That Hamilton Woman
Tags: tragedy, melodrama

Plot synopsis:
Emma Hart, a beautiful dance hall girl who's been passed around numerous nobilities, is sent by her latest lover, Charles Greville, to stay with his uncle Sir William Hamilton, the British ambassador to Naples. Emma is to learn French, Italian and upper-class manners in a month's time, then marry Charles.Sir William is a passionate art collector and considers Emma a rare piece of art he must possess. He deceives Emma, saying that Charles never intends to marry her and only sent her to Naples to get rid of her. Sir William comforts her by introducing her to Naples' elite society, offering an opportunity to enter the upper-class world. Soon Emma forgets about Charles and marries Sir William - the dance hall girl turned courtesan is now Lady Hamilton, Her Excellency.Three years later, the whole of Naples is awaken by cannon salutes from a battleship. Horatio Nelson, a famous English Naval officer, has arrived. Nelson requests that Naples honour its treaty with England and supply troops to aid the British war effort against France. Emma uses her relationship with the Queen of Naples and gets Nelson his reinforcements. Nelson leaves immediately, with a vivid impression of the most beautiful woman in Europe.The war continues for another five years, and Nelson finds himself in Naples, again in need of supplies. But this time English ships are not allowed to enter Naples, as the King does not wish to provoke an attack by the French. Seeing that Sir William is unable to persuade the King, Emma again uses her influence over the Queen and Nelson is granted permission to receive supplies from any Neapolitan port. Emma delivers the mandate to Nelson, and the ship leaves.Nelson does not stay away long. He returns to Naples after his victory in Egypt, warning the king about advancing French troops, but fails to persuade the king to take action. Exhausted and in poor health, Lord Nelson collapses and is confined to bedrest for an extended time.Emma takes charge of looking after Lord Nelson; and although Nelson, having lost an arm and an eye in battle, is not attractive or socially adept, the two fall in love. They don't have much time together though; as soon as Nelson recovers, he is ordered to return to war.The affair between Nelson and Emma grows serious, leading Nelson to disobey his orders and rescue the Hamiltons and the royal family before Napoleon takes Naples. The Admiralty orders Nelson to return to London immediately, while Sir William is instructed to take his wife to Turkey. The lovers are determined to stay together after so many partings, so Emma, her mother, and Sir William return to England with Nelson.Due to Nelson's popularity as a war hero, he is spared court martial and offered a seat in the House of Lords. Emma realises that if their affair continues she will destroy Nelson's career, and calls off their plan to divorce their respective spouses. As she is about to leave Nelson, she finds she is pregnant.Lord Nelson leaves again, to fight the Danish fleet, and returns a year later to find Emma preparing a return to the stage. Sir William's entire art collection was lost in a shipwreck and the blow proved too much for him; he died and left his inheritance to his nephew. Now penniless, Emma is abandoned by her high-society friends and has to earn her own living to support her mother and her illegimate daughter, Horatia.Disillusioned by the prime minister's decision to sign the peace treaty with France, and infuriated by his own neglect and failure to protect Emma, Lord Nelson retires and takes Emma's little family to the country. She finally achieves her fairy tale life.Emma's bliss is short-lived. Napoleon breaks the treaty and invades England, and Nelson is called out of retirement to defend his country. This time, he does not return. And Emma's life becomes a living death.

Review: It seemed strange how Emma (Vivien Leigh) could rise to such prominence in life to become a Lady Hamilton and eventually fall so low, yes and sadly.The movie begins at the lower rung, in her later life as she's caught stealing and put in prison where she recounts her story to others.
We are taken back in time to her youth and arrival in Italy where, after some thoughtful consideration of her situation in life, Emma agrees to marry the elderly Sir Hamilton, and rather enjoys her position as Lady Hamilton, a glittering socialite.Events of Napoleonic wartime bring Lord Nelson (Laurence Olivier) into their sphere when in need of supplies and he also seeks to warn them.
Yet it is Fate that draws these two, Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton, together in one of the great love stories of their time.
Vivien Leigh never looked more beautiful and one can see more of the true person she was after setting aside her role in "Gone With the Wind." Laurence Olivier, an actor of many disguises, is well masked in the injuries that Lord Nelson sustained in battle.
If nothing else, 'That Hamilton Woman' proved two things: Vivien Leigh is just as beautiful in black and white as she is in the glorious technicolor of 'GWTW'; and when it comes to the cinema, her acting technique on screen is every bit as expert as Laurence Olivier's.
Screen biography of Emma, Lady Hamilton, whose love for Lord Nelson (the British naval hero of the Napoleonic wars) scandalized the Regency world.Vivien Leigh is in almost every frame, and completely dominates the film.
One of the best known stories of adultery in British history is the one between Lord Horatio Nelson and the enchanting Emma Hamilton.
