Customer Reviews

Fire Over England [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of the best-scripted of all cinematic costume dramas, even if that script does require the young Laurence Olivier to sing (sounding strangely like Noel Coward as he does). Vivien Leigh is perfect as the young lady-in-waiting envied by the ageing Elizabeth, who finally manages to renounce her dreams of lost youth; James Mason makes a fine villain; and above all Flora Robson makes a seriously convincing and complex Elizabeth, politic and inspiring all at once. It makes more recent movies about Elizabeth look sadly shallow and trite.

Fire Over England is a very satisfying historical drama, with superbperformances by all. It is set around the english spanish conflict of the 16th century. An aging Queen Elizabeth must deal with not only a threat from Spain, but traitors within her court, secretly plotting her downfall. The young Laurence Olivier is sent to Spain to uncover the plot against the Queen. Upon his return, he is knighted and charged with leading the troops into battle. A very young, angelic Vivien Leigh plays a lady in waiting to the Queen, and is Laurence's love interest. Their scenes together are a sweet and lovely highlight. Laurence shines as the dashing romantic hero. And Vivien is equally compelling in her clashes with an ageing queen, ever resentful of the much younger and more beautiful maiden who holds the heart of the handsome, passionate young man. Flora Robson is fabulous as the queen, as is the entire cast. My favourite line in the movie is "If we are to treat our enenemies as friends, than they cease to be our enemies", or something to that effect anyway. Wise words indeed.

Definitely a wonderful movie, Fire over England, brings to the screen the story of a young English naval officer as he strives to uncover a plot, find the conspirators and warn the Queen of the imminent threat of foreign invasion.
The setting is 1558 England. King Philip of Spain has collected enough gold from the colonies in the Americas that he has built the Spanish Armada. In addition he has set up a network of spies and operatives in Queen Elizabeth's court who serve as his eyes and ears in England.
The clash between England and Spain is as fascinating as the conflict between Protestantism and Catholicism, and both are presented very well in the film.
Needless to say, the Hollywood heavyweights Vivien Leigh and Lawrence Olivier as well as the rest of the cast have truly outdone themselves with their performances, which are outstanding to say the least!
The only setback is that Fire over England is a 1937 film and compared to modern films, or even epics of the time such as Gone with the Wind, falls short of being a masterpiece.
Nevertheless, the film combines drama, action, and romance, making it one of the best of its kind.
The setting, the dialogues, the music and the costumes are all wonderful!
History, Intrigue, Duty, Love, Passion, and Honor, are all about.
It is a movie worth watching, especially for those with a soft spot for History!

This is a period piece set at the time of the Spanish Armada which is little known to Americans. This is a shame since it is a fairly good one.

The action does not focus so much on the Armada as it does on the political intrigues leading to it. It also focuses on a love story between English, Lawrence Olivier and the half Spanish Vivian Leigh. When all is said and done, it is their story. The threat of invasion is just the backdrop. Both of these big name Hollywood stars do a wonderful job but neither does as good a job as Flora Robson who plays Elizabeth I. She does not get as much screen time as the others but her portrayal of the English monarch must rank as definitive. It is a role she reprised in the Hollywood epic, THE SEAK HAWK, with Errol Flynn.

The movie is not great but it is a highly enjoyable period piece. Enjoy it.

"Fire Over England" is a film classic but not this DVD. The sound is adequate but the picture quality is very poor. A pity.

This historical drama pairs husband and wife team, Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier, as courtiers drawn to each other during the reign of Elizabeth I (Flora Robson). The focus of the drama is not on their romance, however, but on the defeat of the seemingly invincible Spanish Armada.

Here, Olivier is sent on an undercover mission to Phillip of Spain (Raymond Massey), after a plot to depose Elizabeth I is discovered, as the traitors appear to have trafficked with Spain on this issue. Olivier masquerades as one of the traitors in an effort to discover more information as to the other plotters. Olivier is ultimately found out but manages to escape, and the Spanish Armada is roundly defeated.

Flora Robson is magnificent as Elizabeth I, sounding every bit the Queen, though her looks are plebeian rather than patrician. Olivier is as hammy as ever, while Leigh is as delightful as she is beautiful. Raymond Massey is terrific as the fervently catholic Phillip of Spain. The sea battle in which the Spanish Armada is roundly defeated is, however, strictly Mickey Mouse in terms of production values. Still, this is a moderately entertaining historical drama. The video, however, is of poor quality with a loud static sound making some of the dialogue almost inaudible. It is unfortunate, as one's viewing experience is diminished by this.

My family enjoyed this picture very much. It was well written, and my Sister even recognized the uncredited James Mason in the film. The acting was superb (Flora Robson made a very regal Queen Elizabeth I). Well worth watching!

Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier were already in love during production of this film and it`s because of them this is still of interest. Flora Robson still excell(she was to meet Vivien as her servant Ftattateeta in CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA - by the way my first review on this site on this very day - and a nice switch since Vivien is Robson`s lady-in-waiting here)...

