Young Bess (1953)

The early life of Elizabeth I, from her childhood until her accession to the throne of England in 1558.

Director:

George Sidney

Writers:

Margaret Irwin (based on the novel by), Jan Lustig

Stars:

Jean Simmons, Stewart Granger, Deborah Kerr

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jean Simmons	...	Young Bess (Queen Elizabeth I)
Stewart Granger	...	Thomas Seymour
Deborah Kerr	...	Catherine Parr
Charles Laughton	...	King Henry VIII
Kay Walsh	...	Mrs. Ashley
Guy Rolfe	...	Ned Seymour
Kathleen Byron	...	Ann Seymour
Cecil Kellaway	...	Mr. Parry
Rex Thompson	...	Prince Edward / King Edward VI
Robert Arthur	...	Barnaby
Leo G. Carroll	...	Mr. Mums
Norma Varden	...	Lady Tyrwhitt
Alan Napier	...	Robert Tyrwhitt
Noreen Corcoran	...	Bess as a child
Ivan Triesault	...	Danish Envoy

Storyline

Chronicles the life of queen Elizabeth I, before she became the queen of England. Apart from taking part in the court intrigues, she is unhappily in love with admiral Thomas Seymour, and dreams of building a navy to match the Portuguese and the Spanish.

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Plot Keywords:

woodpile | character name as title | king edward vi character | king henry viii character | queen elizabeth i character | 

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Taglines:

The Love Story of a Princess

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 May 1953 (USA)

Also Known As:

Die Thronfolgerin

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,423,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Vivien Leigh had a life long movie contract with Metro Goldwyn Mayer since making A Yank at Oxford (1938) where as she was sent scripts for first refusal and this movie was one of them. Leigh turned down the role of Bess due to acting obligations in her home country of England.

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Goofs

The film shows Anne Boleyn lowering her head to the block to be executed as many traitors of that time were executed. Although the ax is not shown, the fact is that Anne Boleyn was executed in the "French style" - by a sword, kneeling with head erect, and not by an ax.

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Quotes

Prince Edward: [muttering to Tom about Uncle Ned, who rules while Edward is King as a minor] I wish he'd die.
Thomas Seymour: What? What was that?
Prince Edward: I said, I wish he'd die. D-Y-E.
Thomas Seymour: It's the wrong spelling.
Prince Edward: [nonchalant] Oh, is it?
Ned Seymour: What is Your Majesty talking about?
Prince Edward: Spelling. Nobody knows for certain how to spell the King's English.
Ned Seymour: The spelling is not important, so long as the word carries the right meaning.
Thomas Seymour: The word His Majesty had *exactly* the right meaning.

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Connections

Featured in The World According to Smith & Jones: The Tudors (1987)

User Reviews

Re-Writing History!

This is what happens when a film studio and a novelist places history on the big screen. Historical accuracy and truth takes second place when it comes to spinning a yarn. I just hope when kids watch this film, they do not rely on it as facts for their education. The real story itself was intriguing enough without having to bend the truth. So, why did they?

Anyway, in the film, Elizabeth (I) was madly in love with Thomas Seymour. From historical records, Thomas was supposedly the person who made advances on Elizabeth (I) but was unsuccessful. In the film, Edward Seymour was seen as a callous power hungry puppeteer in the royal court. In history, he was a successful military man when he battled oppositions at Pinkie, Scotland (1547). Edward was also responsible for religious reforms and in relaxing heresy and treason laws. In the film, he sent his brother Thomas to the scaffold because of his paranoia over power struggle threats. In history, the execution of Thomas by the council in 1549 was a significant blow to Edward and it weakened his power in England. The eventual arrest and execution of Edward in 1552 was conspired by John Dudley, Earl of Warwick and Thomas Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton to remove Seymour's protectorate power over his nephew, King Edward VI. Edward VI died at the age of 15 in 1553. Dudley induced the council to proclaim his daughter-in-law, Lady Jane Grey, as queen after Edward VI's death. Dudley was executed in 1554 by Mary (I) for treason.

Of course, there's no way of knowing precisely what really happened in history. But in rationale, a person should not be defamed or condemned (as in the case of Edward Seymour) based on hearsay, idle gossip, a romantic novel or a chick flick, even if they are dead over a few centuries. In theory, anyhow.

Anyway, I did enjoy this film as pure entertainment. Walter Plunkett's costume design was magnificent and the whole cast was superb. Miklos Rozsa's emotional music score was an incredible soul wrenching delight.

Is it worth seeing? Yes, definitely! It's entertaining, well acted and beautifully produced.