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29/05/1953 Drama, History, Romance 1h 52m
58
User score

A Great and Spectacular Drama!

Overview

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.

  1. George Sidney

    Director

Top billed cast

  1. Jean Simmons

    Young Bess (Queen Elizabeth I)

  2. Stewart Granger

    Thomas Seymour

  3. Deborah Kerr

    Catherine Parr

  4. Charles Laughton

    King Henry VIII

  5. Kay Walsh

    Mrs. Ashley

  6. Guy Rolfe

    Ned Seymour

  7. Kathleen Byron

    Ann Seymour

  8. Cecil Kellaway

    Mr. Parry

  9. Rex Thompson

    Prince Edward / King Edward VI

  10. View more

Full Cast & Crew

Reviews

A review by CinemaSerf
Written by CinemaSerf on 2022-12-24
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 intrigue...read the rest
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Recommendations

  1. The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex62%
  2. Mary of Scotland62%
  3. The Young Victoria71%
  4. Lady Jane69%
  5. Queen of the Desert58%
  6. The Private Life of Henry VIII64%
  7. The Lost Husband67%
  8. Jane Eyre69%
  9. The Scarlet Empress69%
  10. Pride & Prejudice81%
  11. Far from the Madding Crowd69%
  12. Northanger Abbey68%
  13. Anna and the King of Siam61%
  14. Fire Over England62%
  15. Gone with the Wind79%
  16. Mrs Brown68%
  17. Bright Star66%
  18. A Room with a View70%
  19. Jane Eyre71%
  20. Kitty Foyle65%

Status
Released

Original Language
English

Budget
$0.00

Revenue
$0.00

Keywords