This film by Alexander Korda takes that story and does not disappoint.In the pivotal role of Emma, Vivien Leigh shines in a role that came not long after her international triumph in 'Gone With The Wind'.
The part of Nelson is taken by Vivien Leigh's real-life husband, Laurence Olivier, and his stuffed-shirt persona suits the role perfectly.In support, Alan Mowbray (as the cuckolded Lord Hamilton), and Gladys Cooper (as the snide Lady Nelson), are excellent, and the standard of script, photography, and direction is high throughout.This was said to be Winston Churchill's favourite wartime film, and you can see the attraction.
The actors give great performances, and I think the film really tries hard not judge the actions of Lady Hamilton and Lord Nelson which caused a tremendous scandal in their own time.
In 1941,only England was still resisting Hitler.So the parallel was obvious and "that Lady Hamilton" is a propaganda work,which does not prevent if from being highly commendable,thanks to the two leads,mainly Leigh-this must have been her third best performance,in the movies,far behind "gone with the wind" and "a streetcar named desire",but her beauty shines in every scene.The movie is a long flashback,sandwiched between two "present scenes " in a jail in France.Hamilton tells her story to her prison mate,an English good-time gal:the rise,decline and fall of a courtesan.There are some brilliant lines in the dialogue:Hamilton to her old soon-to-be hubby:"so your nephew sent me to you with his paintings and the bric-à-brac because he's broke!".Her last lines are touching .My mother saw the movie when it was released and how did she love them:"And then?" ,the hooker says " "there's no then" Hamilton replies"there's no after".When Hamilton understands she's lost everything,she draws the curtains and collapses,she seems to be on a stage and the play is over.Vivien leigh did not make many movies.So it would be a pity to miss this one.French remake by Christian-Jaque in 1968,with Michèle Mercier,John Mils and Richard Johnson as the leads ,known as "les amours de lady Hamilton."Despite a huge budget,much inferior to Korda's version" Jean Tulard..
Vivien Leigh is simply superb as Emma Hamilton and dominates the entire film with her beauty and impressive acting skills.
As she lies in prison, drunk and penniless, she describes to a fellow prisoner, her life as the beloved mistress of one of England's greatest heroes.This is a film that stays with you, not only for the story of the ill-fated romance of Admiral Lord Nelson and Lady Emma Hamilton, but also for the perfect casting of the leads, Vivian Leigh and Laurence Olivier.
That attraction was obvious on the screen and reflected the love affair of the characters they portrayed.The story follows Lady Emma's life from a possession passed from nephew to uncle (Sir Edward Hamilton, well played by Alan Mowbray), to her marriage to Hamilton and her meeting with Horatio Nelson.
There is more than enough pathos to move the most jaded movie lover.One of my favorite scenes in the film is that in which Nelson returns to Naples against orders to rescue Emma and she collapses against him saying "I would have died if you would have left me here".The film may not be for all tastes, as it contains a plethora of propaganda aimed at the US which was still neutral in WWII, and does not portray the characters exactly as they may have been.
Told by Emma Hart (Vivien Leigh) as a flashback on her life when she was on hard times later in her life, the film portrays her rise to courtly fame and fall from social grace after her affair with the Lord Horatio Nelson (Lawrence Olivier).She is supported by her mother, (Sara Allgood) and makes the acquaintance of the British envoy (Hamilton) to Naples in about 1798.The latter is looking for a trophy wife to add to his collection of sculptures being something of an aesthete and he manages to successfully disabuse Emma from the idea that her fiance will follow her onto Naples.Later he pursades Emma to marry him, more as a platonic relationship to show off.(Nothing has changed).All goes well and Emma further rises in court circles by befriending the King and Queen of Naples.One day a 21 gun salute announces the arrival in the bay of Naples of the Lord Horatio Nelson on a diplomatic mission.Inevitably he and Emma have their grand affair and the British envoy seems to take it on the chin, (high society did not marry for love in those days).Unfortunately although it is love, Mrs Nelson(Dame Gladys Cooper) will not give Horatio the divorce he craves and his career could mean you were years between meetings with your spouse.The affair will not help his career with the Admiralty either.Of course the day dawns (October 21 1805) off the Cape of Trafalgar (Spain) when Britain took on the combined French and Spanish fleets under Nelson's command.Why did he decide to go on his flagship Victory's quarter deck against good advice showing all his medals and braid, thus making him an obvious target for the sharpshooters in the rigging of "Le Redoubtable"?
