Customer Reviews

Mary of Scotland [VHS]

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This early nineteen thirties film is a classic. It features a very young and exquisite Katherine Hepburn in the title role. Beautiful, unfettered, and but eighteen years of age, she arrives on Scottish soil unheralded. There, she meets with her bastard half brother, the Earl of Moray, sternly portrayed by Ian Keith, who has been acting as Regent on her behalf. It quickly becomes apparent from her half brother and the Scottish Lords that her reign will not be an easy one. Moreover, she is staunchly Catholic and Scotland is strongly Protestant, whipped to Calvinist fervor by John Knox, the Calvinist reformer. Yet, she, herself, preaches religious tolerance, but finds her thoughts on the matter rebuffed. Look for the wonderful Donald Crisp in the role of Lord Huntly, who alone supports her views.

She later meets the Earl of Bothwell, hammily and lustily played by Fredrick March, and it is love at first sight. Yet, she gives in to pressure and marries the Catholic, but dissolute, English Lord Darnley, foppishly played BY Douglas Walton. Unbeknownst to Mary, the Earl of Moray has been plotting with England's Queen Elizabeth to undermine her, and it is they who connived to put Lord Darnley in Mary's sights, knowing his weaknesses.

Lord Darnley, jealous of the Mary's affection for her Italian troubador and secretary, Riccio, played with touching loyalty by a cadaverous John Carradine, as well as of her apparent attraction to Bothwell, conspires with the Earl of Moray and some of the other Scottish Lords to have Riccio murdered. After his murder, Mary plays on Darnley's insecurities and together they flee the palace. Bothwell arrives in the nick of time to hold off the killers, while they get away.

Mary gives birth to James, the heir to the Scottish throne. Ultimately, Darnley himself is dispatched to his death. Mary and Bothwell marry and are hunted down. The Earl of Moray gives them terms that require Bothwell to go into exile, but promises that Mary may remain as queen. Bothwell leaves, but ultimately ends up in a Danish prison and dies insane. Mary, finds that the Earl of Moray's promise was a false one. His intention is to have her infant son, James, crowned King of Scotland, with himself ruling as Regent, until James reacheds his majority.

Mary flees Scotland and goes to England, expecting succor from her cousin, Elizabeth I. She finds only imprisonment. After years of house arrest, Mary is finally tried for treason, accused of plotting against her cousin, and beheaded. She died knowing that her son, James, would one day be King of England, as he was next in the line of succession, Elizabeth I having no children and not likely to have any.

This is a wonderful, classic film, with great, rousing bagpipe refrains throughout. Whlie it is a little hammy at times, it is still a wonderful piece of theatre. The cinematography is stark, almost chiaroscuro in effect, which contributes to its appeal. It is a very enjoyable film which should appeal to lovers of historical dramas and period pieces, as well as those who simply love a great film.

This early nineteen thirties film is a classic. It features a very young and exquisite Katherine Hepburn in the title role. Beautiful, unfettered, and but eighteen years of age, she arrives on Scottish soil unheralded. There, she meets with her bastard half brother, the Earl of Moray, sternly portrayed by Ian Keith, who has been acting as Regent on her behalf. It quickly becomes apparent from her half brother and the Scottish Lords that her reign will not be an easy one. Moreover, she is staunchly Catholic and Scotland is strongly Protestant, whipped to Calvinist fervor by John Knox, the Calvinist reformer. Yet, she, herself, preaches religious tolerance, but finds her thoughts on the matter rebuffed. Look for the wonderful Donald Crisp in the role of Lord Huntly, who alone supports her views.

She later meets the Earl of Bothwell, hammily and lustily played by Fredrick March, and it is love at first sight. Yet, she gives in to pressure and marries the Catholic, but dissolute, English Lord Darnley, foppishly played by Douglas Walton. Unbeknownst to Mary, the Earl of Moray has been plotting with England's Queen Elizabeth to undermine her, and it is they who connived to put Lord Darnley in Mary's sights, knowing his weaknesses.

Lord Darnley, jealous of the Mary's affection for her Italian troubador and secretary, Riccio, played with touching loyalty by a cadaverous John Carradine, as well as of her apparent attraction to Bothwell, conspires with the Earl of Moray and some of the other Scottish Lords to have Riccio murdered. After his murder, Mary plays on Darnley's insecurities and together they flee the palace. Bothwell arrives in the nick of time to hold off the killers, while they get away.

Mary gives birth to James, the heir to the Scottish throne. Ultimately, Darnley himself is dispatched to his death. Mary and Bothwell marry and are hunted down. The Earl of Moray gives them terms that require Bothwell to go into exile, but promises that Mary may remain as queen. Bothwell leaves, but ultimately ends up in a Danish prison and dies insane. Mary, finds that the Earl of Moray's promise was a false one. His intention is to have her infant son, James, crowned King of Scotland, with himself ruling as Regent, until James reacheds his majority.

