The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Norman Reilly Raine (screenplay) and
Æneas MacKenzie (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

11 November 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | History | Romance

Tagline:

Elizabeth I's love for the Earl of Essex threatens to destroy her kingdom.

Plot:

This period drama frames the tumultuous affair between Queen Elizabeth I and the man who would be King of England...

Plot Keywords:

Queen | Queen Elizabeth I | Earl | Ireland | Ring

Awards:

Nominated for 5 Oscars.

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Bette Davis	...	Queen Elizabeth
Errol Flynn	...	Earl of Essex
Olivia de Havilland	...	Lady Penelope Gray
Donald Crisp	...	Francis Bacon
Alan Hale	...	Earl of Tyrone
Vincent Price	...	Sir Walter Raleigh
Henry Stephenson	...	Lord Burghley
Henry Daniell	...	Sir Robert Cecil
James Stephenson	...	Sir Thomas Egerton
Nanette Fabray	...	Mistress Margaret Radcliffe (as Nanette Fabares)
Ralph Forbes	...	Lord Knollys
Robert Warwick	...	Lord Mountjoy
Leo G. Carroll	...	Sir Edward Coke

Also Known As:

Elizabeth and Essex
Elizabeth the Queen (USA) (TV title)
The Knight and the Lady (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Vitaphone)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | West Germany:16 (f) | Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:Approved (PCA #5411)

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

As well as shaving two inches off her hairline at the forehead, Bette Davis also had her eyebrows removed. She later complained that they never grew back properly and that ever after she had to draw them in with an eyebrow pencil.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the horseman rides up to the "Red Lion" inn, a gorgeous sunset is behind him; the shadow he casts is inconsistent with the placement of the sun, revealing this sunset to not have been in the original shot.

Quotes:

Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex: And now, may I go? This dying sticks in my mind and makes me poor company.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "This Is Your Life: Bette Davis" (1971)

Soundtrack:

The Passionate Shepherd to His Love (Come Live With Me and Be My Love)

The Elizabeth of legend

This picture, based on Maxwell Anderson's play (written entirely in blank verse!) portrays the Elizabeth of legend, not the historical Elizabeth, in this case based on Lytton Strachey's book, "Elizabeth and Essex". In other words, this is more a theatrical than a strictly accurate presentation of the great queen and her times.

And what a presentation! Lynn Fontanne portrayed Elizabeth in the play's original Broadway run; Judith Anderson played her in the 1968 television presentation (opposite Charlton Heston!). Davis takes the part (re-written for the picture, discarding the blank verse) over the top. Her overactive, explosive performance might seem too much to some, but it definitely matches the style of the play itself, the sumptuous settings, gorgeously photographed, the historically accurate costuming, and Korngold's splashy, brilliant score, one of his best creations.

The supporting cast matches her at every turn. Even Flynn's performance, dismissed at the time as being lightweight, comes across as the ideal foil to the tempestuous, aging queen he's playing against.

Quite a treat, even after almost seventy years. Definitely of its time, but, understanding this, it can be thoroughly enjoyed.