The Virgin Queen

Plot synopsis:
In 1581, Walter Raleigh (Richard Todd), recently returned from the fighting in Ireland, pressures unwilling tavern patrons into freeing from the mud the stuck carriage of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester (Herbert Marshall). When Leicester asks how he can repay the kindness, Raleigh asks for an introduction to Queen Elizabeth I (Bette Davis), to whom Leicester is a trusted adviser. Leicester grants the request.
Elizabeth takes a great liking to Raleigh and his forthright manner, much to the disgust of her current favorite, Christopher Hatton (Robert Douglas). As the court ventures outside, Raleigh graciously drapes his cloak (an expensive item borrowed from a reluctant tailor) over some mud so that the Queen need not soil her shoes. At dinner, Raleigh reveals his dream of sailing to the New World to reap the riches there. Elizabeth decides to make him the captain of her personal guard. He enlists his Irish friend, Lord Derry (Dan O'Herlihy).
Meanwhile, Beth Throckmorton (Joan Collins), one of the Queen's ladies in waiting, very forwardly makes Raleigh's acquaintance. Raleigh's relationship with both ladies is stormy. Beth is jealous of his attentions to Elizabeth, while the Queen is often irritated by his independence and constant talk of the New World. Hatton does his best to inflame her annoyance, but she is too clever to be taken in.
When Hatton informs Elizabeth that an Irishman is a member of her guard, Raleigh is stripped of his captaincy when he protests that his friend is loyal and refuses to dismiss him. Banished from court, Raleigh takes the opportunity to secretly marry Beth. Soon after, however, he is restored to Elizabeth's favor.
Finally, Elizabeth grants Raleigh not the three ships he desires, but one. He enthusiastically sets about making modifications. In private, however, Elizabeth reveals within Beth's hearing that her intentions do not include him actually leaving England. When so informed, Raleigh makes plans to sail to North America without royal permission.
Hatton tells the Queen not only of Raleigh's plot, but also that he is married to Beth. Elizabeth orders the couple's arrest. Raleigh delays those sent to take him into custody so that Derry can try to take Beth into hiding in Ireland, but they are overtaken on the road, and Derry killed. Raleigh and Beth are sentenced to death, but in the end, Elizabeth releases them. They set sail for the New World.

Tags: romantic, intrigue

Review:
This acceptable historical drama recreates the problematic relationship between Queen Elizabeth and Sir Walter Raleigh.
A talky slice of history with Bette Davis as stubborn Queen , whose love affair , jealousy with Raleigh led to his downfall .
Well played by Davis who stole the acting honors at a resolute , strong , glamour-skimping characterisation , to give the illusion of baldness, Bette shaved her head two inches in front to show a high forehead under Elizabeth's red wigs, and addition , also performed by swashbuckling champ Richard Tood as an obstinate Raleigh .
Walter overcomes court intrigue from Sir Christopher Hatton (Robert Douglas) to win favor with the Queen in order to get financing for a proposed voyage to the New World .
This period drama frames the tumultuous affair between Queen Elizabeth and William Raleigh , dealing with a depiction of the love/hate among them .
The stalwart Richard Todd plays rightly as Sir Raleigh , while Joan Collins gives a mediocre acting as the lady-in-waiting with whom he falls in love .
Other films about this historical character are the followings : The classical rendition titled ¨The private lives of Elizabeth and Essex¨ (1939) by Michael Curtiz with Bette Davis and Errol Flynn dealing with her life through her great love affair Essex ; ¨Elizabeth¨ by Shakahar Kapur with Cate Blanchett , Geoffrey Rush , Joseph Fiennes , a story full sweep of Queen's life .
With respect to Glenda Jackson and Cate Blanchett, neither of those ladies can hold a patch on the brilliant Bette Davis, perhaps the greatest actress ever, as the immortal Queen Elizabeth I, perhaps the greatest monarch that England ever knew.
And like it or not, Bette Davis' brilliant, mannered, and astoundingly powerful depiction of Queen Elizabeth I has informed every ensuing depiction of the Virgin Queen.
For example, in a scene between Sir Walter Raleigh (Todd) and Bess Throckmorton (Collins), they are standing the one in front of the other at both sides of a huge paned window: the only thing you can see on screen is the window, while you hear both talking!
The Virgin Queen marks Bette Davis's second go around as Elizabeth I of England.
This one should have been a lot better, considering the pedigree of its cast and the professionals behind the camera, including the always reliable Franz Waxman, contributing a score that must have sounded wonderful when those theaters equipped with stereophonic sound systems played this costumer during its first release.But director Henry Koster's touch is particularly pedestrian in this one.
