Based upon a novel, an excellent, if forgotten, costume historical drama, involving members of the Tudor royal family of 16th century Britian. Beginning with Bess as a child of much married King Henry VIII, Jean plays her as a teen, when she develops an insatiable crush on dashing, handsome, Admiral Thomas Seymor(Stewart Granger), who returns her ardor. She is crushed when she unexpectedly learns he has married the widow of her father: Catherine Parr, played by a rather subdued Deborrah Kerr. However, the admiral cannot find it in himself to spur the continuing, if more cloaked, advances by Bess. Catherine is well aware of this dalliance, but seems to accept it. In contrast to Bess, she seems to be rather frail, and eventually dies soon after the birth of her first child with Tom. This would seem to open up the possibility of a marriage with the admiral, but, alas, this is not to be, as fate intervenes. The admiral is accused by a 'gang', led by his villainous brother Ned(Guy Rolfe), of a trumped-up charge of treason, and sentenced to be beheaded(which occurs off screen), thus turning the plot into a tradjedy.
The other main thread of the plot involves the close relationship between Bess, and her younger half-brother: Henry, who would soon be named as his successor upon the imminent death of their father, ably played by veteran Hollywood actor Charles Laughton. Both Henry and Bess are keen to extend the beginnings of the Anglican Protestant Reformation, barely begun by their father, who mostly just wanted to abolish the nosey pope's authority to tell him that he couldn't divorce his wife, and marry another queen. During his rather brief reign, dying in his mid-teens, Henry, backed by his pro-Reformation council of regents, did as much as he could to strengthen the Reformation cause, including divesting some of the extensive church lands. He named a female pro-Reformation successor, but she had little support, and was quickly ousted by supporters of Bess's older half-sister: Mary, who was rabidly pro-Catholic, and came to be known as 'Bloody' Mary, for the many executions she ordered, many by burning at the stake, of pro-Reformation subjects. Mary doesn't appear in the film. Fortunately for the future Queen Elizabeth I, Mary died of natural causes after only a few years as queen, allowing Elizabeth plenty of time to reverse Mary's pro-Catholic measures. I' m not aware of a film during the classical Hollywood period that concentrates on her life. However, the criticized 2008 "The Twisted Tale of Bloody Mary " does so, and is available free at You Tube, as well as several documentaries of her life. I was very surprised to learn that she married the Catholic Phillip II, of Spain and other territories, with certain stipulations: a generally very unpopular move with her English subject. Upon her death, Phillip lost his claim as Sovreign of Britian, as well as of Spain. Of course, he later sent two armadas, with the goal of conquering this now largely Protestant upstart rival for world domination, or at least decimating it's fleet.
The film ends with very brief look at the now Queen Elizabeth I. Betty Davis had already played her as queen, in 1939, and would again play her as queen in a 1955 film.
I should mention that this MGM film, shot in sumptuous Technicolor, is available, free, at You Tube, as well as a DVD, if you aren't willing to wait for its next showing at TCM. I should also mention that the leads were married to each other at this time, although this was hardly deemed as newsworthy in tabloids as the later pairings of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor: another British Hollywood couple. Although this was an MGM film, I should point out that all the main characters appropriately grew up in Britain.
The other main thread of the plot involves the close relationship between Bess, and her younger half-brother: Henry, who would soon be named as his successor upon the imminent death of their father, ably played by veteran Hollywood actor Charles Laughton. Both Henry and Bess are keen to extend the beginnings of the Anglican Protestant Reformation, barely begun by their father, who mostly just wanted to abolish the nosey pope's authority to tell him that he couldn't divorce his wife, and marry another queen. During his rather brief reign, dying in his mid-teens, Henry, backed by his pro-Reformation council of regents, did as much as he could to strengthen the Reformation cause, including divesting some of the extensive church lands. He named a female pro-Reformation successor, but she had little support, and was quickly ousted by supporters of Bess's older half-sister: Mary, who was rabidly pro-Catholic, and came to be known as 'Bloody' Mary, for the many executions she ordered, many by burning at the stake, of pro-Reformation subjects. Mary doesn't appear in the film. Fortunately for the future Queen Elizabeth I, Mary died of natural causes after only a few years as queen, allowing Elizabeth plenty of time to reverse Mary's pro-Catholic measures. I' m not aware of a film during the classical Hollywood period that concentrates on her life. However, the criticized 2008 "The Twisted Tale of Bloody Mary " does so, and is available free at You Tube, as well as several documentaries of her life. I was very surprised to learn that she married the Catholic Phillip II, of Spain and other territories, with certain stipulations: a generally very unpopular move with her English subject. Upon her death, Phillip lost his claim as Sovreign of Britian, as well as of Spain. Of course, he later sent two armadas, with the goal of conquering this now largely Protestant upstart rival for world domination, or at least decimating it's fleet.
The film ends with very brief look at the now Queen Elizabeth I. Betty Davis had already played her as queen, in 1939, and would again play her as queen in a 1955 film.
I should mention that this MGM film, shot in sumptuous Technicolor, is available, free, at You Tube, as well as a DVD, if you aren't willing to wait for its next showing at TCM. I should also mention that the leads were married to each other at this time, although this was hardly deemed as newsworthy in tabloids as the later pairings of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor: another British Hollywood couple. Although this was an MGM film, I should point out that all the main characters appropriately grew up in Britain.