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The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (27-Sep-1939)
Director: Michael Curtiz Writers: Norman Reilly Raine; Aeneas MacKenzie From a play by: Maxwell Anderson Music by: Erich Wolfgang Korngold Keywords: Drama, Biography
| Name | Occupation | Birth | Death | Known for |
|---|
| Leo G. Carroll |
Actor |
25-Oct-1892 |
16-Oct-1972 |
Waverly on The Man From U.N.C.L.E. |
| Donald Crisp |
Actor |
27-Jul-1880 |
25-May-1974 |
Silent film actor, survived into talkies |
| Henry Daniell |
Actor |
5-Mar-1894 |
31-Oct-1963 |
British-American character actor |
| Bette Davis |
Actor |
5-Apr-1908 |
6-Oct-1989 |
All About Eve |
| Olivia de Havilland |
Actor |
1-Jul-1916 |
|
Gone With the Wind |
| Nanette Fabray |
Actor |
27-Oct-1920 |
|
Caesar's Hour |
| Errol Flynn |
Actor |
20-Jun-1909 |
14-Oct-1959 |
Robin Hood |
| Ralph Forbes |
Actor |
30-Sep-1896 |
31-Mar-1951 |
The Hound of the Baskervilles |
| Alan Hale, Sr. |
Actor |
10-Feb-1892 |
22-Jan-1950 |
The Adventures of Robin Hood |
| Vincent Price |
Actor |
27-May-1911 |
25-Oct-1993 |
Master of the macabre |
| Henry Stephenson |
Actor |
16-Apr-1871 |
24-Apr-1956 |
The Prince and the Pauper |
| Robert Warwick |
Actor |
9-Oct-1878 |
6-Jun-1964 |
Alias Jimmy Valentine |
CAST REVIEWS Review by anonymous (posted on 22-Jul-2005) Rarely are there four star movies. But it is possible if you rate a movie for
what it is and not for what it lacks. A superb cast, a great director
and a wonderful musical score highlight a film that deals in love, war,
and political intrigue. I ask that you look at the cast and tell me how
one mobilizes that kind of acting firepower today. The closest I have
seen in recent movies is the Tom Cruise movie where he plays a Naval
attorney with Jack Nicholson as the villanous Marine General (A Few
Good Men). But the tension between Davis and Flynn carries over to the
big screen in a way that makes this movie consistently move towards an
ending that is not quite so predictable. Bette Davis is moving as the
strong queen. Flynn is himself as the brash, conquering hero who
thirsts for power. Who else but Flynn always appears to look
comfortable in Elizabethan clothes? Michael Curtiz does a wonderful job
of assembling these actors and producing a great movie. His directing
resume is formidable, at best. While he and Flynn never really got
along, he knew how to deliver the finished product, as witnessed by The
Adventures of Robin Hood and Casablanca. And the Korngold score is
magnificent. He goes on to use certain bars of this music in The Sea
Hawk, but that's acceptable. It is HIS music. But the into where Flynn
returns to the castle triumphant from victory has outstanding music, as
does the confrontation with Tyrone (Alan Hale) and the finale with him
going to the death. Period movies don't appear to come off as well
these days. But back in the Golden Age of Hollywood, they appeared to
be a genre that prospered. Maybe now is the time to reconsider that
genre of movie again. This is a movie that stands on its own and serves
as part of the collection of movies that made Flynn the Elizabethan
Indiana Jones of his time. Davis cements her image as a woman who can
portray Queen Elizebeth in her sleep. She IS-no offense to Dame Flora
Robson- the Queen until she gets to star in The Lady Eve. And Korngold
lets you know that John Williams' music came from somewhere. For it is
Korngold who brings the idea of complex composition to movie music. His
label of "The Last Prodigy" by writer Brendan Carroll is most deserved.
Turner Classic Movies shows the movie from time to time and this movie
works well for television. Isn't it about time we started giving Flynn
his due as an actor? See the doggone movie!
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