Queen of Destiny (1938)

Picking up where Victoria the Great (1937) left off, this sequel to the 1937 film has Anna Neagle return to the role of Queen Victoria in another colorful account of the revered British ... See full summary »

Director:

Herbert Wilcox

Writers:

Miles Malleson, Robert Vansittart (dialogue)

Stars:

Anna Neagle, Anton Walbrook, C. Aubrey Smith

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anna Neagle	...	Queen Victoria
Anton Walbrook	...	Prince Albert
C. Aubrey Smith	...	Duke of Wellington
Walter Rilla	...	Prince Ernst
Charles Carson	...	Sir Robert Peel
Felix Aylmer	...	Lord Palmerston
Lewis Casson	...	Lord John Russell
Pamela Standish	...	Princess Royal
Gordon McLeod	...	John Brown
Henry Hallatt	...	Joseph Chamberlain
Wyndham Goldie	...	Arthur J. Balfour
Malcolm Keen	...	William E. Gladstone
Frederick Leister	...	Herbert H. Asquith
Derrick De Marney	...	Benjamin Disraeli
Joyce Bland	...	Florence Nightingale

Storyline

Picking up where Victoria the Great (1937) left off, this sequel to the 1937 film has Anna Neagle return to the role of Queen Victoria in another colorful account of the revered British monarch's reign. This film offers a stellar chronicle of Victoria's relationship with Prince Albert (Anton Walbrook) as well as the political and military upheavals that characterized her time as Queen.

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Plot Keywords:

benjamin disraeli character | prince albert character | queen victoria character | william ewart gladstone character | british history | 

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Taglines:

A picture to storm your heart and sweep your senses . . . Drama behind palace doors . . . Drama on the battlefield . . . A world of conflict and emotion, brought to you in a picture that for sheer beauty and magnitude stands alone! . . . Don't Miss It!

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Anna Neagle (Queen Victoria) was married to the director Herbert Wilcox from 1943 to 1977.

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Quotes

Duke of Wellington: She's as obstinate as a wagon-load of monkeys.

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Connections

Follows Victoria the Great (1937)

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Soundtracks

Ye Banks and Braes
(uncredited)
Traditional
Arranged by Anthony Collins

User Reviews

Gallop through history

I caught this when it was shown on a digital channel as a last-minute replacement recently. In the UK at least there has been a lot about Queen Victoria recently as last month was the one hundredth anniversary of her death.

I understand that this film is largely a colour remake of the earlier 'Victoria the Great', made in black and white with much of the same cast a year earlier, but which concentrated much more on the Queen's early life. This film opens with her already Queen and largely deals with her life with Albert until his death in 1861. The rest of the film is a very quick gallop through the political ups and downs and technological achievements of the last 40 years she was on the throne.

Dame Anna Neagle, whose husband Herbert Wilcox was the producer of this, is less imperious than perhaps she could have been, but I suppose one must remember that this was made 62 years ago and the Queen had only then been dead some 37 years.

The sets and costumes are sumptuous, the expense when this was made must have been immense. It would also appear that the Palace, having seen the success of the earlier film, and the Royal family being shell-shocked by in the Abdication, saw this as a blessed piece of positive spin. The result is that this has exteriors shot at Balmoral, Windsor Castle, Osborne House (where much of 'Mrs Brown' was filmed) and Buckingham Palace, where they appeared to have had access to the inner courtyard which has probably unprecedented for the time. I don't believe any other commercial film has had permission to film inside Buckingham Palace.

The history is accurate if sanitised but it all seems a little stilted to modern ears but is still worth a look, museum piece as it is.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 August 1940 (USA)

Also Known As:

Queen of Destiny

Filming Locations:

Balmoral Castle, Easter Balmoral, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Herbert Wilcox Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1