The battle was always a bathtub-affair(noted even in 1936). Olivier`s crying of grief was cut in the US because the thought of the time was that is wasn`t manly enough.

Note also a cameo by James Mason in an ealy scene. Vivien Leigh is at her best and it`s the only film pre-Scarlett that she gives a star performance.

The film does have a good storyline, but halts because we miss the interplay between Leigh and Olivier when their not on screen together....

Shekhar Kapur could learn from this film--how to bend the facts for the sake of drama without tossing history to the winds. Robson's depiction of Elizabeth was superb. I thought Glenda Jackson was very good, and Blanchett not so great as all that, but Flora was extraordinary and right on the money. I think it may be too harsh to condemn the Armada scenes as amateurish, by the way. This was 1937 after all, and they didn't have CGI.

Olivier and Leigh. The husband and wife team of the 40s. Preceded by Fairbanks and Pickford, contemporary with Gable and Lombard and followed by Taylor and Burton.

"Fire Over England" was the first pairing of Laurence Olivier (1907-1989) and his future wife Vivien Leigh (1913-67). They met in 1935 and began their affair during this film. They made several films together, including "Wuthering Heights" (1939) and "That Hamilton Woman" (1941), and toured together many times in performances of "Anthony and Cleopatra", "MacBeth", "Twelfth Night", and "The School for Scandal". They divorced in 1960.

Leigh is best known for her stunning performances in "GWTW" (1939) as Scarlett O'Hara and as Blanche DuBois in "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951) - she won the Oscar both times. Eventually physical problems, a miscarriage, and the difficulty of living with Olivier would take their toll and she began a slow descent into madness, perhaps precipitated by the 326 performances as DuBois on stage in London followed by months filming the movie. Between 1955 and 1965 she made only 1 film, but she carried on with her theatre work and even won a Tony in 1963. Her last film appearance was in 1965 ("Ship of Fools").

Olivier was nominated for an Oscar 10 times, from 1939 ("Wuthering Heights") to 1978 ("Boys from Brazil"), and won in 1949 for "Hamlet". He appeared in 80+ films, usually as an Englishman or in films based in England. His prime period had been in the 40s, and he made few films in the 50s, probably because of all the personal problems he was having. He appears as #14 on the AFI list of Top 50 Screen Legends.

Flora Robson (1902-84) appeared in more than 50 films and was nominated for an Oscar for her role in "Saratoga Trunk" (1945). She played Elizabeth in this film and reprised her role for "The Sea Hawk" (1940), another Alexander Korda film. Many people believe that she is the definitive Elizabeth, although my preference would be Bette Davis in "Essex and Elizabeth" (1939). Other actresses who've played Elizabeth include Glenda Jackson (1971), Helen Mirren (2005), Sarah Bernhardt (1912) and Cate Blanchett (1998, 2007). Actresses who played Elizabeth twice include Robson, Bette Davis (1938, 1955) and Cate Blanchett (1998, 2007).

BTW - Robson was only 35 when she appeared in this film. By comparison, Bette Davis was 30 when she first played her and Cate Blancehtt was 29. The film depicts Elizabeth in her mid 50s.

Raymond Massey (1896-1983) plays King Philip of Spain. He is best remembered for his roles as Lincoln. He was nominated for an Oscar for playing "Abe Lincoln in Illinois" (1940) which remains, to date, the best ever portrayal of Lincoln. He reprised the role on TV in "The Day Lincoln was Shot" (1950) and again in "How the West Was Won" (1962). On TV he played Dr. Gillespie in the series "Dr Kildare" (1961-5). He made nearly 100 films. I remember him best for his over the top portrayal of John Brown in "Santa Fe Trail" (1940). Prior to playing Lincoln, most of his roles were villainous (e.g., Citizen Chauvelin in "The Scarlet Pimpernel", Black Michael in "The Prisoner of Zenda", Prince Ghul in "The Drum").

The great Robert Newton (1905-56) plays Don Pedro. This was his third of what was to become more than 50 films that included "Henry V", "Oliver Twist" (1948), "Les Miserables" (1952) and my personal favorite, "Treasure Island" (1950).

James Mason has a tiny role in the beginning of the film. When it was re-released in 1944 and Mason had become a star, Korda commissioned a new trailer that stressed Mason's part.

Alexander Korda (1893-1956) produced nearly 60 films in his career that started in 1923 in Hungary. His break through film was "The Private Life of Henry VIII" (1933) and there followed a series of historical dramas including "Rise of Catherine the Great" (1934), "Private Life of Don Juan" (1934), "The Scarlet Pimpernel" (1934) and "Rembrandt" (1936), of which "Fire Over England" is a lesser example. Korda was known for his cheap production values, which are evident in this film.

The film was produced in 1937. It has some suggestions that involvement on the continent is dangerous, as later events would prove.

This is a fairly standard historical drama of the 30s and mostly forgettable. It is notable as being the film that David Selznick saw which convinced him that Vivien Leigh could play Scarlett. Far better films from this period about the Elizabethan era include "Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex" (1939) and "The Sea Hawk" (1940).