Once I got past the British-Empire agitprop (which seems to belong in another film) I was caught up in the story of the scandalous Emma Hamilton and her Lord Nelson. I've never thought that much of Alexander Korda as a director but here his florid style is perfect for the material. One sequence sticks in my mind: the shot of Vivian Leigh running across rooms and terraces to meet up Laurence Olivier while the Miklos Roza score wails away - very effective. Most of the cast is up to par - Though I found Olivier to be a little dull and no match for the dynamic Ms Leigh. The shot of her face as she reacts to Nelsons' death is amazing and very moving. Though on the surface the filmmakers do seem to be trying to hit us over the head with 1940's family morality in condemning their relationship, there is something subversive about the film in that you do root for the couple. The moralizing is easy to ignore even with the sad ending for Lady Hamilton (which is historically accurate).
Review of That Hamilton Woman
