This is one of the movies that, having caught it on the Movie of the Week as a child and thought it wonderful, I've never had the nerve to watch since in case it doesn't measure up. With two ladies like this, though, and from what I remember a very fetching Timothy Dalton in a 16th-century nightshirt, I have a feeling it wouldn't let me down.Jackson must have felt in the midst of a bit of a Tudor overdose in '71, having done both this and a TV series in full Elizabeth drag. The picture takes a fair amount of liberties with history, not least in bringing the two queens together for a fraught meeting that never, in fact, took place. Still, I think I prefer my memory of this to what I've seen of more recent versions of the Tudor/Stuart drama - Cate Blanchett is very effective in her Good Queen Bess outings, but the pictures are dreck, and of the current TV go at the era, the less said the better.
The problem with stories like this, of course, is that you know the end, and it's not happy. The pretty, foolish loser dies, and the calculating, cold-hearted winner gets old and bitter, even though she does end up with better dresses than almost anybody else in history. And really, that has to count for something, don't you think? Maybe someone should go ask Diana Ross...
Dalton in a nightshirt, or anything, or nothing at all? I'm in. I have such a thing for Welshmen.
ReplyDeleteAnd didn't Dalton's long time relationship with Ms. Redgrave begin with this film?
Yes, they were so happy - until he was snatched away by his leading lady in Sextette....
ReplyDeleteThe film still holds up and is currently available on DVD coupled with "Anne of the Thousand Days", starring Richard Burton and Genevieve Bujold. Both wonderful films full of glorious costumes and grand curtain chewing. I guess you could call it the "Heads Will Roll" double feature.
ReplyDeleteThe best of the crop is Johnathan Rhys Meyers as Henry in Showtimes's The Tudors. Totally ignoring any pretense towards historical reality, here Henry miraculously remains a stud boy well into what were his fat debauched later years. The Rhys Meyers booty is frequently displayed to great effect.
ReplyDeleteThe film more than holds up. It (and Anne too) simply dwarfs the current attempts at historical drama. Sorry, Mr.P, Henry VIII as a boytoy was laughable but sad. Timothy Dalton told me (clang! Did you hear something drop?)that he happened to born in Wales of English parents and hasn't a drop of Welsh blood, alas. Had to write cause I LOVE this film! (and the site!)
ReplyDeleteTwo of the greatest actresses EVER!
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