Product Details

• Actors: Lana Turner, Pedro Armendáriz, Roger Moore, Marisa Pavan, Cedric Hardwicke
• Directors: David Miller
• Writers: Christopher Isherwood, John Erskine
• Producers: Edwin H. Knopf
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Warner)
• VHS Release Date: September 1, 1998
• Run Time: 110 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302760062
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #13,258 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Actually, Better Than I Thought It Would Be!, May 26, 2002

By	Linda McDonnell "TutorGal" (Brooklyn, U.S.A) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Years ago, my friend David had a book about history as told thru Hollywood movies, and that was how I first learned of the movie, "Diane". Seemed a silly movie, advertised by a dueling shot of French prince Roger Moore matching his epee with courtesan Lana Turner in her sixteenth-century Tudor style wimple. Fast forward to 2002, and put us in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where that venerable institution decides that a good movie to link to its current tapestry exhibit would be--yep--"Diane", of all things. The week before, it had been "A Man for All Seasons". Well, I just had to check this out; I mean, I've NEVER even seen it listed in a tv guide. Saw it with Edith just last night.

Not bad! Not a classic, but not bad.

For one thing, the costumes are just wonderful, the creations of Walter Plunkett of "Gone with the Wind" fame. No, they're not authentic, but this was a Lana Turner movie, you know, not a BBC documentary. So, if you like gorgeous women in velvet and pearls, this is an appropriate flick for you. Lana is appealing and I didn't really mind Roger Moore, although another reviewer found him wooden. The real Henri II was a weakling--that why he was controlled by his mistress--so that a stronger performance would not really have made sense.

It is in the supporting performances that we have our best people. Sir Cedric Hardwicke is a Nostradamus-kind of astrologer who tells Henri's wife Catherine de Medici to dry her tears over her husband's lack of sexual interest and concentrate on her destiny as future Queen of France. Henry Daniell does a great job as Catherine's advisor who keeps those intrigues coming--always a joy to watch him. The actor playing King Francis I had a lot of bravado and some set of choppers. I liked him a lot. And the woman playing Catherine was excellent, and actually there is where the film comes off the hinge for me.

Because ultimately, her Catherine wins the sympathy of the viewer away from Lana Turner's Diane. After all, she is the new King's lawful wife, and seems young and inexperienced. Might also be that there was so much publicity years gone by about the Prince Charles-Princess Diana-Camilla Parker-Bowes triangle that viewers of our generation would identify Catherine with the maritally neglected Princess Di. I was glad to see Catherine pounce on her newfound power once the King got mortally wounded, and assert herself finally.

Upshot of the whole experience: "Diane" is NOT a silly movie, by no means. You'll get a taste of French monarchal history (albeit a rather small one) that often Americans know nothing about, and see some really outstanding dresses for glamour queen Turner.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 'You made me a prince...Now make me a king!", February 1, 2009

By	Roberto Frangie "Robert" (Leon, Gto. Mexico) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Lana Turner was elegant and beautiful as the French courtesan, wearing through most of the motion picture dramatic black costumes... She came to the court of King Francis I to plead for the life of her husband, Count Louis de Brézé who was falsely accused of plotting against the King...

Count de Brézé (Torin Thatcher) suspected his release by an act of infidelity...

Francis I (Pedro Armendariz) was the King who in his person and actions combined the romantic ideal of the medieval knight-king and the refined humanism and art of the Renaissance... When he required Diane's presence, the Count felt his suspicious confirmed... Obviously he was wrong!

However, the real reason Diane has been called is to teach the King's, Prince Henri (Roger Moore), the graces of court life in preparation for his marriage to Catherine de Médici (Marisa Pavan). Impressed by her beauty, charm and political sageness, as well as her ability to cope with his son, the King keeps her at court...

Prince Henri fell violently in love with her...

When the King is killed in battle, Diane became mistress of Henry, now King of France... Throughout his reign, Diane held court as Queen of France in all but name... The real Queen was forced to live in comparative obscurity... Catherine soon comes to hate the woman who is her husband's real love...

But Henri's reign was short, due to Gondi (Henri Daniell) treachery...

Directed by David Miller, the film carried faithfully the 16th Century environment with an impressive stag hunt, an exciting encounter with a wild boar and a thrilling climactic jousting tournament...

Sir Cedric Hardwicke played Ruggiere, the master of astrology, master of the art of predicting... He gave the Queen of France much to think over when she visited him, and in that tournament he murmured: 'What must be... Will be!'

If you like to see history in movies, plus intrigue, politics, secret plotting, suspicion, disloyalty... and you love colorful spectacle, and you want to see Lana Turner's good-acting with Marisa Pavan - in her possibly the best role of her film career as Henri's menacing yet pitiable wife - well, don't miss this entertaining motion picture!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars some of the msot beautiful music ever composed........, June 5, 2007

By	Sam A. Juliano III "farfromheaven" (Fairview, New Jersey USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The most unforgettable element in this average costumer is the extraordinary score by Miklos Rozsa, which ranks among his most magnificent compositions. The central theme, a lilting melody, is presented with varying segments of the orchestra. This score reduces the rest of this adequate film to cinders, but such is often the case with this seminal film composer. A comprehensive two-disc set of the essential score with extensive liner notes is available from Film Score Monthly. For film score fans, it is frankly a must-own.