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| Young Bess - 1953 |
Our next film is 1953's "Young Bess", a highly fictionalized account of the love triangle between the future Queen Elizabeth I of England, Thomas Seymour, and Queen Catherine Parr.
The film's cast includes Jean Simmons, Stewart Granger, Deborah Kerr, Charles Laughton, Kay Walsh, Guy Rolfe, Kathleen Byron, Cecil Kellaway, Leo G. Carroll, Norma Varden, and Ann Tyrrell.
We begin with the story of Elizabeth's birth and how she was born during the perilous time when her father was desperately seeking a male heir.
In 1558, Elizabeth's governess Mrs. Ashley speaks with Elizabeth's comptroller, Mr. Parry. She brings him the news that Queen Mary I is dying, and that before the dawn breaks, Elizabeth will be England's next monarch. The two celebrate and reflect on "Bess's" story.
Her father, Henry VIII, was initially proud of his daughter, but didn't like the way she scowled at him. "Now, don’t scowl at me like that. Why don’t you laugh like your mother? Hmm?
That’s the way to win people’s hearts," says Henry.
But as Mrs. Ashley says, "But Anne Boleyn laughed once too often and with
the wrong people. She took three lovers with
her. Old Harry did things in a big way." Bess was destined to not know a mother's love. It seems every time her father married and Bess was getting to know her stepmother, they were done away with.
So, naturally, when Henry marries for the sixth time and Bess (who has been decreed illegitimate) is invited back to court to meet the new queen, she refuses.
Thomas Seymour, the Lord Admiral, is sent to collect her. Initially rebuffed by her, he turns on the charm and Bess falls under his spell. When he sings the new queen's praises, she agrees to return to London with him.
The new queen, Catherine Parr, warmly embraces Bess as a daughter, and strives to give Henry and his children and normal family life. Bess grows to love her new stepmother dearly.
Her father's will of iron is only matched by her own. Bess continually stands up to him. He is perturbed, but he sees something of himself in Bess. Nonetheless, he cautions her not to make him angry. "Last night I made you legitimate again out of
the kindness of my heart. My big, fat heart. The doctor says it’ll kill me one day. He’s in the Tower reconsidering the
diagnosis."
Just as Bess is getting used to her new family life, Henry VIII dies. Bess stands with her brother and sister as the King passes away.
Happily for Bess, she is invited to live with Queen Catherine. One of the queen's callers is Thomas Seymour, who wants to marry her, but dares not without the new king's permission. Bess watches "Tom" from a distance and even envies her stepmother, wishing Tom was wooing her instead.
In order to keep Tom near, Bess uses her influence with the king to get him to agree to Catherine and Tom's marriage. They are overjoyed and thank her from the bottom of their hearts for intervening. Happy that Tom will be near, Bess is still sad that he isn't marrying her.
Tom and Bess spend a lot of time together and develop a close relationship. As Lord Admiral, he takes her sailing with him, and the two talk about things they have in common.
Queen Catherine is advised of their closeness, but she dismisses it as innocent and that the two are just good friends.
During a dinner at court where a Danish royal is pursing an alliance with Bess, Tom makes it known to the young king that he isn't happy about the presumed marriage. He casts a jealous eye on Bess and her partner as they dance that evening.
Unable to conquer his jealousy, Tom kisses Bess while seeing her home that night.
Queen Catherine now realizes the truth about Tom and Bess's feelings for each other. She asks Bess to make a choice. Giving way to the queen's feelings, Bess decides to leave and return to her own establishment.
Shortly afterwards, Catherine dies, and Tom is sent on naval maneuvers. When he returns after a long absence, he heads straight to Bess and the two renew their feelings for each other.
Unfortunately for Tom, his brother the Lord Protector fears Tom's ambition and influence over the king, and he has him arrested for treason. Tom is eventually beheaded.
Even though Bess testified in his defense at his trial, it wasn't enough to save him. Bess leaves court and returns to her own home. Her governess Mrs. Ashley says, "She never mentions his name. That’s why I know that in her heart he’s still alive."
