The Virgin Queen (1955) - film review

England, 1583.  Having distinguished himself as a solider in the Irish wars, Walter Raleigh contrives to win an audience with Queen Elizabeth so that he can win her patronage for his great ambition.  He plans to sail to the New World and return with ships laden with gold, earning prestige for his queen and his country.  The Queen admires Raleigh’s spirit but she does not consent to give him the three ships he requires.  Instead, she makes him captain of the royal guard and expects him to be a loyal subject.  Raleigh repays the Queen’s generosity by starting an affair with one of her ladies in waiting, Beth Throgmorton.  Unaware of this, the Queen knights Raleigh and offers him one ship for his expedition to the New World.  When Raleigh discovers that Beth, who is now his wife and is pregnant with his child, is to be sent to the French court, he decides to take her with him on his voyage.  Alerted to this act of betrayal, the Queen has Raleigh brought to her, confident that he has earned a traitor’s execution...

Having revelled in the role of Queen Elizabeth I in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939), Bette Davis was presumably delighted to reprise the role 16 years later in this lavish account of another episode in the life of the Tudor monarch.  Although The Virgin Queen does not compare favourable with the earlier film - Henry Koster’s uninspired direction and an overly florid screenplay do it few favours - it is enjoyable if only for the relish that Davis wrings from her performance.  Richard Todd is a poor substitute for Errol Flynn but his scenes with Davis are the most watchable, whilst Joan Collins brings the requisite dose of sex appeal, even if her love scenes lack passion and look a little too much like someone desperately trying to light a damp candle.  Historically accurate the film is not, but it is visually sumptuous and presents an authentic recreation of the Elizabethan court.

© Alex Sullivan 2011

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