(Note how he stages the legendary scene when Sir Walter Raleigh spreads his cape across a muddy patch for Queen Elizabeth to glide over it without soiling her royal hem.
Tossed off as if it weren't worth showing!)  And the script seems to be regurgitating all those well-worn cliches about a love and sex-starved Queen Elizabeth I surrounded by male courtiers who have only their various personal ambitions to keep them apparently interested in her feminine needs.Bette does her best (and even supposedly consented to shaving herself bald for the role!) and Richard Todd and a young and lovely Joan Collins convince as a couple willing to risk the frustrated Queen's wrath to consummate their love.
Basically a soap opera of it's day with Queen Liz and Elexis Carrington fighting over the handsome, young cad, Sir Walter Raleigh who among other things introduced cigarettes to the world.
The movie won an academy award for its costumes which unlike the events depicted in the film are spot on in their historical detail.Bettie Davies is brilliant as The Queen (the template for Miranda Richardson's version in Blackadder II) and Richard Todd looks the part as the dashing Sir Walter Raleigh.
16 years after portraying Queen Elizabeth I in Michael Curtiz's THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX (1939), Bette Davis donned the garments of the fiery British monarch once more for this fine (if largely unhistorical) costumer about another tumultuous relationship of hers – with Sir Walter Raleigh (here played by the late Richard Todd, who died just the other day aged 90).
Although Davis unsurprisingly dwarfs the rest of the participants in the acting stakes, she is still surrounded by a most able cast that also includes Joan Collins (as one of Elizabeth's ladies-in-waiting who, much to the latter's chagrin, becomes Mrs. Walter Raleigh and is carrying his child), Herbert Marshall (as the long-suffering Chancellor of England), Robert Douglas (as Elizabeth's villainous chief adviser), Dan O'Herlihy (as, controversially, an Irish lord and Raleigh's best friend) and Jay Robinson (as Douglas' reptilian henchman).
There are some good lines (especially when Davis and Todd indulge in verbal sparring), two good fight sequences both involving Todd (a vigorous swordfight in a tavern at the start and an animated fistfight with Douglas towards the end), a serviceable score from Franz Waxman and, as is to be expected from a Grade-A studio product, the film is very handsome to behold (the costume designers nabbed its sole Oscar nod)..
A belated follow-up to the similar PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX, this sees Bette Davis once more donning the oddly-shaped wig in order to play Elizabeth I, this time at a later stage in her life.
THE VIRGIN QUEEN explores Elizabeth's relationship with charming courtier Walter Raleigh, here desperately trying to finance an expedition to the New World.All of the elements for a fun, non-stuffy costume romp are here: splendid and picturesque locales, colourful costumes, heads on the block, and all manner of court intrigue.
Enjoyment of the story is increased with some expertly-staged sword fights alongside the presence of British actor Richard Todd as Raleigh; he certainly cuts a fine swathe through the story as the dashing adventurer and makes the film his own.Davis remains delightfully waspish, frequently chewing the scenery with an undisguised relish when she can get away with it.
An impossibly young Joan Collins plays Mistress Throgmorton, recipient of Raleigh's affections outside of the queen, making for one of the most bizarre love triangles put on film.
Bette Davis is again "The Virgin Queen" in this 1955 film, and this time, her attention is on Sir Walter Raleigh.
Here Elizabeth is older and becomes fascinated with Walter Raleigh (Richard Todd) when he comes to her court to request three ships to sail to the new world in search of treasure on behalf of England.
Unfortunately, Elizabeth finds out too and has him placed under arrest.This is a mildly interesting film and historically not very accurate, though it is true that Sir Walter married Beth Throckmorton secretly, she became pregnant, and he was arrested.
It makes for not very exciting viewing, though the acting is strong and the cast excellent - besides the stars mentioned, Herbert Marshall is Lord Leicester and Dan O'Herlihy is Lord Derry.Bette Davis does a marvelous job as Elizabeth, a tough, feisty, demanding and sometimes angry woman.
Joan Collins is young, beautiful, and does a good job as Elizabeth Throckmorton.Worth seeing for the elegance of production and for that fabulous force of nature, Bette Davis..
Bette Davis gives an amazing performance of England's Queen Elizabeth the 1st.
But, in a secret ceremony on a night that the Queen's own hand maiden (a very young looking Joan Collins) seduces Raleigh, just when he doubts himself.
This movie is about a young man called Raleigh (Richard Todd) whoms biggest dream is to sail to the new world in search of treasures to help the English empire rebuild it´s glory days.Joan Collins plays the role of Bess Throckmorton a Lady of the court who fells in love with Richard Todd´s character Sir Walter Raleigh.