Back in the present, the dawn breaks and Bess is now queen. After embracing her old governess, Bess steps out onto the balcony to acknowledge the crowds that have come to greet her. She rules England as Queen Elizabeth I, and never takes a husband.
Cast rundown:
Jean Simmons...............................Queen Elizabeth I "Bess"
Stewart Granger.............................Thomas Seymour
Deborah Kerr.................................Queen Catherine
Charles Laughton...........................King Henry VIII
Kay Walsh.....................................Mrs. Ashley
Guy Rolfe......................................Ned Seymour
Kathleen Byron...............................Ann Seymour
Cecil Kellaway.................................Mr. Parry
Rex Thompson...............................King Edward VI
Leo G. Carroll.................................Mr. Mums
Norma Varden................................Lady Tyrwhitt
Ann Tyrrell.....................................Queen Mary I
And that's it for Young Bess. As I said earlier, this is a highly fictionalized version of the account of Bess's early life. She definitely had a flirtation with Tom Seymour, and it was a bit imprudent. However, it was never pronounced to the degree in which it was portrayed in the film. Elizabeth I was extremely sorry to have caused Queen Catherine any heartache, and she apologized profusely for her behavior when she was sent away.
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| Stage Fright - 1950 |
Next is an offering from one of film's most popular directors, Alfred Hitchcock. It comes in the form of 1950's "Stage Fright", starring Jane Wyman and Marlene Dietrich. The film revolves around the murder of an actress's husband and a young woman's eagerness to help a friend in need.
The film's supporting cast includes Michael Wilding, Richard Todd, Alastair Sim, Sybil Thorndike, Kay Walsh, and Patricia Hitchcock.
The film opens on a scene in London with a car racing down the road.
Inside the car is Eve Gill (Wyman) and her friend Jonathan (Todd). Jonathan is in terrible trouble and Eve, in love with Jonathan, is anxious to help. As they speed towards her father's home on the coast, Eve asks Jonathan what the trouble is.
He tells her it all started when he was at home and there was a knock on the door. When he opened it, actress Charlotte Inwood (his girlfriend) was standing there in a blood-stained dress, telling him that she killed her husband.
Charlotte is terrified and gets Jonathan to go to her home to get another dress for her so she can appear at the theater that evening.
Jonathan tells Eve that Charlotte's maid saw him leaving her house with her dress and that the police came to his home to question him. He bolted and now the police are on his tail. They arrive at Eve's father's home under the cover of night.
Eve introduces Jonathan to her father and he falls asleep. The Commodore and Eve talk things over. He also examines the blood-stained dress that Jonathan brought with him and discovers that the blood had been smeared on it deliberately. He exercises caution in believing the story.
They ask Jonathan how much he trusts Charlotte. He angrily accuses them of trying to turn him against Charlotte, and tosses the dress in the fireplace.
Leaving Jonathan in her father's care, Eve goes back to London to confront Charlotte Inwood. Finding the house impenetrable, she follows a detective she sees coming out of the house into a pub and strikes up a conversation with him to find out what is known about the case. He tells her his name is Smith and drives her home and Eve starts to fall for him.
After Smith leaves, Eve doubles back to the pub where she meets up with Charlotte's maid, whom she saw earlier. Eve tells Nellie that she is a newspaper reporter and wants to be disguised as Charlotte's maid to get close to her and get a story. She pays Nellie a sum of money to say she is Nellie's cousin Doris, who will be taking over for her for a few days because of illness.
She changes her appearance and heads to Charlotte's house to start work.
Eve meets Charlotte and begins work, quickly realizing how trying a job it's going to be. "Now get me out of these weeds," Charlotte says. "I'm beginning to feel sad, and I shouldn't feel sad. It's so depressing." Eve has a close call when Detective Smith arrives to question Charlotte. She goes into the next room and overhears Charlotte telling the detective that she doesn't realize how Jonathan could have done such a thing to her husband. Eve is shocked that she is blaming everything on Jonathan.
