A Dama Divina

Briefly, as explained in an introductory title card, "This is the historic tale of two people whose lives are an immortal romance; the story of the love and destiny of England's greatest beauty, and England's greatest sailor." The film focuses on the greatest beauty of Corinne Griffith (as Emma Hart). Her main lover is the greatest sailor, Victor Varconi (as Horatio Nelson). Ms. Griffith dominates the drama, which begins in late 18th century England. Introduced as a servant girl, Griffith becomes enamored with noble boss Ian Keith (as Charles Greville). After gaining a reputation as a "vulgar hussy", Griffith is sent to Italy; there, she becomes more ladylike, and marries Mr. Keith's uncle, H.B. Warner (as William Hamilton). Then, as "Lady Hamilton", she meets, and has an historically influential affair with Mr. Varconi, her "true love".

"The Divine Lady" is a showy, costly production. It was noticed during the second "Academy Awards" ceremony for the direction of Frank Lloyd. Mr. Lloyd's direction is, indeed, a strength; in one scene, he makes you feel you are on a Ferris Wheel. Lloyd was also noted for directing Richard Barthelmess in "Weary River" and "Drag", films which sandwiched "Divine Lady". John Seitz' photography is another strength; he is responsible for many beautiful scenes; and, of course, shows superstar Griffith in her best light. Comic relief Marie Dressler (as Mrs. Hart) appears too briefly.

In 1994, Corinne Griffith received a belated "Academy Award" nomination as "Best Actress" for "The Divine Lady"; the revelation appeared in Robert Osborne's "65 Years of the Oscar: The Official History of the Academy Awards".

There were no actual "nominations" announced that year (actually, the 1928-29 season); after the awards gained stature, there were attempts to bring the earlier ceremonies in line with what was becoming the industry standard. The inclusion of Griffith's name among the nominees may have been due to a suggestion Jeanne Eagels' performance in "The Letter" be dropped, since she died in October 1929.

A look at the other nominations would support Griffith's inclusion; however, the second ceremony was not one of the Academy's best efforts. Griffith's starry, self-conscious performance was better than "Best Actress" winner Mary Pickford's, in "Coquette"; but, so were most. Lillian Gish and Greta Garbo essayed far superior characterizations during the eligibility period, but were not nominated. However, dog star Rin Tin Tin was considered for a "Best Actor" nomination.

****** The Divine Lady (4/14/29) Frank Lloyd ~ Corinne Griffith, Victor Varconi, H.B. Warner, Ian Keith

Corrine Griffith is the ambitious young Emma Hart, daughter of a cook, who has a bit of a reputation that doesn't make her universally welcome. She does attract the attention of her employer, Charles Grenville (Ian Keith) but he soon tires of her and ships her off, under false presences, to live with his uncle Sir William Hamilton (H. B. Warner) who just happens to be the British Ambassador to the kingdom of Naples. Now this man is quite an aesthete, and when poor jilted Emma realises that her love has no intentions of joining her she accepts a proposal of marriage from her host. It's a loveless arrangement, but she has wealth, privilege and the ear of the queen. That relationship becomes especially useful when she is introduced to the visiting Admiral Nelson (Victor Varconi) whom, after his victories for Great Britain, is an acclaimed seaman. He is also fighting an outbreak of scurvy amongst his ill-nourished men, and so Emma has to use her wiles to get the queen to agree to allows the ports of the Two Sicilies to help them out - despite strong objections from the bullying French. Of course, there now follows an affair that the two are entirely engrossed in, regardless of the fact that both are married and that British society is not prepared to countenance it. Viscount and Battle of the Nile or not! Largely shunned and now back home, the couple live peacefully and quietly in a rustic setting until it comes time for the admiral to take to the seas again against the fleet of Napoleon near Cape Trafalgar. The rest of that is history, and so is the denouement of this rather good looking but lacklustre historical biopic. I didn't really notice any chemistry between Griffith and a Varconi whose glass eye might actually have been his most animated feature. It all looks suitably grand and some of the seafaring scenes deliver quite well - but it's sometimes quite brutally edited, dimly lit and somehow it all just lacks either the pace to reflect her joie-de-vivre life in Naples or even, really, the burgeoning romance upon which it all rests. It is fine to watch, but sadly disappoints.