She famously refused to marry because she believed in putting country first and here she manipulates Raleigh towards a private relationship that would not diminish her power as Queen in a man's world.The colorful costumes look a bit party rental but there is plenty of historical accuracy apart from the myth of the "coat over the puddle".
The performance from Richard Todd is good but there is little chemistry between him and his wife played by Joan Collins.
She delivers her lines so hastily in a modern London accent as if she is about to get on a bus.The Bette Davis interpretation of Elizabeth and the political machinations at her court are the focus points of the film.
And yet, there's a baby percolating in Joan Collins, I think I heard the word "slut" used, and damned if Bette Davis, as Elizabeth Tudor (with a hard-top) literally walks around as if she has a pair of big brass ones.
I liked listening to Richard Todd (cool voice) as he pitches a golden dream to Liz. He was such a nothing--I kept thinking of all the other actors who could have been Sir Walter Raleigh--but I stuck with him.
If Davis wasn't your typical 1950s monarch, Todd wasn't going to fit the chivalrous mold either, and that helped this flick a lot.Which leaves us to Joan Collins.
It's funny, but although I am a retired history teacher and generally love historical films, I HATE stagy costumers like "The Virgin Queen".
That sense of adventure makes the court scenes watchable--but here in "The Virgin Queen" it's all pretty dull.In this film, once again Bette Davis plays Elizabeth.
Years earlier she played a younger version of this lady in "The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex".
Here, she's back and instead of playing against Essex, her paramour is Sir Walter Raleigh (Richard Todd).
Her mood becomes a lot worse when Raleigh marries a pretty young lady-in-waiting (Joan Collins) and Raleigh falls into disfavor with the Queen.
"The Virgin Queen" was the second film in which Bette Davis played Queen Elizabeth I of England.
The first was "The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex", made when Davis was a young woman in her early thirties, even though it is set during a period during which the historical Elizabeth would have been in her sixties.
Like "The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex" it deals with the relationship between the Queen and one of her favourites, in this case Sir Walter Raleigh.
For the business expansion plans, read Raleigh's ambitions to found English colonies in the New World, and for the attractive young assistant read the Queen's maid of honour Elizabeth Throckmorton, here generally referred to as "Beth" to distinguish her from her monarch.
Richard Todd plays Raleigh as a dashing hero in the Errol Flynn-Stewart Granger tradition, and the lovely Joan Collins makes a splendidly spirited heroine as Beth.
.....he was such a stupid git.That's what John Lennon sings in "I'm so tired" !But that's what's the Virgin Queen could have said of a man who was not afraid to challenge her even -for he is noble and chivalrous- if it's for Madam the Queen's glory.Koster's directing is static and unexciting and if the movie is interesting ,all the credit is due to the actors:Bette Davis was unique and irreplaceable ;her portrayal is so stunning we've got the strange feeling to see the real queen as she was .Richard Todd was used to this kind of aristocratic characters:the following year ,he would be Axel Fersen,opposite Michele Morgan's "Marie-Antoinette,Reine de France" by Jean Delannoy.And Joan Collins provides adequate if not outstanding support..
After repeatedly getting a very sorry eyeful of Miss Bette Davis as "The Virgin Queen", it sure got me to thinking that, if this particular queen really looked and carried on like this snivelling cow, then it was no wonder that she remained a virgin.I mean, not only did Davis physically resemble that of an anaemic munchkin, but her character came across to me like some sort of reigning, male-castrating, bull-dyke who was clearly nothing but a repulsive eyesore to any sane man with eyes in his head (with, of course, the exception of that royal ass-kisser, Sir Walter Raleigh).And, speaking about "queens" - I sure thought that most of the high-ranking dukes, lords, earls (whatever) who hung out in Elizabeth's imperial court were, without a doubt, the biggest, the snottiest, most bitchiest, back-stabbing queens imaginable.
Think of Elizabeth I and Bette Davis and everyone recalls THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX, the Warner Brothers film with Davis and Errol Flynn made in 1939.
This film, made in the middle 1950s (when Davis's career was on a downturn)has Richard Todd, a better actor than Flynn but not with half of the latter's charm and charisma.
But aside from his rivalry with Sir Christopher Hatton (Robert Douglas, in a well performed semi-villain role), which leads to the death of Dan O'Herlihy (Raleigh's friend) there is no tension in the plot - even with Joan Collins as a youthful beauty at court who becomes Elizabeth's rival.The real problem is the script writer did not know what to do with the project.
He literally destroys himself, taking his monarch with him.Raleigh's character appeared in that film (Vincent Price played the role) as a rival of Essex.
