The Heart of a Queen (1940)
"Das Herz der Königin" (original title)

While awaiting her unjust execution at the hands of the treacherous Queen Elizabeth I, the tragic Mary Stuart reflects at the series of cruel political machinations that set up her path to the scaffold.

Director:

Carl Froelich

Writers:

Harald Braun (novel), Harald Braun (screenplay),

Stars:

Zarah Leander, Willy Birgel, Hans Mierendorff

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Zarah Leander	...	Mary Queen of Scots
Willy Birgel	...	Lord Bothwell
Hans Mierendorff
Maria Koppenhöfer	...	Queen Elizabeth I. of England
Lotte Koch	...	Lady Johanna Gordon
Axel von Ambesser	...	Prinz Henry Darnley
Friedrich Benfer	...	David Riccio
Ernst Stahl-Nachbaur	...	Jon Knox
Walther Süssenguth	...	Lord Jacob Stuart
Odo Krohmann	...	Lord Morton
Herbert Hübner	...	Lord Arran
Emil Heß	...	Lord Douglas (as Emil Hess)
Karl Haubenreißer	...	Lord Balfour
Rudolf Klein-Rogge	...	General Ruthven
Anneliese von Eschstruth	...	Eine der vier Marys

Storyline

As the title "The Queen's Heart" suggests, this early German black and white version of Mary Queen of Scott's eventful reign and death focuses on her emotional perception rather lyrically, with some songs, mainly by her. Starting in the Tower, awaiting and receiving her sentence to the ax from the English court, where Elisabeth I chose to remain absent in person, we flash back to Mary's arrival after a long exile at the sophisticated, splendidly hedonistic French royal court, where she was raised as a Catholic, in her people's eyes effeminate or even depraved, elegant pleasure-accustomed lady, at utter odds with the stern Scottish protestantism of John Knox as well as England's Anglicanism. No less rugged and troublesome, even turning bloody, are Mary's affairs with Lord Henry Darnley, a Scottish-born dandy favorite Elisabeth sent her, who becomes Mary's unfaithful king-consort to give Scotland a male heir, James Stewart, and with true stern Scottish Lord Bothwell, who by any means -...

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Plot Keywords:

16th century | execution | historical event | towel | bathing | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

1953 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

The Heart of a Queen

Filming Locations:

Froelich-Atelier, Tempelhof, Berlin, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Carl Froelich-Film GmbH (I), Universum Film (UFA)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Version of Pulitzer Prize Playhouse: Mary of Scotland (1951)

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Soundtracks

"Wo ist dein Herz?"
Sung by Zarah Leander

User Reviews

Quite a fine film!

A beautiful and moving film with some sequences of song and dumb-show leaving the spectator spellbound...a mix of the German sense of poetry and doom and of something almost like Bergman's Seventh Seal. Fine black and white photography, proper attention paid to every detail. Minor parts are all remarkable and even Birgel's swagger and Lotte Koch's half-dazed performance are intriguing. Zarah Leander at her best!