Nine Days a Queen (1936)

A dramatization of Lady Jane Grey's short life, from her forced marriage (which she resisted), to her brief reign as monarch of England, and finally to her beheading. This movie portrays ... See full summary »

Director:

Robert Stevenson

Writers:

Robert Stevenson, Miles Malleson (dialogue)

Stars:

Nova Pilbeam, Cedric Hardwicke, John Mills

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Nova Pilbeam	...	Lady Jane Grey
Cedric Hardwicke	...	Earl of Warwick
John Mills	...	Lord Guilford Dudley
Felix Aylmer	...	Edward Seymour
Leslie Perrins	...	Thomas Seymour
Frank Cellier	...	Henry VIII
Desmond Tester	...	Edward VI
Gwen Ffrangcon Davies	...	Mary Tudor (as Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies)
Martita Hunt	...	Jane's Mother
Miles Malleson	...	Jane's Father
Sybil Thorndike	...	Ellen

Storyline

A dramatization of Lady Jane Grey's short life, from her forced marriage (which she resisted), to her brief reign as monarch of England, and finally to her beheading. This movie portrays her as an innocent set up for the slaughter, while the scheming courtiers and pretenders to the throne barely pay her mind, as they stab each other in the back in their attempts to gain power and influence.

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Plot Keywords:

deception | beheading | plant in title | tutor | royalty | 

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Genres:

Drama | History

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 September 1936 (USA)

Also Known As:

Nine Days a Queen

Filming Locations:

Islington, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gainsborough Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This movie was voted the second best British movie of 1936, after The Ghost Goes West (1935).

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Soundtracks

Sumer Is Icumen In
(uncredited)
Traditional
Arranged by Hubert Bath

User Reviews

First film to dramatise the story of Lady Jane Grey

This film is a misfire, but it was hard to put my finger on why, at first. The acting is superb, led by Sir Cedric Hardwicke as the Duke of Northumberland, Nova Pilbeam as Jane Grey, a young John Mills as Guilford Dudley, and fine character actors such as Miles Malleson and John Laurie, to name but a few. The camera work and particularly the lighting make for many a striking composition. The music, however, though of adequate period flavour, is what pulls down all of the proceedings. It is simply too dull, too slow, and entirely out of sync with the tone of many scenes. A score by someone of the calibre of, say, Miklos Rozsa would have worked wonders with this picture! Or John Greenwood, Muir Mathieson, or any number of musicians who worked on British films in the 1930s. Alas...

Also, I was surprised at how patently ignored Lady Jane Grey's faith in Christ was. Only John Knox (played by Laurie) or those surrounding her execution make any mention of God or the Scriptures. This is one area that was more satisfactorily explored in the 1986 film "Lady Jane" (with Helena Bonham Carter playing the title role).