He was the first Earl of Salisbury, and his family remains a leading set in the British Aristocracy to this day (one of them, Robert Gascoigne Cecil, Marquis of Salisbury, was Queen Victoria's last Prime Minister from 1895 - 1902).A good film about Raleigh would actually concentrate on his various careers as writer, explorer, and would-be colonist.
Set in the 1580s, Raleigh arrives in the court dominated by the Queen's oldest (and probably truest love), Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester (Herbert Marshall), and by Leicester's rival Hatton (Elizabeth's fairly able Chancellor of Exchequer).
Raleigh decides to leave the court, as he has fallen in love with Bess Throckmorton (which displeases the Queen) and he wishes to explore the New World, but Elizabeth convinces him to remain at court - even allowing him to marry Bess (which he did do).It's not an exciting story at all.
On his return to England in 1581, after fighting honorably and victoriously in the Irish War, Walter Raleigh (Richard Todd) makes his way to Lord Leicester (Herbert Marshall), a confidant of Queen Elizabeth (Bette Davis).
Lord Leicester is so impressed with his good looking and self-confidence, that he arranges for him an introduction at Court Raleigh, hoping to gain the queen's attention so he can interest her in sponsoring his ambition to sail to the New World and return with great loots, orders a costly blue cape he cannot affordBy laying it over a mud puddle in her path as she crosses the palace courtyard, Raleigh got what he deeply desires Formerly presented to her and openly inspired with a foolish and excessive passion, Queen Elizabeth appoints him as Captain of the Guard against the advice of Chadwick (Jay Robinson), a counselor whose dislike of Raleigh is unrestricted Once in the Palace, and close to the queen, Raleigh falls in love with one of her beautiful attendants, Beth Throgmorton (Joan Collins), who feels she is competing with the queen for Raleigh's kindness In a position to have entire faith in the queen, Raleigh tells her of his hope of being sent to the New World to seek fortunes Indulgent at first, Elizabeth finally considers his offer and promises him one ship for his expedition On the eve of his departure, Elizabeth knights Raleigh in her bed-chamber ignoring that, while awaiting her decision, he has married Beth in a secret ceremony It all makes for a pretty interesting historical motion picture not to be missed.
But I don't put up with that kind of business."VIEWER'S GUIDE: Parental supervision is advisable to encourage children to watch this historically valid interpretation.COMMENT: Originally intended as a routine CinemaScope romance between Walter Raleigh (Richard Todd) and one of Elizabeth's Ladies- In- Waiting (Elizabeth Throgmorton played by Joan Collins), this film became "The Virgin Queen" when Bette Davis, somewhat tardily was signed as its star.
Despite this, and despite the fact that Miss Davis claims to have completed all her scenes in eleven days, "The Virgin Queen" is wholly successful as a film.It is rare, in historical movies, for the dialogue to contribute to a sense of the reality of the period.
Bette Davis plays to perfection the role of Elizabeth — an elderly, watchful, suspicious, carping, greedy, lonely, proud, vicious and dangerous woman.Especially pleasing in the supporting cast, are: Robert Douglas as Sir Christopher Hatton; Romney Brent, a New York Stage Director, as the French Ambassador; Jay Robinson (who does not overact to the extent he did in "Demetrius and The Gladiators"), as Chadwick; and Dan O'Herlihy as Lord Derry, (a role entirely different from his previous Robinson Crusoe).
*Spoiler/plot- 1955, Its the story of the aging queen's attraction to handsome Walter Raleigh and her bitter clash with a scheming younger lady-in-waiting rival.*Special Stars- Bette Davis, Richard Todd, Joan Collins, Robert Douglas, Jay Robinson *Theme- An unlovable Tudor Queen can easily evoke love of England by her subjects.*Trivia/location/goofs- The 'raining coach' scenes were filmed in Corriganville Movie Ranch, Simi Valley.
This is Bette Davis second historic portrayal of Queen Elizabeth the First, this time for 20th Century Fox Studios.
Look for early roles for a pair of young British actors; Joan Collins and Richard Todd.
The history of the Raleigh affair history is somewhat suspect in this film's plot.*Emotion- An enjoyable rich costume drama about Elizabethan England and the court intrigues.
Could've been a stunning film, had it been lengthened to allow for character-development, in the roles played by Richard Todd and Joan Collins.
The untouchable Bette Davis appears flawless as Queen Elizabeth I.
A well intentioned, albeit conniving Sir Walter Raleigh(Richard Todd) petitions to see the Queen in hopes of getting funds to sail three ships and promising Her Highness the riches found.
It basically deals with Sir Walter Raleigh getting on the good side of Davis's Elizabeth so as to get ships and money to go out to the new world.
There is a good performance by Joan Collins, a lady-in-waiting who weds Raleigh, earnestly played by Richard Todd.