Both this film The Divine Lady and the better known That Hamilton Woman hardly give the correct portrayal of Emma Hart Hamilton. There was nothing saintly or divine about that woman. If you want to see a correct interpretation of her, I would recommend Bequest To A Nation, written by Terrence Rattigan and starring Glenda Jackson as Emma and Peter Finch as Lord Nelson.

However for those who love romantic stories be they true or fictional this restored transitional classic and the much better That Hamilton Woman will be your cup of tea. The Divine Lady was a mostly silent film with no dialog, but a dubbed singer for Corinne Griffith singing English airs of the period. I don't think anyone believed that soprano was Corinne's voice.

For those who don't know any of the films I've cited or English history, Emma Hart played by Corinne Griffith and her mother Marie Dressler are employed as cook and maid at the home of Ian Keith as Charles Greville. Griffith catches the eye of Sir William Hamilton who is in the diplomatic service of Great Britain and she marries him to skip quite a few rungs on the English social scale.

But while H.B. Warner as Hamilton has eyes for her, Griffith spots an up and coming naval officer Victor Varconi as Horatio Nelson. They begin one of the most notorious extra-marital affairs in history. That affair and the influence that Emma gains at the court of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies where Hamilton has been made ambassador has a great deal to do with saving Great Britain. That much is true.

What's not true is how noble Emma Hamilton was. She was quite the bawdy character in her day, her common origins did more than slip. She could be vulgar and cruel, she was very cruel to Lady Nelson in real life played here by Helen Jerome Eddy. But her place in history is secure as is her place in legendary romances.

The Divine Lady won an Oscar for Director Frank Lloyd, his first of three the others also being subjects concerning the United Kingdom, Cavalcade and Mutiny On The Bounty. Corinne Griffith was nominated for Best Actress although that seems to be a subject of dispute and the film got an Oscar nomination for cinematography. Probably the award it should have gotten was for special effects, but that category had not been established yet.

The Divine Lady is a cinematic and historical anachronism, but worthy of a viewing for those reasons.

and the very strange Oscar win for director, Frank Lloyd, are the only reasons this film is remembered at all. Long, dull, and obvious, The Divine Lady tells the story of Emma Hamilton and Admiral Nelson and his victory at Trafalgar. Because nominations were not announced in the early years of Oscars, it has allowed revisionists to suddenly, in the last few years, proclaim that Corinne Griffith was a nominee for best actress. This makes no sense as Griffith would have been the SIXTH nominee on the list. The academy might have played around in the first several years, but they never had SIX acting nominees. Mary Pickford won for Coquette. The other nominees have always been Bessie Love for The Broadway Melody, Betty Compson for The Barker, Ruth Chatterton for Madame X, and Jeanne Eagels for The Letter. Now out of nowhere, Griffith as been added as the stealth nominee. No way. If there WERE no official nominees announced, how did Griffith suddenly appear as a nominee 70 years after the fact? Nothing against Miss Griffith, whom I liked very much in The Garden of Allah, but she was NOT nominated for an Oscar, despite the trumpetings of TCM and the revisionism of the official Oscar web pages. Check any Oscar book printed before 1995. NO GRIFFITH! Oh and I would have voted for Bessie Love.

The Divine Lady,the Oscar winner for Best Director,Frank Lloyd, has recently been restored and has shown up on TCM. I saw it on the big screen at a Vitaphone film festival. Since it was a very late silent,it had a vitaphone soundtrack and even a theme song.The film tells the story of the romance of Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton The movie has some lovely visual moments. The most memorable being,the two lovers on a swing and a battle at sea. But the film is a little slow going and the male lead is stiff and lacks charisma. Frank Lloyd is best remembered for the 1935 version of Mutiny on the Bounty, which shares with this film,historical characters and sea experiences.However, Mutiny on the Bounty is a much better film. For the best version of the story of Hamilton and Nelson, see the wonderful,Vivian Leigh- Laurence Olivier-movie-That Hamilton Woman.