Was it an unconscious desire to end his life because his private life was then untenable?After his great victory and national rejoicing, his body was preserved in a keg of rum in preparation for a state funeral at St. Paul's Catherdral, London after the voyage home.Trafalgar Square was built in his honour and was laid out in about 1840.When Hamilton dies, Emma graciously refuses to profit from his estate to the detriment of his legitimate son and heirs.With no financial support from her dead love, she falls on hard times.Obviously Leigh and Olivier had a natural chemistry together because of their marriage and previous affair.Vivien looks utterly exquisite and this film would look sumptuous if a colourised version could now be made available to film connoiseurs.After seeing and reading several versions of Winston Churchill's biography, it was obvious he had a great admiration for historic British martial heros, so it came as no surprise to me that this was his favourite film.Unmissable if you are a Larry and Vivien film fan.I rated it 7/10.
Perhaps the two greatest stars of British cinema, Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier, come together for the third and final time in Alexander Korda's extravagant period piece drama depicting the tragic romance between Lady Emma Hamilton and Lord Horatio Nelson.
No big surprise of course, since this movie is an autobiographic one about Emma Lady Hamilton, the character played by Vivien Leigh, who is historically known as the mistress of Lord Horatio Nelson.
That's not what the British public wanted in 1941 and Alexander Korda who shot the film in exile in America wasn't going to give them that.Whatever the scandals of his private life as a seaman and a naval leader, Horatio Nelson was the real deal.
Emma's mother is delightfully played by Sara Allgood and as you see here at dinner with the Hamiltons and the Nelsons you appreciate where Emma's roots were, lower on the class scale than Nelson's.Olivier and Leigh around the time of this film, got shed of their respective spouses and tied the knot.
The Nelson here and in real life was not a political man, but like Dwight Eisenhower here, might have considered that career and who knows where he would have wound up on the issues that concerned Great Britain for the next couple of generations.Larry and Viv head a remarkable group of players that bring to life the story of a most remarkable British hero..
Vivien Leigh is just so breathtakingly stunning as the beautiful Emma Hamilton (Lady Hamilton was the most beautiful woman in Europe or even the world at the time so I'm glad they cast the right person!!) Laurence Olivier was also fine as Nelson, though occasionally hamming up some parts with Vivien (understandably so, since Vivien seduces him on screen and off) But you can feel the chemistry a mile off and thats what matters.
Director Vincent Korda mounts a handsome-looking historical costume drama about the open affair between Emma Hamilton (Vivien Leigh) and Horatio Nelson (Laurence Olivier) during the Napoleonic wars.In fact, I was struck by how frankly their affair was dealt with given the time period, and wonder if it was shocking to audiences in 1941.
She possesses those Scarlet like qualities here.The film uses history as a backdrop in exploring the relation between Lady Hamilton and Lord Nelson, a tragic ill-fated romance if there ever were.Though very effective in the part, Laurence Olivier is certainly not dominant here.In addition, there are some very fine supporting performances.
The spirit with which she imbues Emma Hamilton is worthy of the highest praise of both historians and thespians (and critics.) Because both Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier were so glamorous in real life, one could be seduced into thinking that they weren't acting at all in this movie.
But most important, you believed you were seeing a pitched naval battle of that era on which the fates of two empires, the British and the French, were staked.Seeing this film ot me more interested in Nelson's career and his actual affair with 'That Hamilton Woman'.
Alexander Korda's historical drama pivots on and beautifies the real-life adulterous romance between Emma Hamilton (Leigh), a courtesan-turned-wife-of-British-ambassador and British Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson (Olivier) during the dawn of the Napoleonic war in the beginning of 19th century.
Yet, in the end of the day, his country downright fails him, too moralistic to pay due care to Emma, the woman he truly loves, after his untimely demise, not to mention, it is "that woman" who plays a critical role not once but twice (according to the movie's story-line), when Nelson and the Great Britain desperately need aids from Naples, she proves to be much more tactful than her then husband Sir William Hamilton (Mowbray), the British ambassador to Naples.
So, the war propaganda train has gone off-rail, but as a showpiece, Vivien Leigh is utterly ravishing in this tailor-made character, which boils down to her actions, reactions, line-delivery, miens and gestures, are all highlighted with subdued close-ups exude a dainty aura of divinity and desirability, and the story is almost exclusively told through her eye's-view, a young woman unwittingly sold by her dissolute lover to enter a marriage (under which circumstance she caves in) where she is regarded as a precious art collection by her well-off husband, impeccable, forever young but with no love, and for once, the husband, is not a man possessed by the green-eyed monster when Emma finds passion and attraction in another man, an apotheosis of virtues, he can suavely dole out constructive advice to her but never stands in their way.
That Hamilton Woman (1941) feels like two different movies competing for attention: a star cross'd romance made to capitalize on real life lovers Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier and a propaganda film trying to coax the US to getting involved in the Second World War.This sort of mix can be done well.
