Main Cast: Fanny Rowe, Sarah Miles, Jon Finch, Richard Chamberlain, John Mills, Margaret Leighton
Release Year: 1972
Country: IT/UK
Run Time: 122 minutes
Plot
Screenwriter Robert Bolt's directorial debut is a lushly romantic saga concerning the 1812 love affair between the wife of William Lamb, Lord of Melbourne, and the author of the poem Childe Harold, Lord Byron. Excited and embarrassed by the attendant affections heaped upon him, Byron found his writing talent waning, and in 1813 the lovers ended their affair. In her first novel, Glenarvon in 1816, Lady Lamb included a satiric portrait of her former lover. But when she later witnessed Byron's funeral in 1828, she was so affected by his death she never mentally recovered from the trauma. The film charts the doomed romantic course for Lady Caroline Lamb (Sarah Miles), beginning with her marriage to the politically promising William Lamb (Jon Finch) and continuing with her scandalous affair with Byron (Richard Chamberlain). The film then chronicles Lady Caroline Lamb's supreme sacrifice on behalf of her husband's political career. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Pamela Brown - Lady Bessborough; Caterina Boratto; Joyce Carey - Marquise; Charles Carson - Mr. Potter; Timothy Dalton; Sonia Dresdel - Lady Pont; Nicholas Field - St. John; Felicity Gibson - Girl In Blue; Richard Hurndall - Radical Member; Paddy Joyce - Irish housekeeper; Bernard Kay - Benson; Janet Key - Miss Fairfax; Preston Lockwood - 1st Partner; Mario Maranzana - Coachman; Silvia Monti - Miss Milbanke; Trevor Peacock - Agent; Maureen Pryor - Mrs. Buller; John Rapley - 2nd Partner; Ralph Richardson - George IV; Ralph Truman - Admiral; Michael Wilding, Sr. - Lord Holland; Peter Bull - Government Minister; Laurence Olivier - Duke of Wellington; Stephen Sheppard - Buckham; Robert Mill - Wellington's Aide de Camp; John Moffatt - Murray; Norman Mitchell - Restaurant Functionary; Robert Harris - Apothecary; Fanny Rowe - Lady Holland; Roy Stewart - Black Pug
Credit
Carmen Dillon - Art Director, Eleanor Fazan - Choreography, David Walker - Costume Designer, David Tringham - First Assistant Director, Robert Bolt - Director, Norman Savage - Editor, Richard Rodney Bennett - Composer (Music Score), Marcus Dods - Musical Direction/Supervision, George Frost - Makeup, Oswald Morris - Cinematographer, Franco Cristaldi - Producer, Bernard Williams - Producer, Fernando Ghia - Producer, Vernon Dixon - Set Designer, Robert Bolt - Screenwriter
The film received mixed critical reviews, and was a box-office failure; the film was criticized both for its historical inaccuracies (the timing of William Lamb's political career, the portrayal of Byron as a tall, handsome man who lacked his characteristic limp) and for its own (lack of) merits. Positive reviews praised Miles' performance and Bolt's direction, which was clearly inspired by his frequent collaborator David Lean. The film's failure dissuaded Bolt from further directorial work, and may have contributed to his break up with Sarah Miles.
The film had an atmospheric music score composed by Richard Rodney Bennett, who later based a concert work, Elegy for Lady Caroline Lamb for viola and orchestra, on some of the material.
