MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS, who ruled with the heart of a woman.
1971-12-22
N/A
128 min
Mary Stuart, who was named Queen of Scotland when she was only six days old, is the last Roman Catholic ruler of Scotland. She is imprisoned at the age of 23 by her cousin Elizabeth Tudor, the English Queen and her arch adversary. Nineteen years later the life of Mary is to be ended on the scaffold and with her execution the last threat to Elizabeth's throne has been removed. The two Queens with their contrasting personalities make a dramatic counterpoint to history.
This is a superb portrayal of the troubled late 16th century Scottish Queen from Vanessa Redgrave. Forced to return to an unwelcoming Scotland following the death of her French husband, Catholic Mary arrives to barely disguised hostility from her largely Protestant subjects. Added to her problems, her cousin Elizabeth (Glenda Jackson) is making things difficult for her from south of their border. The story is well known, but the two ladies' performances demonstrate both the flaws and the strengths of each, well. Trevor Howard is great as the manipulative Burghley; as are Timothy Dalton as Mary's dissolute husband Henry Darnley; Ian Holm as the seedy David Rizzio; Nigel Davenport as Bothwell and Patrick McGoohan as her ambitious, plotting, half-brother. The attention to the detail of the time - locations, costumes and a lovely John Barry score all add to the quality of this - broadly - authentic historical drama.
