Mary of Scotland (1936)

The recently widowed Mary Stuart returns to Scotland to reclaim her throne but is opposed by her half-brother and her own Scottish lords.

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Dudley Nichols (screen play), Maxwell Anderson (from the play by),

Stars:

Katharine Hepburn, Fredric March, Florence Eldridge

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Katharine Hepburn	...	Mary Stuart
Fredric March	...	Bothwell
Florence Eldridge	...	Elizabeth Tudor
Douglas Walton	...	Darnley
John Carradine	...	Rizzio
Robert Barrat	...	Morton
Gavin Muir	...	Leicester
Ian Keith	...	Moray
Moroni Olsen	...	John Knox
William Stack	...	Ruthven
Ralph Forbes	...	Randolph
Alan Mowbray	...	Throckmorton
Frieda Inescort	...	Mary Beaton
Donald Crisp	...	Huntly
David Torrence	...	Lindsay

Storyline

Mary Stuart returns to Scotland to rule as queen, to the chagrin of Elizabeth I of England who finds her a dangerous rival. There is much ado over whom Mary shall marry; to her later regret, she picks effete Lord Darnley over the strong but unpopular Earl of Bothwell. A palace coup leads to civil war and house arrest for Mary; she escapes and flees to England, where a worse fate awaits her.

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Plot Keywords:

england | scotland | queen | throne | escape | 

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Taglines:

One of the greatest love stories of all time... brought to the screen in throbbing glory by a wonderful cast of stars!

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 August 1936 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mary, Queen of Scotland

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

John Ford lost interest in this film early on. He didn't think the story was very strong, and didn't like the blank verse dialog. The film did not do well at the box office and Ford seldom mentioned it in conversation. Later, during filming of Stagecoach, Ford harassed several actors, notably John Wayne, about their performances. As he began with Thomas Mitchell, who played Doc Boone, Mitchell reportedly said, "Just remember, I saw 'Mary of Scotland'". Ford left him alone for the remainder of the shoot.

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Goofs

In the movie, Mary's execution takes place outdoors. It actually took place in the great hall of Fotheringay castle.

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Quotes

Queen Elizabeth I: Rebellion! How I hate that word!

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Connections

Featured in Katharine Hepburn: All About Me (1993)

User Reviews

Great Performances and Sets

Mary of Scotland (1935)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Historical drama from RKO about the rivalry between Mary of Scots (Katharine Hepburn) and her cousin Elizabeth I (Florence Eldridge). The film follows Mary's fight for justice from 1560 to 1587 and includes her third marriage to Bothwell (Fredric March). This film was a notorious flop when it was originally released and it had a large part in Hepburn being called box office poison. Seeing the film today it's rather amazing to see how good the film actually looks considering RKO was usually just popping out very low-budget films. There were certainly a few exceptions and this here is one of them and I'm sure many will be shocked to see how much actually went into this film. The amazing sets and costumes are one of the biggest selling points to the movie. Ford knows how to make things appear epic and he does that here with these amazing sets that make you feel as if you're at the actual locations. Many times these sets are obviously on some lot but you never get that feeling here. The costumes are another major plus as they help bring a realistic nature to the film. I'm not sure what the actual budget was on the film but it really does look just as expensive as many of de Mille's epics. Another reason the film is worth viewing is the performance by Hepburn. As a devoted atheist she really does a nice job in the role of a Catholic and her religious scenes are quite moving as she's certainly giving it her all. She's very believable in the part as you can tell she's strong enough to lead all the battles that Mary had to. That strong nature of the actress clearly shows up on the screen. March is also very good in his role, although the film could have used much more of him. I was a little Luke warm on Eldridge but after a while she started to grow on me. The supporting cast includes Douglas Walton, Frieda Inescourt, Donald Crisp and John Carradine. Carradine plays the servant Rizzo and does a pretty good job with it. We also get to hear him sing a couple songs, which I'm not sure how many times he had the chance of doing that in his long career. The biggest problem with the movie is that the story is at times hard to follow as it appears like the screenplay wasn't totally sure where they wanted to take all of the events. I think at times the story just seemed to float all over the place.