THE PRIVATE LIVES OF

ELIZABETH & ESSEX

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 5 out of 5

Rated:

During the later part of her life, Elizabeth I fell in love with a young man destined to betray her in an endless quest for power. In the 1930's, Hollywood undertook a romantic retelling of the tragic love affair and brought it to the big screen. The result is a rather impressive cast, beautiful costume design, and memorable film despite some of its more obvious historical inaccuracies. 

In her sixties and still determined to be the most accomplished, most beautiful woman at court, Queen Elizabeth I (Bette Davis) has become besotted by the handsome young Lord Robert Deveroux (Errol Flynn), one of her champions in the battlefield as well as an ardent admirer, either of her or the importance she offers. Considered nothing more than a scoundrel of ambitions by most of the other men at court, Robert has also managed to obtain the jealous romantic attentions of Penelope (Olivia de Havilland), one of the queen's ladies in waiting. Returning triumphant from war with Spain, his popularity among the common people encourages the queen to send him on another mission, this one into tumultuous Ireland, little realizing that her scheming companions are hoping to bring about Robert's fall from her graces.

The film went through several name changes and a terrible on-set rivalry between Davis and Flynn, who hated one another, as well as a somewhat disastrous stint at the box office when audiences realized it was not a love story between Robert and Penelope as much as between Robert's desire for power and Elizabeth's sad plight in preventing him from obtaining it. But it has managed to stand the test of time and contains memorable and even outstanding performances. Davis did not shy away from a role that is in all ways unattractive, even going so far as to shave her eyebrows and hairline to appear more like the actual queen.

Other notable cast members include Donald Crisp, Alan Hale, and Vincent Price and if anything, the film is made all the more impressive through its meticulous costume design. It is not always strictly in period, but some of the designs are absolutely gorgeous. de Havilland is a somewhat catty and vindictive individual on screen, deviating from her usual portrayals of sweet and innocent characters. There is one thing that audiences are divided over, and that is Davis' constant hand movements as a sort of nervous twitch. For me, they were more distracting than they added to the character, but many view it as a magnificent addition to reveal the queen's increasing twitches as she grew older. There is nothing significant to warn of in the script, although there are some depictions of war. If you are a fan of any of the actors, it is a marvelous way to spend a rainy afternoon.