Mary flees Scotland and goes to England, expecting succor from her cousin, Elizabeth I. She finds only imprisonment. After years of house arrest, Mary is finally tried for treason, accused of plotting against her cousin, and beheaded. She died knowing that her son, James, would one day be King of England, as he was next in the line of succession, Elizabeth I having no children and not likely to have any.

This is a wonderful, classic film, with great, rousing bagpipe refrains throughout. Whlie it is a little hammy at times, it is still a wonderful piece of theatre. The cinematography is stark, almost chiaroscuro in effect, which contributes to its appeal (if one gets the black and white version). It is a very enjoyable film that should appeal to lovers of historical dramas and period pieces, as well as those who simply love a great film.

Mary was/is many a school-girl's heroine and her story is well-known. Mary, onetime consort of the young French king, who had died prematurely, comes to Auld Caledonia, where she is the rightful monarch. To the south, her cousin Elizabeth, Queen of England, fears the threat the Scottish queen represents, as she is next in line for the English throne. Mary, a Catholic, runs up against the Protestant leaders and the power-hungry, recalcitrant lords. To insure the succession to the throne and enhance her position, Mary married the weakling Lord Darnley whom she does not love.....Helen Hayes had played Mary to great acclaim on Broadway; while this picture will never go down in the books as one of the all-time greats, it did, however, display Hepburn's arresting and distictive personality in a role that called upon all her acting resources - and she revealed herself as an actress of greater range than was previously believed. Ford gave the film careful directorial handling, and it was handsomely mounted in all departments. March garnered excellent reviews as the bold and dashing Bothwell. Both Bette Davis and Ginger Rogers (!) fought for the role of Elizabeth I which was ultimately given to Florence Eldridge (Mrs. March) who did a commendable if not brilliant job playing Good Queen Bess.

I have known about the existence of this movie for years, having seen a brief clip on a Katharine Hepburn documentary. The narration in that documentary included it among Hepburn's many failures during the 30s, leading to her being labelled "Box Office Poison". I was prompted to rent it as part of my immersion in things Scottish in preparation for a trip to that country.

I was somewhat pleasantly surprised by this movie; in no way would I consider it as much of a dog as that documentary would have it. Hepburn is young and fresh--I liked her Mary much better than Vanessa Redgrave's in "Mary Queen of Scots" thirty-some-odd years later. This Mary is a match for those attempting to dominate her, whereas Vanessa's was always something of a weak sister. Like one of the other reviewers, I also found John Carradine's ill-fated Riccio to be a good characterization--what a woebegone love song he sings to the young queen.

Dislikes? Weird staging is a little too stark for my tastes. This is clearly the same John Ford who made "The Informer" a year earlier. How did he break through and develop his other style, I'd like to know. Another discordant note for me was Frederic March; I particularly was puzzled by a scene when he's warming himself by a hearthside, but appears to have lifted up his kilt to relieve himself into the fireplace. I can't imagine that's really what was happening, but look for yourself.

So, feel free to fling yourself into an easychair to see how Kate serves up Mary.

MARY OF SCOTLAND was a major flop in its day, one of the '36 trio that led Hepburn to be declared "box office poison" by theatre owners. But this fine new WB DVD gives the film a splendid chance to find an appreciative audience. The source play has aged as badly as most of Maxwell Anderson's work; the dialogue sounds like a Tudor/Stuart history trot written by Ethel M. Dell. But the cast breathes vigorous life into stilted dialogue. Hepburn, generally not the most erotic actress, is surprisingly sexy as the ill-fated Mary -- finally, this performance shows Cukor wasn't completely besotted to think Kate could pull off Scarlett O'Hara. March looks and sounds every inch the dashing Bothwell (a distant relative of Hepburn's, by the way), and John Carradine shines as Rizzio. Magnificent production design and breathtaking cinematography, coupled with sensitive, intelligent direction from Ford, complete with canny use of extremely effective closeups, make this warhorse surprisingly sturdy. An unexpected treat.

One of my favorite stories about the absurd way that Hollywood thinks is that in the 1936 film "Mary of Scotland" starring Katharine Hepburn as Mary Stuart, her leading man Fredric March plays the Earl of Bothwell, whose real family name was Hepburn. But since Katharine Hepburn was a direct descendant, it would have been wrong to use the name in the film and suggest the actress was having a love affair with an ancestor. You just cannot make reasoning like this up in your spare time.

Directed by John Ford, this costume drama begins in 1561 when Mary Staurt returned to Scotland from France as the Queen of the Scots. Elizabeth Tudor (Florence Eldridge), Queen of England, feared the threat that the Catholic Stuarts presented to the English throne. Consequently, "Mary of Scotland" is a story of political brinkmanship during the Elizabethan period. Mary tries to strengthen her position by marrying the weak Darnley (Douglas Walton), and putting Bothwell in the position of being her protector. She gives birth to a son James (later King James VI of Scotland and King James I of Great Britain), but Darnley betrays her to the Scottish chiefs in an effort to rule the kingdom and is killed. Mary's marriage to Bothwell inflames the Scots even more. Bothwell leaves the country and Mary is imprisoned by the Scottish lords. Smuggled out of prision, Mary flees to England and seeks sanctuary from Elizabeth.

