Le seigneur de l'aventure

I cannot help but be disappointed by the reviews this movie has thusfar received in IMDb, but not surprised.

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.

Whether or not the movie is weak history, the movie shines as a vehicle for La Davis. Richard Todd gives a decent performance, although I submit he has neither the acting chops nor the charisma of Errol Flynn. But he serves well in the role.

The costumes, cinematography and screenplay are bright and arresting. 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

Bette Davis gives an amazing performance of England's Queen Elizabeth the 1st. Still a virgin as an older woman (in this version), the determined & dedicated Queen falls in love with Walter Raleigh. 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. Believing he failed to impress the Queen enough for her to grant him 3 ships, he marries Collins & impregnates her.

To the surprise of Walter Raleigh, Queen Elizabeth is most impressed by him & summons him to her bedroom where she knights him, Sir Walter Raleigh. Then, gives him one ship. Now he's in a fix between two women enamored with him.

There's much more to the story. Watching Davis & Collins together is quite the contrast in acting styles. Although the "Dynasty" Collins is much more like Davis as the Queen: temperamental, shrewd, demanding, and impeccable with the delivery of an excellent script, juxtaposed as the two actors are in this film, it's quite obvious how Davis & Collins take a great deal of care with their difference delivery styles of speech.

This film made me prefer Davis' Queen Elizabeth the 1st over other characterizations. I can't imagine a living actress who could become this particular staged Queen, as well as does Davis. (And I have watched Cate Blanchett). After all it's a tall order to go into role better than Bette Davis.

This is Davis' second film in which she plays Queen Elizabeth I of England. Personally, I thought 1939's "Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex" was better, but it is hard to compare the two since this film takes place 15 years earlier in history than "Private Lives" and has Davis essentially playing Elizabeth at the age - 47 - that Davis actually was at the time.

The earlier film had Davis at 31 playing Queen Elizabeth in her sixties, and thus the two films make for an interesting comparison. Here Richard Todd plays Sir Walter Raleigh, who, like Essex in the earlier film, is a younger man who trades on Elizabeth's love for him to gain some personal glory. Richard Todd plays Raleigh effectively, but there is just no topping the charisma of Flynn's performance in the earlier movie.

Also, this film is saddled with Joan Collins in a supporting role who always made any film she was in worse and almost single handedly caused the death of classic film on DVD with her box set of not so special Fox films.

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. The DVD cut of this film, issued as part of the Studio Classics series, is pristine with the digital format bringing out the sheer spectacle of colour in the scenes in the royal court.

A great old fashioned drama.

Bette Davis is probably one of the greatest actresses of all time, and it is really outstanding that a Massachusetts lady can break all cultural barriers and incarnate an English Queen to such a degree of perfection. I really enjoyed her performance.

The rest of the cast is just acceptable. Richard Todd is handsome and the young Joan Collins is beatiful to watch. The costumes and settings are carefully reproduced, and Koster's direction is profesional. The dialogues are wonderfully written, though the story is not quite historically accurate.

By the way, the European VHS edition is simply disgusting: the film is cut to fit the normal TV screen 4:3, leaving out vital parts of it. 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! A new DVD edition would be most welcome.