Main Cast: Vanessa Redgrave, Glenda Jackson, Patrick McGoohan, Timothy Dalton, Nigel Davenport
Release Year: 1971
Country: UK
Run Time: 128 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Vanessa Redgrave stars as Mary Stuart of Scotland, with Glenda Jackson co-starring as Queen Elizabeth I. As with the earlier Maxwell Anderson play Mary of Scotland, the film sympathizes with Mary, and there are two fictionalized face-to-face confrontations between the two queens (who never met in real life). With this film, old-line Hollywood producer Hal Wallis continued his trademark of showcasing dynamic stars within a period milieu; the film is literally swamped with lavish Tudor decor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Two queens of the cinema vie as rival sovereigns in this 16th century historical drama nominated for four Academy Awards and one Golden Globe. Vanessa Redgrave stars in the title role as Mary Stuart (1542-1587), queen of Scotland, who claims the English throne as the granddaughter of Henry VIII's sister. Glenda Jackson portrays Elizabeth I (1533-1603), queen of England, who defends her throne against charges that she was the illegitimate offspring of an illegal marriage between Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Redgrave is magnificent. Not only does she become Mary physically (like Redgrave, Mary was tall, red-haired, and beautiful), she also becomes Mary psychologically (regal and domineering at one moment, frivolous and restive the next). Jackson is equally magnificent as Elizabeth, molding her screen persona into the attractive, politically clever, ambitious queen who could be as soft and warm, or as cold and ruthless, as her job demanded. To watch Redgrave and Jackson go for the throat is a jousting match of the first rank. Backing them up in supporting roles is a strong cast: Nigel Davenport, Trevor Howard, Ian Holm, Patrick McGoohan, and Daniel Massey. They plot and connive as the enemies and friends of the two queens, and are not above murder most foul or murder most timely. It is all jolly good fun. Reviewers generally turned thumbs down on Timothy Dalton's performance as Lord Henry Darnley, Mary's second husband and king-consort, saying it was one-dimensional and shallow. However, Darnley himself was something of a piffling lightweight -- talented only at indolence and drunkenness. Perhaps Dalton was simply mirroring history. The film is not without its faults, namely, a sometimes-uninspired script and a sometimes-revisionist interpretation of history that sanitizes machinating Mary. However, the costumes, music, and settings are evocative of the era, and the Protestant-Catholic feuding and double-dealing keep the plot moving at a gallop. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide
Trevor Howard - Lord Burghley; Maria Aitken - Lady Bothwell; Jeremy Bulloch - Andrew; Brian Coburn - Huntly; Raf dela Torre - Cardinal de Medici; Richard Denning - King Of France; Vernon Dobtcheff - Duc de Guise; Tom Fleming - Father Ballard; Beth Harris - Mary Seton; Ian Holm - David Riccio; Robert James - John Knox; Katherine Kath - Catherine de Medici; Andrew Keir - Ruthven; Daniel Massey - Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester; Bruce Purchase - Morton; Rick Warner - Walsingham; Frances White - Mary Fleming
Credit
Margaret Furse - Costume Designer, Simon Relph - First Assistant Director, Charles Jarrott - Director, Richard Marden - Editor, John Barry - Composer (Music Score), John Barry - Musical Direction/Supervision, George Frost - Makeup, Robert Cartwright - Production Designer, Terence Marsh - Production Designer, Christopher G. Challis - Cinematographer, Hal B. Wallis - Producer, Peter Howitt - Set Designer, Pamela Cornell - Set Designer, Bob Jones - Sound/Sound Designer, John Aldred - Sound/Sound Designer, John Hale - Screenwriter
Mary, Queen of Scots (1972) is a Universal Pictures biographical feature film based on the life of Queen Mary I of Scotland. The film stars Vanessa Redgrave as the titular character and Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth I. The screenplay was written by John Hale and the film directed by Charles Jarrott. Like the play on the same subject by Friedrich Schiller and the opera on the same subject by Gaetano Donizetti, it takes considerable liberties with history in order to achieve increased dramatic effect, in particular two fictitious face-to-face encounters between the two Queens (who never met in real life). The film received a less than enthusiastic review from the New York Times, but was nominated for several awards.
The film was shot in Scotland, England, and France (Château de Chenonceau). The song in the opening sequence, "Vivre et Mourir," is sung by Redgrave.[1] The lyrics are taken from a sonnet written by Mary, Queen of Scots herself.[2]
Reception
Vincent Canby had little good to say about the film in the New York Times of 4 February 1972, describing it as "a loveless, passionless costume drama". He wrote, "Unfortunately there is no excitement whatsoever in what Charles Jarrott, the director, and John Hale, the author of the original screenplay, have put together...Mary, Queen of Scots intends, I assume, to illuminate history...yet all it's really doing is touching bases, like a dull, dutiful student...Because both Miss Redgrave and Miss Jackson possess identifiable intelligence, [the film] is not as difficult to sit through as some bad movies I can think of. It's just solemn, well-groomed and dumb."[3]
Roger Ebert gave the movie three stars and lauded the interpretation of Redgrave and Jackson, noting however the "soap opera" approach to the script. [4]
The film received several Golden Globe nominations including Best Motion Picture - Drama, Best Motion Picture Actress - Drama (Glenda Jackson), Best Motion Picture Actress - Drama (Vanessa Redgrave), Best Original Score (John Barry), and Best Screenplay (John Hale).
2007 Remake
It was announced in May 2007 that Scarlett Johansson was attached to a remake, directed by John Curran.[6] However, in November 2008 it was reported that the film had yet to be given the green light, with neither finance nor casting having been approved.[7]
^ Laign, Malcom. The History of Scotland: From the Union of the Crowns on the Accession of James VI. to the Throne of England, to the Union of the Kingdoms in the Reign of Queen Anne. J. Mawman, 1804.
