Sixty Glorious Years

I envy the previous individual who had the opportunity of viewing this in the UK as, to my knowledge, it has never appeared on home video or been broadcast on American television in recent memory. One interesting fact that I found about this film is that, while all reference sources list the USA release title of this British film as QUEEN OF DESTINY, some research I was doing for something else turned up an interesting fact. This film premiered in the US at Radio City Music Hall (December 1938)under its original British title. Subsequent releases may have used the alternate, but it at least played in New York as Sixty Glorious Years.

I saw only the first fifteen minutes of this talking-waxworks show, but that was more than enough. This picture is lame and prissy, the kind where the viewer is expected to feel a naughty thrill and a glow of pride at Victoria's daring--"Oh, look! the Queen is dancing the waltz!" Anton Walbrook is debonair but demure, and Anna Neagle is a typical dim debutante. After seeing several real-life royal weddings live on TV, the spectacle of actors stiffly pretending to get married is less than overwhelming, especially with no attempt at characterisation or humour. People who worship the royal family on bended knee may like this kind of thing, but anyone wanting a movie with intelligence or charm had best look elsewhere. Give me The Smiling Lt., with Maurice Chevalier in the title role, who raises havoc in the bedrooms of the royal palace, any day!

The fad of filming two movies back-to-back does not belong exclusively to Italian genre cinema, Jess Franco or recent Hollywood fantasy blockbuster franchises; this prestigious (shot in Technicolor by future triple Oscar-winning cinematographer Freddie Young) historical epic dealing with the lengthy reign of British monarch Queen Victoria came hot on the heels of the previous year's VICTORIA THE GREAT made by the same team of stars Anna Neagle and Anton Walbrook, producer-director Wilcox and co-screenwriter Miles Malleson. Unlike most follow-ups, this does not pick up where its predecessor left off but rather depicts events that were left out of the first movie; this entails that some actors reprised the same roles here: Felix Aylmer (as Lord Palmerston), Derrick De Marney (as Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli), Walter Rilla (as Prince Ernst), Gordon McLeod (as Mr. Brown) and Joyce Bland (as Florence Nightingale). Incidentally, Neagle would later portray the latter role herself in Wilcox's biopic of THE LADY WITH THE LAMP (1951) – where Aylmer would return yet again as the Hon. Lord Palmerston, M.P.!; having said that, in the film under review, the part of The Duke of Wellington is given more screen time than in VICTORIA THE GREAT and is in fact entrusted to one of the great character actors of his time, C. Aubrey Smith (apparently graduating from a bit-part in the earlier film). Before concentrating on the film proper, here are two final pieces of trivia: George Arliss won an Oscar for portraying Disraeli in the eponymous 1929 film that I recently caught up with, as well as Wellington in THE IRON DUKE (1934; which I own but have yet to watch)! Besides, I am also familiar with another screen encounter between Queen Victoria and Disraeli in THE MUDLARK (1950; with Alec Guinness and Irene Dunne) and have THE YOUNG VICTORIA (2009) in my unwatched pile…

Although I have watched VICTORIA THE GREAT on Italian TV many years ago – I cannot sensibly compare the two movies – this second installment certainly does not strike me as being made up of footage which had ostensibly been left on the cutting-room floor the first time around or a compilation of B-sides as it were; for one thing, unlike the case here, its predecessor only used Technicolor sparingly. Even so, the film does follow a rigorous episodic structure in order to confine its 60 years of eventful history into just 95 minutes of screen time: from foreigner Albert's unpopular coming to Britain as incumbent Prince Regent to reaching his zenith as the brains behind the Great Exhibition of 1851 to his early death; from Victoria's battle-of-wills with the old-fashioned Duke of Wellington over his opposition to Albert to his becoming one of their closest confidantes and his own death as they are adjudicating a traditional Scottish dance contest; from Lord Palmerston's impassioned speeches in Parliament that leave no alternative but for Britain to engage in the Crimean War (including a re-enactment of the famous incident of "The Charge Of the Light Brigade") to Disraeli's scheming to acquire the Suez Canal for Britain; from General Gordon's defeat in Khartoum to Lord Kitchener's triumph at Omdurman, etc. The film obviously ends with the death of the Queen herself at the turn of the 20th century and the people's verdict that an era had veritably been brought to a close with her passing. The end result is less an epic that a glorified depiction of the family life of the elite British society but it is no less entertaining for that; indeed, the engaging central performances, the familiar faces and events and the solid production values (including Anthony Collins' music score) carry the day admirably.

In conclusion, although the hazy print I watched was preceded by the unmistakable logo of U.S. distributor RKO Radio, the title displayed on the opening credits is still SIXTY GLORIOUS DAYS rather than QUEEN OF DESTINY – which is how it was retitled in 1941 when it was paired with the Charles Laughton-Carole Lombard comedy THEY KNEW WHAT THEY WANTED (1940) on the other side of the pond; what is more, a compilation movie called QUEEN VICTORIA was released in Britain in 1943, which re- edited the two films together in chronological order and accidentally destroying their original individual negative into the process!

This film is something of a puzzle to me in that Anna Neagle played the same role in a film released a year earlier which covered a lot of the same ground in the long life of Queen Victoria. A great many members of the cast covered said ground with her, most prominently Anton Walbrook who fits my conception perfectly of what Prince Albert must have been like.

Sixty Glorious Years which was released on this side of the pond as Queen Of Destiny is a bit slow and ponderous, but Neagle makes an unforgettable Queen Victoria in all the stages of her 64 years. The British people are currently going through the same experience as Queen Elizabeth II has reached her 60th year, her Diamond Jubilee year of her reign.

Matching her in every way is Anton Walbrook who played HRH Prince Albert who set a standard of behavior for a male consort to follow, one that Prince Philip has matched in his time as well. It took a while for him to win over the British people, but he managed.

One thing that was glossed over and I wish was given more attention was that in 1861 Albert played a great if back channel role in preventing the USA and the UK from going to war over the Trent Affair. During the early years of our Civil War, an American navy captain seized the British ship Trent carrying some accredited Confederate agents bound for London and Paris. Two wars was not something Abraham Lincoln was ready to handle as was this nation. He was in the early stages of the illness that claimed him, still he labored tirelessly for peace.

Standing out in the vast supporting cast of a pageant of British statesmen and personalities of the 19th century are C. Aubrey Smith as the aged Duke of Wellington and Felix Aylmer as Viscount Palmerston. Again fitting my conception of what these two guys were like.

Sixty Glorious Years is a bit ponderous and slow, still it is a fine tribute to a woman who molded and shaped the character of the British monarchy today.

This is a tremendously well made film that fans of movies about the royalty should love. Unfortunately, while very good, it also comes off as a bit episodic because the film tries to cover too much material and would have been better off with either a narrow focus or a series.

The film begins at the beginning of Queen Victoria's reign in 1837. Very shortly after this, she marries Prince Albert and the film specifically focuses on their relationship. In many ways, it's like the recent film "Young Victoria" though it places a greater emphasis between her relationship with her husband and covers a much longer period. Both films are terrific and would make a great double-feature. Heck, if you have a chance, also see "Mrs. Brown"--making it a terrific triple-Victoria viewing experience.

So what did I like about it? Well, Anna Neagle (Victoria) and Anton Wallbrook (Albert) did terrific jobs and their interplay was very nice. Additionally, the direction and quality of the production were superb. It also helped that the film makers got permission to use many of the royal residences in the movie--so they really got the look down right. All in all a very good film that tries to encompass a bit too much of for a film that is this short. You'd think you'd need at least three hours to do the topic justice since she lived so long and so much happened in Great Britain during her reign.