BrianKoller's Full Review: Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
While Queen Victoria and King Henry VIII have been frequently portrayed on screen, the favorite monarch of cinema has to be Queen Elizabeth. Back in Spring of 1999, Shakespeare in Love and Elizabeth were both winning Oscars, and competing against each other in several categories.
Bette Davis twice played Queen Elizabeth in films, first in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, and some years later in The Virgin Queen (1955).
I have not seen the latter film, and perhaps by then she was more comfortable in the role. In The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, however, her miscasting is obvious. Not only is she much too young for the role, her attempt to adopt a British accent only makes her sound like Katharine Hepburn.
Bette Davis was then one of the biggest stars of Warner Bros. studios, along with Errol Flynn. But Flynn's love interest in his action/adventure vehicles was often played the radiant Olivia de Havilland, who had better screen chemistry with him than did Davis. But Warner Bros. couldn't resist pairing up Davis and Flynn, first in The Sisters (1938), then in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex.
There was much offscreen tension between Davis and Flynn. Davis considered Flynn to be unprofessional, while Flynn thought that Davis, who had already won two Oscars for Best Actress, was nearly as imperious as was her royal character. A scene in which Flynn knocked Davis to the ground with a vehement slap to the rear probably didn't help matters.
But the greatest difficulty that the screen couple faced was in Davis' uncomfortable casting. Davis was only a year older than Flynn, but Elizabeth was 34 years older than Essex. With Davis so much younger than her character, no amount of unflattering pancake makeup could make her role convincing.
Time has also changed the script's interpretation of their relationship. Elizabeth often refers to Essex as her 'lover', but in 1939 that word had a more spiritual, and less sexual, meaning than it has today. Elizabeth, who never wed, promoted herself as 'The Virgin Queen'. When their ages are also taken into consideration, the physical relationship that can be implied was unlikely ever to have existed.
The script was based on the play "Elizabeth the Queen", which had been a Broadway success back in 1930. The title became the far more portentous The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, due to the need to feature Flynn's character.
The dashing Earl of Essex (Flynn) is the court favorite of the aged Queen Elizabeth (Davis). Essex seeks military glory against the wishes of the Queen, first in Spain, then in Ireland. His military expeditions, while unsuccessful, make him more popular with the English people than Elizabeth. Essex covets the throne, which he believes he can obtain by force, if not by marriage to Elizabeth.
The story has many departures from history. It is never mentioned that Essex was Elizabeth's cousin, or that he was married at the time to Frances Walsingham. Essex was not recalled from Ireland by Elizabeth, instead he had abandoned his post. His soldiers never occupied the palace of Elizabeth. The historical personages surrounding Elizabeth, among them Sir Walter Raleigh (Vincent Price), Sir Edward Coke (Leo G. Carroll), Sir Robert Cecil (Henry Daniell) and Francis Bacon (Donald Crisp), are reduced to preening fops scheming to undermine the position of Essex.
The dialogue alternates between preposterous and affecting. A subplot involving the charming Margaret Radcliffe (Nanette Fabray) works better than those featuring the jealous Lady Penelope Gray (Olivia de Havilland).
The production values were very high, resulting in five Academy Award nominations earned during one of Hollywood's most competitive years. (Among the many great films from 1939 are Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Stagecoach, Wuthering Heights, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Goodbye Mr. Chips, and Destry Rides Again.) The nominations were for Best Cinematography (Sol Polito), Best Score (Erich Wolfgang Korngold), Best Interior Decoration, Best Sound Recording and Best Special Effects. (61/100)
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