Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
FLYNN NEVER LOOKED BETTER & THAT'S PRETTY DARN GOOD., March 8, 2005
IF you are an Errol Flynn fan, this is a not-to-miss flick. Everyone raves over Bette Davis' Queen Elizabeth--and don't get me wrong, I like Bette--but it is Flynn's Essex who carries this film for me. And he looks MAAHAVELLLOUS! Bette worked REALLY hard on her performance, and it REALLY shows. Flynn's performance is more natural, like a fresh breeze in the film, especially compared to Davis'. Call me crazy (because it IS hard to imagine), but I actually BELIEVE it when Essex/Errol says he loves Elizabeth--and, THAT is acting. Errol Flynn deserves some credit for more than just looking great in tights--call it charm or call it presence if you don't want to call it "acting" but Flynn rescues this film from being laughable. (Olivia deHavilland adds to, but is wasted in, this film. She was forced to work this role into her schedule WHILE she was playing Melanie in GONE WITH THE WIND--no wonder she sued Warner Bros.) Both Flynn and Davis are great fun to watch, but for me, this is Flynn's picture. Certainly no one thought so in 1939, but 65 years later, his performance seems natural and as authentic as possible with this script. I really can't think of any actor who could have done it better--certainly NOT Laurence Olivier, the world's greatest over-actor (in my opinion) whom Davis wanted in the role and would have made this film a joke instead of the great fun that it is. I give the film 5 stars for the joy of watching Errol Flynn in this movie. Let's face it, NOBODY does Flynn better than Flynn (not even Jude Law). He was unique and most definitely at the top of his game in 1939.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Elizabeth and Essex A Beautiful Love Story, December 17, 2005
This is a glorious film produced by Warner Brothers in 1938, filled with fantastic scenes, wardrobe, and a beautiful love story highly suggested as all. Bette Davis and Errol Flynn shine together in this film.
"A brilliant historical drama of the war between passion and power."
Bette Davis and Errol Flynn made The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex fascinatingly public, striking sparks in this lavish Techincolor tale of the ill-fated love between the aging Elizabeth I and the dashing Earl of Essex. Thoroughly unglamorous here - eyes and hairline shaved, pace fainted chalky white - double Academy Award winner* Davis exudes such intelligence, energy and ardor that her romance with the decades-younger Essex (Flynn at the peak of his remarkable good looks and athletic verve) is completely believable. Based on Maxwell Anderson's play Elizabeth the Queen and directed by Micharl Curtiz, this nominee for five Oscars takes liberties with historical accuracy, but none with dramatic impact. Long may these tempestuous, titled lovers reign!
This dvd also has some brilliant special features including:
:Leonard Maltin Hosts Warner Night at the movies 1939:
:Newsreel:
:Musical Short The Royal Rodeo:
:Cartoon Old Glory:
:Theatrical Trailers:
:New Featurette Elizabeth and Essex Royal Battle:
This is a great movie for all.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Royal entertainment, December 16, 2007
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex may have been the set from hell - Bette Davis despised Errol Flynn, who hated director Michael Curtiz while Olivia De Havilland was given a thankless supporting role as Jack Warner's way of keeping her in her place after the success of Gone With the Wind - but it turned out rather splendidly. Offering Hollywood rather than history, and with all the glories that only the studio system at its peak could offer, it's grand entertainment. Glorious Technicolor cinematography from Sol Polito, lavish production design from Anton Grot that would be reused in Flynn's version of The Sea Hawk and Erich Wolfgang Korngold's triumphant score are all just the icing on the cake.
With just a few bleak depictions of Essex's disastrous Irish campaign, there's not much in the way of swashbuckling: the emphasis here is on doomed romance between two people drawn to each other by the very things that keep them apart. Flynn's charismatic but egotistical and fatally overambitious Essex, whose popularity is never matched by the reality of his (under)achievements, is one of many thwarted suitors who attempted to wear the crown by wooing the woman while she was equally determined not to be ruled by weaker men. It's her power that appeals to him and his carefree short-sighted irresponsibility that attracts her, but though Davis' bitter Elizabeth may try to grab a few moments of happiness with him, she's all too aware that for her to surrender to a husband would be to abdicate all power and doom England to disastrous rule. The tragedy comes from the fact that he's all too aware of his own weaknesses, but too proud to conquer them or even to save himself when offered the chance - something of a change from the usual Errol Flynn hero. But then this is not exactly a typical Flynn film: for all his charm and bravado, Elizabeth is the real focus of the film. And while many of the Flynn film regulars are present and correct, most are playing very different roles. De Havilland is less-than-sympathetic for once as the lady-in-waiting taunting the queen over her lost youth, Alan Hale appears as Flynn's enemy rather than his sidekick for a change, while even Donald Crisp's usual onscreen integrity is discreetly tucked away lest it interfere with his own ambitions at court when the wind starts to change. Only Henry Daniell, in a virtual dress rehearsal for his role in The Sea Hawk, plays true to form as one of the plotters alongside Vincent Price's Walter Raleigh.
As history it's bunk, but as a doomed romance, complete with a memorably tragic final encounter, it's absolutely engrossing. Good extras on the DVD too, though it's a shame they could only find a black and white trailer for such a magnificent Technicolor film.
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