The Sword and the Rose (1953)

During the reign of Henry VIII, Mary Tudor seeks to flee a forced marriage with the French king by escaping to America with her true love, but her plans are not so easily executed.

Director:

Ken Annakin

Writers:

Lawrence Edward Watkin (screenplay), Charles Major (novel)

Stars:

Richard Todd, Glynis Johns, James Robertson Justice

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Glynis Johns	...	Princess Mary Tudor
Richard Todd	...	Charles Brandon
James Robertson Justice	...	King Henry VIII
Michael Gough	...	Duke of Buckingham
Jane Barrett	...	Lady Margaret
Peter Copley	...	Sir Edwin Caskoden
Rosalie Crutchley	...	Queen Katherine
D.A. Clarke-Smith	...	Cardinal Wolsey
Ernest Jay	...	Lord Chamberlain
John Vere	...	Lawyer Clerk
Philip Lennard	...	Chaplain
Bryan Coleman	...	Earl of Surrey
Phillip Glasier	...	Royal Falconer
Jean Mercure	...	King Louis XII
Gérard Oury	...	Dauphin of France (as Gerard Oury)

Storyline

Tells the story of Mary Tudor and her troubled path to true love. Henry VIII, for political reasons, determines to wed her to the King of France. She tries to flee to America with her love but is captured when she is "un-hatted" on board ship. In return for her consent to the marriage with France, Henry agrees to let her choose her second husband. When King Louis of France dies, Mary is kidnaped by the Duke of Buckingham. He tries to force her to marry him but she is rescued by her love in an exciting battle on the beach.

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Plot Keywords:

king | held at sword point | shootout on a beach | rescue mission | rapier | 

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Taglines:

NOW! WALT DISNEY BRINGS NEW EXCITEMENT TO ROMANCE!

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Family | History

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Official Sites:

Disney's Official Site

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 July 1953 (USA)

Also Known As:

When Knighthood Was in Flower

Filming Locations:

Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Gross USA:

$1,000,000, 31 December 1953

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,500,000, 31 December 1953

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Walt Disney green lit this film as he thought it would be nominated for Best Picture Academy Award at the 1954 Oscars.

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Quotes

Charles Brandon: O Mary mine, wert thou a burgher's daughter, and with thy fair self in every other way, I'd take thee with me o'er the perilous water to the New World, where none could say us nay. O Mary mine - fair jewel, star set in the heaven above - thou art a Princess in a world apart... of castles, diadems, and of courtly love beyond my dreams. For kings will give thee gold, and princes bring thee gems from distant lands. The only wealth that I may ever hold are these fair flowers for thy maiden hands - ...

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Connections

Referenced in The Age of Believing: The Disney Live Action Classics (2008)

User Reviews

The Most Delightful Screenplay of Any Disney Live-Action Film

Amazingly, although this film is 62 years old, having come out when I was a teenager, and stars a load of some of my favorite English actors (Glynis Johns, James Robertson Justice and Michael Gough, to name only three), I had never seen it until tonight. I was absolutely amazed at how delightful it was, how great and authentic every scene in it looked, how seriously the actors took their very excellent dialogue - it's a bit more of a comedy than anything else, but it has its dramatic moments - and just the general air of intelligence that permeated what was, of course, a Disney film primarily intended for young audiences. Yet much in the screenplay was quite adult, perhaps most especially Mary Tudor's idea of getting the old French King (and her new husband) to imbibe liberally of the wine at their wedding festivities in order to incapacitate him and not have to consummate their marriage that night. That may not be very much in 2015, but in 1953 it was nearly licentious and quite a great deal to put into a Disney film meant primarily for kids. Of course, the trick here is that if one accepts the overly romantic nature of the film, it is one that will appeal to most intelligent adults, too, if only due to the excellence of the dialogue in the hands of Johns and Justice. And at the start I actually thought Michael Gough was going to play somebody truly noble - Michael Gough, noble? - but by the middle of the film he was deep into his usual villainy; one should never trust Michael Gough any more than one might have trusted Victor Jory a decade or two earlier! Anyway, the wrestling scene, the Mary Tudor ball and the dance introduced into it, the hunting scene, etc. looked totally authentic to me, whether they really were or not, and remember folks, this is all make-believe and made to be enjoyed rather than examined too closely. All in all, I think this has immediately become my favorite Disney live-action film (certainly of the "costume-variety" ones) thanks to the wonderful give-and-take of the dialogue. I think it achieves 100% of what was intended by its makers, and it's hard to find fault with that!