,who plays a prominent part in the queen's downfall,holding Mary like a puppet on a string,travelling to France when rebellion begins -he was not here when Mary was imprisoned in Lochleven-,just coming back to reap the benefits (regency he had lost when his sister came back).

Frederic March is a fine actor,but his Bothwell is not credible.Bothwell was a hairy brute ,not the romantic chivalrous fair knight we see here.Mary's abduction remains a mysterious part because the historians have no documents of what really happened.Mary's captivity in Lochleven-where she at last understood how James Stuart fooled her -and her extraordinary escape -worthy of Hitchcock's suspense-lasts barely 30 seconds on the screen.

Ditto for Mary's captivity in England.When she arrived,she was in what we would call "under house arrest" today.Only during her last year,when they discovered a plot,she was taken to the fortress of Fotheringay (a wonderful Fairport Convention song by the way),she was really a prisoner in the modern sense of the term.And she had a whole floor for herself though.

The trial is unsatisfying.At the time,Mary did not care for Bothwell anymore,she was longing to become a martyr of the Catholic cause.She did not know that the pope did not take her seriously .The scene with Donald is pure romantic fiction.

All in all ,and even if the things fall apart a bit in the second part,the movie is magnificently enhanced by Hepburn's presence and Ford -they said they had a love affair on the set- lovingly films her.I've been told that the scene between Bothwell and the queen on the tower was filmed by KH herself.