Eve dashes home to meet Detective Smith for a prearranged tea with her mother. What she doesn't realize is that her father is there with the news that Jonathan ran away. Having just arrived, Eve leaves quickly, having to meet Charlotte at the theater for a performance.
During a performance of the song "The Laziest Gal In Town", Charlotte spots Jonathan watching. Eve also sees him. He makes his way to Charlotte's dressing room.
Charlotte follows him there, and tells him he's got to get out of the country. She'll come and see him when she can...maybe in a few months, maybe a year. She says she's grateful for everything he's done. He's angry that she's giving him the brushoff. He tells her he didn't destroy the blood-stained dress. Eve is listening from the other side of the door and is very surprised to hear this. So is Charlotte.
A policeman comes to the theater following up on a sighting of Jonathan. Eve, still trying to piece together what really happened, distracts the policeman so Jonathan can escape.
When Eve returns home from the theater, she finds Jonathan there having a chat with her mother. As Jonathan begs her to keep helping him, Eve realizes she no longer cares for him. It's Detective Smith who fills her thoughts now.
The next day Eve takes Detective Smith as her guest to garden party where she is selling tickets in aid of the drama society. In the cab, Eve intends to get Smith to start suspecting Charlotte. However, during the course of the car ride, Eve and Smith share a kiss, and all thoughts of the case go out the window.
At the garden party, Eve runs into Nellie, who is demanding more money from her. Eve calls her father and he comes to her aid. Eve is tired of all this, and wants to tell Smith the whole thing, but her father says they still need him to start suspecting Charlotte.
Her father gets an idea to distress Charlotte by smearing some blood on the dress of a doll. He gets a small boy to present it to her. Charlotte had been giving a performance of "La Vie En Rose" and had to stop mid-performance. Unfortunately for Eve, she is outed as Charlotte's maid Doris (whom the police want to question) right in front of Detective Smith.
Detective Smith follows Eve home, and she tells him everything. He's upset with her deception. He accuses her of protecting her lover. Eve tells him it's not like that. She's fallen in love with Detective Smith. Eve's father comes in and tells Smith about another plan of his: to pretend and blackmail Charlotte into paying for the blood-stained dress. Smith says he'll let them know and tells Eve to get to the theater to help Charlotte.
Smith has policemen at the theater, and Eve leads Charlotte into a room with a microphone. She tells her about the dress, and Charlotte offers her money. She tells Eve that she was in the room when Jonathan killed her husband. Officers come in and arrest Charlotte.
Jonathan is also at the theater and escapes the police. Eve helps him, still thinking he's innocent. Detective Smith tells the Commodore that Jonathan did kill Charlotte's husband, and has also killed before, but got away with it in self defense. Jonathan tells Eve that Charlotte was telling the truth, and Eve realizes she is with a killer.
Jonathan plans on killing Eve, too, so he can use insanity as a defense. She skillfully leads him to the orchestra pit where he is surrounded. They drop the iron safety curtain to contain Jonathan, but he gets caught and the curtain falls on him, killing him. Detective Smith embraces Eve and leads her away.
Cast rundown:
Jane Wyman........................................Eve Gill
Marlene Dietrich...................................Charlotte Inwood
Michael Wilding....................................Det. Insp. Wilfred Smith
Richard Todd........................................Jonathan Cooper
Alastair Sim.........................................Commodore Gill
Sybil Thorndike....................................Mrs. Gill
Kay Walsh...........................................Nellie Goode
Patricia Hitchcock.................................Chubby Bannister
And that's a wrap on Stage Fright. It's a very well-done film-noir/thriller, and Marlene Dietrich's scenes are beautifully shot. Originally, Tallulah Bankhead was supposed to star as Charlotte Inwood, but the studio cast Marlene Dietrich instead, a very good choice.
Of course, no Hitchcock film would be complete without the famous director cameo. This one takes place about 40 minutes into the film.
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