Mary, Queen of Scots (film)
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| Mary, Queen of Scots | |
|---|---|
 Original theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Charles Jarrott |
| Produced by | Hal B. Wallis |
| Written by | John Hale |
| Starring | Vanessa Redgrave Glenda Jackson |
| Music by | John Barry |
| Cinematography | Christopher Challis |
| Editing by | Richard Marden |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) |  2 February 1972 |
| Running time | 128 min. |
| Country |  UK |
| Language | English |
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.
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[edit] Cast
- Vanessa Redgrave as Mary, Queen of Scots.
- Glenda Jackson as Queen Elizabeth I of England
- Patrick McGoohan as Mary's half-brother James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray
- Timothy Dalton as Mary's second husband Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley
- Nigel Davenport as Mary's third husband, James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell
- Trevor Howard as Elizabeth's advisor Sir William Cecil
- Daniel Massey as Elizabeth's lover, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester
- Ian Holm as Mary's advisor, David Rizzio
- Robert James as Scottish religious reformer John Knox
- Richard Denning as Mary's first husband, King Francis of France
- Katherine Kath as Mary's first mother-in-law, Catherine de' Medici
- Vernon Dobtcheff as Mary's uncle, the Duke of Guise
- Raf De La Torre as her other uncle, the Cardinal of Lorraine
- Richard Warner as Elizabeth's spy master Francis Walsingham
- Bruce Purchase as the Earl of Morton
- Brian Coburn as the Earl of Huntly.
[edit] Production notes
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]
[edit] 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]
[edit] Awards and nominations
Mary, Queen of Scots was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Vanessa Redgrave), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Terence Marsh, Robert Cartwright, Peter Howitt), Best Costume Design, Best Music, Original Dramatic Score and Best Sound. [5]
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).
[edit] 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]
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067402/
- ^ 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.
- ^ New York Times: Mary, Queen of Scots
- ^ rogerebert.com
- ^ "NY Times: Mary, Queen of Scots". NY Times. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/101798/Mary-Queen-of-Scots/awards. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
- ^ Bartyzel, Monika (2007-05-17). "Scarlett Johansson is Still Mary Queen of Scots". Cinematical (Weblogs). http://www.cinematical.com/2007/05/17/scarlett-johansson-is-still-mary-queen-of-scots/. Retrieved 2008-12-09.
- ^ Last, Jane (2008-11-25). "Amy Adams is on her way to Dublin for Leap Year proposal". Herald.ie (Independent News & Media). http://www.herald.ie/entertainment/film-cinema/amy-adams-is-on-her-way-to-dublin-for-leap-year-proposal-1552026.html. Retrieved 2008-12-09.
[edit] External links
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ps she had 3 dogs and a cat
