This is a hugely enjoyable, though fictionalised, historical drama about Lady Jane Grey, the de facto Queen of England for nine days in July 1553. The film is very well directed by Robert Stevenson, who later directed most live action Disney films worth mentioning from the late 1950s to the mid 1970s including "Mary Poppins" and "Bedknobs and Broomsticks". It was written by Stevenson and the wonderful character actor Miles Malleson, who also plays Jane's father the Duke of Suffolk.
Before watching it, I expected the entire film to be a portrayal of Jane's short reign but much of it is actually concerned with the Machiavellian machinations of the Lord Protector Edward Seymour and her eventual father-in-law the Earl of Warwick, better remembered as the Duke of Northumberland. Jane does not become Queen until almost an hour into the 1 hour and 19 minute film and her reign lasts for only 15 minutes on screen. At only 16, Nova Pilbeam was much the same age as Jane was in 1553. She is very effective as the Nine Days' Queen, who is portrayed as an earnest, well-meaning young girl who was manipulated by those around her, ultimately at the cost of her life. Nova Pilbeam retired from acting in 1951 but is still alive at the ripe old age of 95, making this the oldest film that I have ever seen with a surviving star. However, it will hopefully be surpassed in that regard by the 1935 version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" starring Olivia de Havilland in the not too distant future.
The film's two strongest cast members are certainly Cedric Hardwicke and Felix Aylmer, who played Warwick and Seymour respectively. Both men are depicted as being fiercely intelligent, manipulative and willing to do whatever it takes to increase their own power. Of the two, Seymour is somewhat more subtle but no less dangerous. The 28-year-old John Mills is very good as Jane's husband Lord Guildford Dudley and, in spite of their fairly significant age gap, has good chemistry with Nova Pilbeam. However, he has relatively little screen time, not making his first appearance until a full 45 minutes into the film.
In her two scene role as Mary Tudor / Queen Mary I, Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies manages to be suitably imperious as well as softer than I had expected. After proclaiming herself Queen and defeating Warwick's forces, Mary admits to Jane that she believes that she is at little fault when it comes to the plot to put her on the throne but regrets that she must execute her in any event as her position would otherwise be threatened. It's a nice bit of characterisation. Desmond Tester is strong as Edward VI, whom the film also portrays as being the victim of the plotting of Seymour (his uncle) and Warwick. The other cast members who really stood out were Sybil Thorndike as Jane's loving servant Ellen, Martita Hunt (also suitably imperious, as was her wont) as Jane's mother and, in smaller roles, John Laurie as the Protestant reformer John Knox and Frank Cellier as the dying Henry VIII.
The film has a very strong script with good characterisation for both the sympathetic characters and the antagonists. There is a great sense of foreboding which pervades the script. For instance, Thomas Seymour tells Jane not to worry her head, which she would of course eventually lose, and Jane and Lord Dudley discuss their hopes for the future on several occasions. I'm not an expert on the Tudor period but I think that it sticks to the general thrust of events. However, it condenses them considerably. In reality, there were just over seven years between Henry VIII's death and Jane's execution. While the passage of time was never really referenced in the film, it felt more like a year and a half, if that. The use of the sound of a cannon being fired to indicate when an execution had taken place was a very effective technique to get around the fact that they could not be depicted.
Incidentally, the editor of the film was Terence Fisher, one of my favourite directors who later helmed many of Hammer's best films. Aylmer, Malleson and Ffrangcon-Davies all turned up in at least one of his Hammer films decades later, with Malleson effortlessly stealing all of his scenes.
The legitimacy of Jane's brief reign is disputed but, if her status as Queen is accepted, that would mean that there were three English monarchs in 1553. As such, it is a funny but oddly appropriate coincidence that the film was released in 1936, the first and only time since 1553 that there have been three monarchs on the English / British throne in the same year!
Before watching it, I expected the entire film to be a portrayal of Jane's short reign but much of it is actually concerned with the Machiavellian machinations of the Lord Protector Edward Seymour and her eventual father-in-law the Earl of Warwick, better remembered as the Duke of Northumberland. Jane does not become Queen until almost an hour into the 1 hour and 19 minute film and her reign lasts for only 15 minutes on screen. At only 16, Nova Pilbeam was much the same age as Jane was in 1553. She is very effective as the Nine Days' Queen, who is portrayed as an earnest, well-meaning young girl who was manipulated by those around her, ultimately at the cost of her life. Nova Pilbeam retired from acting in 1951 but is still alive at the ripe old age of 95, making this the oldest film that I have ever seen with a surviving star. However, it will hopefully be surpassed in that regard by the 1935 version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" starring Olivia de Havilland in the not too distant future.
The film's two strongest cast members are certainly Cedric Hardwicke and Felix Aylmer, who played Warwick and Seymour respectively. Both men are depicted as being fiercely intelligent, manipulative and willing to do whatever it takes to increase their own power. Of the two, Seymour is somewhat more subtle but no less dangerous. The 28-year-old John Mills is very good as Jane's husband Lord Guildford Dudley and, in spite of their fairly significant age gap, has good chemistry with Nova Pilbeam. However, he has relatively little screen time, not making his first appearance until a full 45 minutes into the film.
In her two scene role as Mary Tudor / Queen Mary I, Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies manages to be suitably imperious as well as softer than I had expected. After proclaiming herself Queen and defeating Warwick's forces, Mary admits to Jane that she believes that she is at little fault when it comes to the plot to put her on the throne but regrets that she must execute her in any event as her position would otherwise be threatened. It's a nice bit of characterisation. Desmond Tester is strong as Edward VI, whom the film also portrays as being the victim of the plotting of Seymour (his uncle) and Warwick. The other cast members who really stood out were Sybil Thorndike as Jane's loving servant Ellen, Martita Hunt (also suitably imperious, as was her wont) as Jane's mother and, in smaller roles, John Laurie as the Protestant reformer John Knox and Frank Cellier as the dying Henry VIII.
The film has a very strong script with good characterisation for both the sympathetic characters and the antagonists. There is a great sense of foreboding which pervades the script. For instance, Thomas Seymour tells Jane not to worry her head, which she would of course eventually lose, and Jane and Lord Dudley discuss their hopes for the future on several occasions. I'm not an expert on the Tudor period but I think that it sticks to the general thrust of events. However, it condenses them considerably. In reality, there were just over seven years between Henry VIII's death and Jane's execution. While the passage of time was never really referenced in the film, it felt more like a year and a half, if that. The use of the sound of a cannon being fired to indicate when an execution had taken place was a very effective technique to get around the fact that they could not be depicted.
Incidentally, the editor of the film was Terence Fisher, one of my favourite directors who later helmed many of Hammer's best films. Aylmer, Malleson and Ffrangcon-Davies all turned up in at least one of his Hammer films decades later, with Malleson effortlessly stealing all of his scenes.
The legitimacy of Jane's brief reign is disputed but, if her status as Queen is accepted, that would mean that there were three English monarchs in 1553. As such, it is a funny but oddly appropriate coincidence that the film was released in 1936, the first and only time since 1553 that there have been three monarchs on the English / British throne in the same year!