Bertie and Elizabeth (2002) (TV)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Giles Foster

Writer:

Nigel Williams (writer)

Release Date:

2 April 2002 (New Zealand)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

The duke of York, nicknamed Bertie, was born as royal 'spare heir', younger brother to the prince of Wales...

Plot Keywords:

Queen | Resignation | Great Britain | Windsor | Windsor Castle

Cast

James Wilby	...	King George VI, aka 'Bertie'
Alan Bates	...	King George V
Eileen Atkins	...	Queen Mary
Dolly Wells	...	Princess Mary
William Mickleburgh	...	James Stuart
Juliet Aubrey	...	Queen Elizabeth
Barbara Leigh-Hunt	...	Lady Mabel Airlie
Rupert Wickham	...	Equerry
Charles Edwards	...	David - Edward VIII
Alexandra Staden	...	Young Woman
Nicholas Pritchard	...	J.C. Davidson
Oliver Ford Davies	...	Archbishop Lang
Geoffrey Beevers	...	Earl of Strathmore
Deborah Cornelius	...	Thelma Furness
Michael Elwyn	...	Lionel Logue

Runtime:

USA:120 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Bath Abbey, Bath, Somerset, England, UK

Company:

Carlton Television

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Montgomery comes to the palace after the Battle of Alamein, Princess Elizabeth is wearing ATS uniform. Alamein was in 1942. Elizabeth didn't join the Army until 1945 (she was only 16 in 1942).

Movie Connections:

Follows "Edward & Mrs. Simpson" (1978)

Casting Problem

I just watched this movie on PBS and didn't know it actually came out in '02. It is an enjoyable enough piece of Masterpiece Theatre-ish production about the English royals. Not overly familiar with the events and characters the film portrays, I was reasonably entertained. I do, however, have some problems with the casting, especially of James Wilby. I've seen his star turns in Maurice and A Tales of Two Cities and I do think he is a mighty fine actor. Unfortunately, I can't get over the distraction that, at the time of the production, he was 44 and he simply couldn't play a man in his 20s. Bertie first met Elizabeth when he was 25 and married her at 28. The scene when Elizabeth accepts his proposal and Bertie jumps up and down joyously is a good indication of what I'm talking about. It is painful and rather embarrassing to watch James acting like a gen-xer when he obviously looks much, much older. Ditto the scene when the brothers were rough housing in the garden party. I hate to say this, but he is not aging gracefully. Less distracting is the age difference between Juliet Aubrey who plays Elizabeth but still you wonder if the characters are in their thirties in the early scenes. Charles Edwards who plays Edward 8th has the reverse problem. The actor was 33 at the time and when his character goes back to meet with Bertie at the end of WW2, Edward should be around 50, yet he hasn't aged a day and he always looks younger than James Wilby no matter what time period they are in. I was just very bothered by this casting problem, another than that, it is an okay telepic.