Fire Over England (1937)

Director:

William K. Howard

Writers:

A.E.W. Mason (novel)
Clemence Dane (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

5 March 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | History | Romance | War

Tagline:

. . . A truly brilliant producer brings you a thrilling tale of love and danger that will live in your memory as long as there is romance in your heart !

Plot:

Queen Elizabeth is running this show. The men in her court should be thinking about how to add to the...

Plot Keywords:

England | Spain | Queen | Court | Queen Elizabeth I

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Flora Robson	...	Queen Elizabeth I of England
Raymond Massey	...	King Philip II of Spain
Leslie Banks	...	Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester
Laurence Olivier	...	Michael Ingolby
Vivien Leigh	...	Cynthia
Morton Selten	...	Lord Burleigh
Tamara Desni	...	Elena
Lyn Harding	...	Sir Richard Ingolby
George Thirlwell	...	Mr. Lawrence Gregory
Henry Oscar	...	Spanish Ambassador
Robert Rendel	...	Don Miguel (as Robert Rendell)
Robert Newton	...	Don Pedro
Donald Calthrop	...	Don Escobal
Charles Carson	...	Adm. Valdez
James Mason	...	Hillary Vane

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Wide Range Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:S | UK:U | USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Denham Studios, Denham, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

London Film Productions

Trivia:

It was while screening 'Fire Over England' that agent Myron Selznick saw Vivien Leigh and decided that she was Scarlet O'Hara. Coincidently she was in Hollywood to accompany her husband, 'Lawrence Olivier' who was making Wuthering Heights (1939) and Myron brought her down to the Gone with the Wind (1939) set, the Burning of Atlanta and introduced her to his brother David as his new Scarlet O'Hara.

Quotes:

Spanish Ambassador: If your majesty will not hear words, we must come to cannon and see if you will hear them.
Queen Elizabeth I of England: If you use threats of that kind, I will chase you out of my kingdom.
Spanish Ambassador: But, your grace. You MUST listen.
Queen Elizabeth I of England: Must? Little man, little man, must is NOT a word to use to princes. Our council shall confer with you. Meanwhile, go home and be quiet!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "In Search of Shakespeare" (2003)

Soundtrack:

The Spanish Lady's Love

Complicated for a Reason

This is a great movie with excellent production values, performances and exposition. These were very complicated times and neither Elizabeth nor Philip was a simple ruler. Neither was good nor bad and both were permitted by the mores of their times to be outrageous. Given that Flora Robson did not resemble Elizabeth in the slightest and was far, far younger at the time of her portrayal, she presents the great Queen as she should be portrayed except that Elizabeth was a beauty in her youth and permitted the illusion of beauty to continue long after it was lost. See it, hear it and enjoy it. It is a mountain beside the current portrayals of these people and their times as a bland pageant of farthingales.