calvinnme
The tale is told in flashback by her former governess Catherine Ashley (Kay Walsh), just before Bess' Coronation ceremony. Film follows Bess from birth to her falling in love with another woman's husband through Court politics and treachery.Charles Laughton is good, if somewhat hammy, as King Henry VIII. His deathbed scene takes forever.Deborah Kerr is OK as the rather frail Katharine Parr, sixth wife of Henry VIII; she looks too healthy and pretty to be ill. Apparently, she's afflicted with a dread disease that leaves her looking lovely, with perfect make-up, not a hair out of place and in soft focus, while it kills. Actually, Parr died in childbirth after becoming immediately pregnant with Thomas Seymour's child after her marriage, while her four year marriage to Henry produced no offspring. This rather puts to bed (pardon the saying) Henry's affirmation that Henry was virile and sexually active up to his death. But I digress. Stewart Granger's Thomas Seymour is appropriately heroic and apparently gifted with second sight. It's too bad he wasn't gifted with two heads. Simmons is very good in the title role. Her voice has the commanding tones of one accustomed to being obeyed, and she convincingly ages from around ten to age 25. She is the best part of the film.Director George Sidney uses a subtle and effective trick to get the viewer on Simmons' side. In her scenes, the furniture is immense (in one scene, she sits in a chair that is twice her size), suggesting that Bess is dwarfed by the events taking place around her.The film received well deserved Oscar nominations for Best Art Direction and Costumes. "Young Bess" is a good showcase for Simmons' acting talents.
blue-7
It has been a long time arriving but "Young Bess" is finally available on the DVD format as of August 2010 through the Warner Bros. Archive program. These are made on demand discs that usually come from the best current material on the title. In other words the film has not been digitally restored as is often the case for new DVD pressings. In the case of "Young Bess" it comes from the material that would be used for screenings on Turner's Classic Movies and in this case it is a very satisfactory presentation. "Young Bess" boasts Technicolor cinematography by two time Oscar winner Charles Rosher (Oscars for Murnau's "Sunrise" and "The Yearling"). The color on the disc does justice to the original film. "Young Bess" is that rare film in which direction, screenplay, cast, costumes, musical score, sets all come together to provide a superior film experience. Jean Simmon's performance as the young Elizabeth is one of her two or three best roles. If you love this film as I do then you'll want to order it at wbshop.com and you may also find other titles to add to your collection
moatazmohsen78
Good choice from the makers of this movie to focus on this stage of Queen Elizabeth as a preparation stage for her to be the real Establesher and founder of United Kingdom during the battle of Armada against Spanish and Portugesse navy that tried to occupied UK but the solidarity brought up of Young Bess learned here to face the hard destiny and fate to cross with her nation on this hard future but the Battle of Armada was a turning point for British nation to put their country on the Glob.Great Movie and great acting from Simons , Deborah Kerr , Stewart Granger that usually entertained us in front of Epic story and Simplified the hard information and historical expressions in the scene to help the next generations to know their heritage as a point of safety from erase and decline under the wings of globalization.
Greg Couture
Its historical inaccuracies aside (including its scrubbed and polished depiction of a far less sanitary time, even, most probably, amidst the pomp and pageantry of the royal court), this costume romance is typical of the very carefully produced and handsomely mounted style of M-G-M in the waning days of its preeminence among the major Hollywood studios. Its well-chosen cast performs most satisfactorily under George Sidney's assured direction and the artistic and technical credits are impeccable, notably the art direction and the almost absurdly luxurious costuming. This film was nominated in the color categories for those two contributions and, most unjustly in my opinion, lost out to Twentieth's first CinemaScope blockbuster, "The Robe," in both cases. The prolific Miklos Rozsa provides one of his more sprightly scores, deftly enhancing the script's focus on the romantic entanglements of the principals. Still, enough attention is paid to the great peril of being close to the apogee of power in England at the time. Throughout a sense of dread pervades the audience's hope that Young Bess might actually survive to realize her dream of a love fulfilled.
AD