"Mary of Scotland" is based on Maxwell Anderson's play, which had Helen Hayes in the title role on Broadway, although the original blank verse is eliminated by Dudley Nichols's script. The chief attraction of this bio pic is the final confrontation between Mary her cousin Elizabeth. Anderson is one of several dramatists who could not accept the historical fact that the two queens never met, simply because the idea of that confrontation is too good to give up. Under Ford's direction the film is much more about spectacle than history, and there is a nice scene when Bothwell brings in a horde of bagpipes to drown out the religious rants of John Knox (Moroni Olson). Many scenes are shot at night, to provide a somber tone to the story of Mary's descent and death.

Hepburn has some trouble with the Scottish accent, as she would throughout her career whenever she tried to do something that covered up her distinctive speaking voice. However, it is the very idea of being a hapless queen that runs against the very persona of Hepburn as an independent woman. If you contrast the performance and the character from this film with her celebrated Oscar winning role as Eleanor of Aquitaine in "The Lion in Winter," you can easily see the differences on both scores. This is the most lavish of the costume dramas Hepburn did for RKO, as well as the most historical, despite the noted attempts at dramatic license. The result is okay, but not great, which is what you would expect from a film that brought Ford, Hepburn, and March together.

This film demonstrates why director John Ford ranks at the apex of great American film directors. By tackling a costume drama with stage origins and effectively opening it up for the big screen Ford demonstrates his versatility as a director of more than Westerns. There is a forboding doom that permeates this film that is symbolized by the fog shrouded ship that returns Mary Tudor(Katharine Hepburn) to her beloved Scotland. She assumes the throne to be met with a variety of intrigues and treacheries from the Scotch noblemen, religious separatist John Knox, her brother, her husband, and not the least her cousin Elizabeth I of England. Despite these threats Mary maintains her nobility throughout. Katharine Hepburn is a wonder as Mary maintaining a regal bearing despite the impending doom that awaits. Frederic March is dashing as the Earl of Bothwell, Mary's love. The romantic sparks between Hepburn and March are lusty. My lone quibble with the film is the broad villainy of Elizabeth, portrayed by Florence Eldridge. The face-off between Elizabeth and Mary towards the end of the film seemed to be used more for dramatic effect than for historical accuracy. That reservation aside, a great film that is indispensible.

This movie has great stars and stirring music. If you love the way movies used to be made, this is one for your library. It's amazing when a movie has no special effects, explicit sex or violence and I'm engaged emotionally and the ending is a tear jerker, no matter how many times I see it. This is one of favorites.

Although typed in the popular imagination as a Western director, most of John Ford's films were in other genres, with the director having a particular interest in historical subjects he rarely got the chance to turn into films. His choice of reading while shooting The Searchers was Gibbons' The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire while he spent many of his last twenty years trying to find backing for a film of Arthur Conan Doyle's saga of Medieval mercenaries The White Company. One of the reasons studios were so wary of letting him follow his instincts was Mary of Scotland, a big-budget failure from 1936 that even his greatest admirers have little good to say about and historians even less. Yet his film of Maxwell Anderson's highly romanticised take on the troubled reign and tragic end of Mary, Queen of Scots isn't that bad. True, it bears only a vaguely passing resemblance to history, it's melodramatic in the extreme and parts of the script and some of the performances are terrible (try keeping a straight face whenever Douglas Walton's camp-as-a-row-of-tents Lord Darnley appears while casting towering John Carradine as `Wee' David Riccio seems sheer perversity) and Donald Crisp sounds like the only real Scot in it, yet if it's more hokum than history, it's rather enjoyable hokum. The best of the film is its last half hour once Katherine Hepburn's Mary is in captivity and Frederic March's Bothwell is going mad in a Danish asylum: the writing improves immeasurably (especially in a confrontation between Mary and Elizabeth that plays less as a power struggle and more as one between the importance of power and love) and Ford's direction becomes quite artful, be it the fading light as Mary realises her refuge is in fact a prison cell, the trial scene with judges sitting literally on high above her or the strikingly shot execution scene as she ascends the scaffold.

Sadly there are no extras whatever on the DVD, though it does boast an excellent black and white transfer.

Somehow this film was the essential Op. 1 which gave to Katherine Hepburn her first big step in the rise of her successful career. After returning from France to rule fairly and justly immersed in the seductive smell of the words, she will taste the power's honey and once more you will convince the enormous distance between the theory and the practice.

The art of governing as Disraeli affirmed, is not logic and has not nothing to do with good intentions. Additionally Nietszche stated: Any man who funds a Republic and doesn't kill Brutus or even doesn't kill to Brutus sons, will just rule a brief period. Forget the innocence in politics. It is word that simply doesn't exist in its dictionary.

One of the most intelligent and artistic films of John Ford who was a masterful director not only in Western films.