Bette Davis stars as Queen Elizabeth I of England, juggling royal duties and protocols with her own hopes and passions.
The film focuses on her relationship with Sir Walter Raleigh (a wooden Richard Todd). Joan Collins plays one of the queen’s ladies in waiting, who Raleigh falls in love with against Elizabeth’s wishes.
It’s a highly enjoyable romp, if you don’t mind the wobbly sets and the ridiculousness of the Welsh and Irish accents. Bette Davis speaks in a fascinatingly odd manner. For example, she says “my girl” as “me gell”. The Hollywood sunshine doesn’t represent the English weather very convincingly, either.
Bette Davis has a huge and commanding presence that puts Cate Blanchett’s version of Elizabeth to shame. (By the way, you wonder how much Miranda Richardson was influenced by Davis when she played the same queen in Blackadder 2.) It has to be said that Clive Owen’s Raleigh was far better (and even that was muddled).
Another curious thing about this film is how quickly everything happens. The scenes rattle along. The dialogue whizzes past. Even the edits between scenes happen at an accelerated speed. Sometimes (a sword fight, a chase on horseback), the film itself even seems to have been slightly speeded up. It’s as if they were in a mad rush to get it over with.