It's a story that reveals her to be the ex-mistress of Laurence Olivier (Lord Nelson) and ex-wife of Alan Mowbray (Lord Hamilton) and it details her romance with the English naval hero up until his death at the 'Battle of Trafalgar'.The film is long but this doesn't seem to matter as the story captures the audience from the beginning.
The cast are all good and, apart from the leads of Leigh and Olivier, mentions must go to Alan Mowbray who ends up as an hallucinating wreck and, in particular, Gladys Cooper (Lady Nelson) who holds her dignity and whose every scene is filled with tension.There are some powerful scenes, eg, Vivien Leigh receiving the news of her lover's death, and the film gives you a bit of everything - romance, humour, drama and good actors.
This film is just excellent...Vivien Leigh sparkles and scintillates as Emma Hamilton, and Olivier brings an appropriate seriousness to the role of Nelson.
Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh star in "That Hamilton Woman," a 1941 film directed by Alexander Korda.
It's the true story of Emma Hamilton (Leigh) and her long affair with Lord Nelson (Olivier).
She falls in love with Lord Nelson, and the two embark on an affair that produces a child.Vivien Leigh makes a smashing Lady Hamilton - beautiful, desirable, determined.
Olivier is a stoic Nelson, a great naval hero who can't stay away from his duty, despite massive injuries.A very opulent production with two stars whose real-life story had some parallels to Hamilton and Nelson, "That Lady Hamilton" is a very absorbing film that Leigh fans in particular will not want to miss..
Besides, I’ve yet to catch up with a couple more Korda productions on VHS – THE PRIVATE LIFE OF DON JUAN (1934; also directed by him) and LYDIA (1941; Julien Duvivier’s Americanized remake of his own UN CARNET DE BAL [1937]).Made by Korda’s London Films (and distributed by United Artists) during the influential producer/director’s brief sojourn in Hollywood, the film was designed as both a vehicle for the Laurence Olivier/Vivien Leigh team and as propaganda for Britain’s war effort (the script, written by Walter Reisch and R.C. Sheriff, equates Napoleon Bonaparte all-too-obviously with Hitler); still, it doesn’t refrain from showing the tragedy of war – Nelson himself loses an eye and a hand and, finally, has his spine broken by a bullet!
It’s a typically opulent production (cinematography by Rudolph Mate' and sets designed by another Korda, Vincent), climaxing with a spectacular sea battle (highlighting Lawrence Butler’s special effects and a Miklos Rosza score) and winning the film an Oscar for Sound Recording.Long and occasionally melodramatic (an incident which I learned from the history books, for instance – detailing the Brits’ attempt to retrieve Malta from the French – is depicted here as having been compromised by the Lady Hamilton/Admiral Nelson affair), but always interesting – with the stars’ scenes together having a genuine sparkle to them.
The supporting cast, then, is peppered with familiar character actors of the era – led by Alan Mowbray and Gladys Cooper as the two lovers’ respective long-suffering spouses (the former’s death scene, having gone mad, is especially moving), and also including plum roles for Sara Allgood (as Emma’s mother) and Henry Wilcoxon (as Nelson’s lieutenant).Other films have been made about this famous historical affair, notably the Silents LADY HAMILTON (1921) – with Conrad Veidt as Nelson – and THE DIVINE LADY (1929) – which won director Frank Lloyd his first Oscar – and, years later, BEQUEST TO THE NATION (1973) – with Glenda Jackson as Lady Hamilton and Peter Finch as Admiral Lord Nelson; THAT HAMILTON WOMAN (which, by the way, is said to be Winston Churchill’s favorite movie!) is the only one I’ve watched myself..
Vivian Leigh stars as Hamilton and Laurence Olivier as Nelson.If you can look past the fact that Emma Hamilton was a slut, you can enjoy this film-mostly because it was so well made (with very nice acting) and because the film ignores her earlier life.
Vivian Leigh, (Emma Lady Hamilton) and Laurence Oliver, (Lord Horatio Nelson) both gave outstanding performances as lovers during the Napoleonic Wars and the British Naval story of battles being won by Lord Nelson against France and Spain and the dictator, Napoleon.
It stars Lawrence Olivier as Lord Nelson and Vivien Leigh as Emma Hart Hamilton, with Vivien Leigh fresh from her triumph in "Gone with the Wind" and at a time when the real-life romance and marriage between the two stars (Leigh and Olivier) was new.The film is largely accurate, which is unusual for an historical drama of its time since these usually took great license with the truth.
Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh's third and final film together and the only one made during their marriage, this is a hugely enjoyable romantic period film which tells the story of the rise and fall of Emma, Lady Hamilton in Georgian society and her long lasting and very well known affair with Lord Nelson, which ended with his death at Trafalgar in 1805.
Once I got past the British-Empire agitprop (which seems to belong in another film) I was caught up in the story of the scandalous Emma Hamilton and her Lord Nelson.