The Sword and the Rose

**The Sword and the Rose** is a 1953 live-action film directed by Ken Annakin.

It is based on the 1898 novel When Knighthood Was in Flower by Charles Major. The film was released on July 23, 1953.

## Plot

Mary Tudor falls in love with a new arrival to court, Charles Brandon. She persuades her brother King Henry VIII to make him his Captain of the Guard. Meanwhile, Henry is determined to marry her off to the aging King Louis XII of France as part of a peace agreement. Mary's long-time suitor the Duke of Buckingham takes a dislike to Charles as he is a commoner and the Duke wants Mary for himself. However, troubled by his feelings for the princess, Brandon resigns and decides to sail to the New World. Against the advice of her lady-in-waiting Lady Margaret, Mary dresses up like a boy and follows Brandon to Bristol. Henry's men find them and throw Brandon in the Tower of London. King Henry agrees to spare his life if Mary will marry King Louis and tells her that when Louis dies she is free to marry whomever she wants. Meanwhile, Mary asks the Duke of Buckingham for help but he only pretends to help Brandon escape from the Tower, really planning to have him killed while escaping. The duke thinks he is drowned in the Thames, but he survives.

Mary marries King Louis and encourages him to drink to excess and be active so that his already deteriorating health worsens. His heir Francis makes it clear that he will not return Mary to England after the king's death, but keep her for himself. When she goes to him for help, the Duke of Buckingham tells Lady Margaret that Brandon is dead and decides to go "rescue" Mary himself. Lady Margaret discovers that Brandon is alive and learning of the duke's treachery they hurry back to France. Louis dies and the Duke of Buckingham arrives in France to bring Mary back to England. He tells her that Brandon is dead and tries to force her to marry him. Charles arrives in time, rescues her and wounds the duke in a duel. Mary and Brandon are married and remind Henry of his promise to let her pick her second husband. He forgives them and makes Charles Duke of Suffolk.

## Cast and Characters

* Glynis Johns as Mary Tudor
* James Robertson Justice as King Henry VIII
* Richard Todd as Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk
* Michael Gough as Duke of Buckingham
* Jane Barrett as Lady Margaret
* Peter Copley as Sir Edwin Caskoden
* Ernest Jay as Lord Chamberlain
* Jean Mercure as Louis XII
* D.A. Clarke-Smith as Cardinal Wolsey
* Gérard Oury as Dauphin of France
* Fernand Fabre as DeLongueville
* Gaston Richer as Antoine Duprat
* Rosalie Crutchley as Queen Katherine
* Bryan Coleman as Earl of Surrey
* Helen Goss as Princess Claude
* Patrick Cargill as French Diplomat
* Anthony Sharp as French Diplomat
* Richard Molinas as Father Pierre

## Production

At the end of 1948, funds from Walt Disney Productions stranded in foreign countries, including the United Kingdom, exceeded $8.5 million. Walt Disney decided to create a studio in Britain, RKO-Walt Disney British Productions, Ltd. in association with RKO Radio Pictures and started production of Treasure Island (1950). With the success of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952), Disney wanted to keep the production team to make a second film; he chose The Sword and the Rose inspired by the novel When Knighthood Was in Flower (1898) by Charles Major. This team consisted of the director Ken Annakin, producer Douglas Pierce, writer Lawrence Edward Watkin, and the artistic director Carmen Dillon.

The film was officially announced in June 1952. In July the title was changed from When Knighthood was in Flower to The Sword and the Rose.

At the beginning of production, Annakin and Dillon went to Burbank, Disney Studios in order to develop the script and set the stage with storyboards, a technique used by Annakin on production of Robin Hood . During this step, each time a batch of storyboards was finished, it was presented to Walt Disney who commented and brought his personal touch. Annakin was granted great freedom with the dialogue.

Walt Disney came to oversee the production of the film in the UK from June to September 1952. The team spent several months researching period details to make the film more realistic. Working in pre-production had helped reduce the need for natural settings in favour of studio sets designed by Peter Ellenshaw. Ellenshaw painted sets for 62 different scenes in total. According to Leonard Maltin, Ellenshaw's work was such that it is sometimes impossible to tell where the painting ends and reality begins.

Filming began in July 1952 at Pinewood Studios.

Todd was thrown from a horse while filming the trailer and was in bed for three weeks.

It was distributed by RKO under a new arrangement between that film and Disney.

## Reception

The film's budget exceeded that of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men, but it earned only $2.5 million.

The film disappointed at the US box office but did better in other countries. However, the relative failure of this and Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue caused Disney to become less enthusiastic about costume pictures.

The film was serialized in the show The Wonderful World of Disney.