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Fire Over England (1937)
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Overview
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Release Date:
5 March 1937 (USA)
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Tagline:
. . . A truly brilliant producer brings you a thrilling tale of love and danger that will live in your memory as long as there is romance in your heart !
Plot:
Queen Elizabeth is running this show. The men in her court should be thinking about how to add to the...
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FIRE OVER ENGLAND (William K. Howard, 1937) ***1/2
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Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | Flora Robson | ... | Queen Elizabeth I of England |
| Raymond Massey | ... | King Philip II of Spain |
| Leslie Banks | ... | Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester |
 | Laurence Olivier | ... | Michael Ingolby |
 | Vivien Leigh | ... | Cynthia |
| Morton Selten | ... | Lord Burleigh |
| Tamara Desni | ... | Elena |
| Lyn Harding | ... | Sir Richard Ingolby |
| George Thirlwell | ... | Mr. Lawrence Gregory |
| Henry Oscar | ... | Spanish Ambassador |
| Robert Rendel | ... | Don Miguel (as Robert Rendell) |
| Robert Newton | ... | Don Pedro |
| Donald Calthrop | ... | Don Escobal |
| Charles Carson | ... | Adm. Valdez |
 | James Mason | ... | Hillary Vane |
Additional Details
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Runtime:
92 min
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Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Wide Range Noiseless Recording)
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Fun Stuff
Trivia:
When Korda re-released this film circa 1944, he commissioned a new trailer which implied that James Mason (by then a huge box office star for rival studio Gainsborough) was a major star of the film. In fact, Mason plays a tiny role in “Fire Over England” and his name does not even appear in the credits!
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Quotes:
Spanish Ambassador:
If your majesty will not hear words, we must come to cannon and see if you will hear them.
Queen Elizabeth I of England: If you use threats of that kind, I will chase you out of my kingdom.
Spanish Ambassador: But, your grace. You MUST listen.
Queen Elizabeth I of England: Must? Little man, little man, must is NOT a word to use to princes. Our council shall confer with you. Meanwhile, go home and be quiet!
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Queen Elizabeth I of England: If you use threats of that kind, I will chase you out of my kingdom.
Spanish Ambassador: But, your grace. You MUST listen.
Queen Elizabeth I of England: Must? Little man, little man, must is NOT a word to use to princes. Our council shall confer with you. Meanwhile, go home and be quiet!
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Movie Connections:
Featured in "In Search of Shakespeare" (2003)
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Soundtrack:
The Spanish Lady's Love
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Renowned and handsomely-mounted early British spectacular with imposing credentials – producers Alexander Korda and Erich Pommer, cinematographer James Wong Howe, art director Lazare Meerson, special effects creator Ned Mann – and a cast virtually assembling the cream of the crop working in the country at that particular moment – Laurence Olivier, Flora Robson, Leslie Banks, Vivien Leigh, Raymond Massey, Robert Newton, James Mason – all of which is complemented by a suitably rousing score from Richard Addinsell.
The narrative revolves around the planned invasion of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I by the Spanish armada of King Philip II (with help from British traitors); the former is magnificently embodied by Robson (who would eventually return to the role in Hollywood for the Errol Flynn vehicle THE SEA HAWK [1940]), while the latter is played by Massey as a sleek but cagey monarch. With one of the dissidents among her ranks (Mason) intercepted, the English Queen appoints a young naval officer (Olivier) – who had just lost his admiral father to the Spanish Inquisition – to assume the conniver's identity and travel to Philip's court in order to obtain the names of his associates and establish the enemy's strategy for attack. Complications arise when one of the Spanish ruler's subordinates (Newton) is revealed to be married to the woman (pretty Tamara Desni – the German-born Russian actress died in France only last month at the venerable age of 97!) who had previously cared for the wounded Olivier, their respective fathers having been the best of friends. Torn between betraying his country or his wife, Newton engineers Olivier's flight home – whereupon the latter receives a knighthood, before being promptly sent by his sovereign (along with the conspirators newly-swayed to patriotic duty) on a mission to destroy the approaching enemy fleet!
The film maintains a good balance throughout between romance (thanks to Olivier's matinée' idol looks, he's briefly involved with Desni apart from his love interest in England – provided by future wife Leigh, as the Queen's lady-in-waiting, in the first of three on-screen collaborations…though Robson herself is shown carrying a hesitant torch for veteran and devoted chief adviser Banks!), intrigue (in effect at both camps), action (including raids by pirate ships, a couple of chases, discreet swordplay and culminating in the final elaborate fiery offensive) and propaganda (WWII was already looming at this point). While the print I viewed turned out to be anything but pristine, I was grateful to have finally caught this altogether splendid historical epic; incidentally, I'd become acquainted with several wonderful Korda productions over the years on both Italian TV and VHS – but, oddly enough, FIRE OVER ENGLAND itself seldom turned up until now in my neck of the woods!