Movie Cosmos - Young Bess

Description:

The mother died under the executioner's axe; the daughter rose to become England's greatest monarch -- the brilliant and cunning Queen Elizabeth I. Jean Simmons portrays young Bess in this rich tapestry of a film that traces the tumultuous, danger-fraught years from Elizabeth's birth to her unexpected ascension to the throne at a mere 25. Charles Laughton reprises his Academy Award®-winning* role as her formidable father Henry VIII. Deborah Kerr plays her last stepmother (and Henry's last of six wives), gentle Catherine Parr. And Simmons' then real-life husband, Stewart Granger, adds heroics as Lord Admiral Thomas Seymour. In a resplendent world of adventure, romance and court intrigue, Young Bess reigns.

Top Cast >

Jean Simmons

As Young Bess (Queen Elizabeth I)

Stewart Granger

As Thomas Seymour

Deborah Kerr

As Catherine Parr

Charles Laughton

As King Henry VIII

Kay Walsh

As Mrs. Ashley

Guy Rolfe

As Ned Seymour

Kathleen Byron

As Ann Seymour

Cecil Kellaway

As Mr. Parry

Rex Thompson

As Prince Edward / King Edward VI

Robert Arthur

As Barnaby

Leo G. Carroll

As Mr. Mums

Norma Varden

As Lady Tyrwhitt

Alan Napier

As Robert Tyrwhitt

Noreen Corcoran

As Bess as a child

Ivan Triesault

As Danish Envoy

Elaine Stewart

As Anne Boleyn

Dawn Addams

As Kate Howard

Doris Lloyd

As Mother Jack

Lumsden Hare

As Archbishop Cranmer

Lester Matthews

As Sir William Paget

Patrick Whyte

As Officer

Top Crew >

George Sidney

Director

Margaret Irwin

Novel

Arthur Wimperis

Screenplay

Charles Rosher

Director of Photography

Jan Lustig

Screenplay

Henri Jaffa

Colorist

George Rhein

Assistant Director

A. Arnold Gillespie

Special Effects

Warren Newcombe

Special Effects

Sydney Guilaroff

Hairstylist

William Tuttle

Makeup Artist

Ralph E. Winters

Editor

Walter Plunkett

Costume Design

Miklós Rózsa

Original Music Composer

Cedric Gibbons

Art Direction

Urie McCleary

Art Direction

Jack D. Moore

Set Decoration

Edwin B. Willis

Set Decoration

Sidney Franklin

Producer

Douglas Shearer

Recording Supervision

Reviews:

CinemaSerf (7/10)

Maybe not quite how it actually happened, but this was Hollywood, remember. Jean Simmons plays the Princess Elizabeth brought up in rags and riches depending on the whim of her father Henry VIII (rather rumbustiously played by Charles Laughton). Meantime Thomas Seymour (a handsome, swashbuckling rogue played by Stewart Granger) is marrying Henry's widow Catherine Parr (Deborah Kerr) and so we have our menage-a-trois. History is fact about the marriage; much less so about the "love affair" between Elizabeth and Seymour. This film follows her coming-of-age as she navigates the political intrigues after her father's death. It's is colourful and engaging - her two servants add quite a lot too. It's entertainment though, nothing too educational.

2022-12-24