La Divine Lady

Scottish film-maker Frank Lloyd (a would-have-been birthday celebrant on the day I watched the film under review) was one of the founding members of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences – best-known for holding the annual Oscar ceremony. He was also the second Academy Award winner for Best Direction for this rarely seen historical epic which, as it turned out, was the only film in Oscar history to win that category without an accompanying nod for Best Picture (a feat which, given the current rules, is practically impossible to repeat itself). However, Lloyd was even nominated for directing two more movies that same year – WEARY RIVER (which I own a copy of but did not manage to locate in time for inclusion in this ongoing Oscar marathon!) and the unavailable DRAG. He would later emerge victorious again for CAVALCADE (1933) and received his last nomination for MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (1935) which, like the latter, was also named Best Picture. For the record, his other films that have had notable brushes with Oscar were EAST LYNNE (1931), BERKELEY SQUARE (1933) and IF I WERE KING (1938) – and, although I have all three in my collection, they will have to wait a similarly-themed marathon for their first viewing. After such a distinguished career, Lloyd semi-retired in the mid-1940s and only made the occasional movie in the following decade before dying in 1960.

THE DIVINE LADY – not to be confused with the contemporaneous Greta Garbo vehicle THE DIVINE WOMAN (1928) only a fragment of which exists today – tells the oft-told tale of the controversial affair between Lady Emma Hamilton and Lord Horatio Nelson; I am already familiar with the Alexander Korda version of events entitled THAT HAMILTON WOMAN (1941; the only on screen pairing of then husband-and-wife team of Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier) and also have the Glenda Jackson/Peter Finch- starring A BEQUEST TO THE NATION aka THE NELSON AFFAIR (1973) in my unwatched pile; for the record, I would love to catch Richard Oswald's even earlier LADY HAMILTON (1921), in which the ubiquitous pair of Conrad Veidt and Werner Krauss played Nelson and Sir William Hamilton respectively, and Christian-Jaque's international version EMMA HAMILTON (1968) – with Michele Mercier, Richard Johnson and John Mills.

The narrative here starts out with an 'impoverished' aristocrat (Ian Keith) dismissing a newly-engaged cook (Marie Dressler) because of the "vulgar" antics of her daughter Emma Hart (an Oscar-nominated Corinne Griffith, though her name is bafflingly omitted in Roy Pickard's "The Oscar Movies From A-Z" and seems to be disputed elsewhere too!); her entreaties to rethink his harsh decision win him over and impress his artist friend who wants to paint a portrait of her. Before long, she is accompanying her employer on social occasions, until she embarrasses him by bursting into song at a fair thereby attracting the attentions of every male within hearing distance. He is convinced to dispose of her by thrusting her into the arms of his aging womanizing uncle Sir William Hamilton (H.B. Warner!) even though she had fallen for Keith himself in the meantime. He soon gets to regret his actions when the wealthy relative (whom he had hoped to inherit) marries the wench and turns her into Lady Emma Hamilton, Ambassadress to Sicily! Although that island is ostensibly neutral to the ongoing conflict between England and France, the king sides with France while the queen (sister to the deposed Marie Antoinette) secretly sides with Britain. When Lady Hamilton decides to intervene, the latter's allegiance is instrumental in overturning a Royal decree not to help the ailing British fleet headed by Admiral Horatio Nelson (Victor Varconi – who is not shown wearing a black patch over his blind eye but does get to lose a hand!). Apart from helping the British repel the enemy, this fateful event brings Emma and Horatio together for the first time and, as they say, the rest is history...

The understandably battered print – culled from the "Warner Archives" DVD-R – does not really do the film much justice but remains reasonably watchable throughout. Indeed THE DIVINE LADY is a handsomely mounted and well-crafted production (cinematographer John F. Seitz also received an Oscar nomination for his work here), with Lloyd's solid direction smoothing over the crude sound sequences interspersed throughout where we hear Emma Hamilton sing, and only calling attention to itself intermittently, as in the aforementioned fairground sequence.

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.

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.

I finally was able to see this early Oscar silent winner: Frank Lloyd was the 1928-29 Best Director Oscar winner. The occasion for showing film was that TCM is honoring Marie Dressler in a series of her movies, and she had a small humorous role in this film.

This movie is based on the semi-true story by E. Barrington. It centers on the affair between Emma, Lady Hamilton and the British naval hero, Admiral Horatio Nelson, during the Napoleonic Wars. Both were married to other spouses at the time of their affair.

The same general story was later made into the 1941 Kora-directed movie, That Hamilton Woman (1941) with Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier as the two main characters.

The Divine Lady is a fantastic silent film, a gem of early American cinema that we are lucky to have discovered. Once thought to be lost, The Divine Lady was found along with its original vitaphone score. Since its rediscovery, the movie hasn't raised much commotion in the film community. It has aired on Turner Classic Movies only a handful of times, and it has not been offered for sale on home video. Despite all of this neglection, The Divine Lady is as important and significant as it is entertaining. Garnering an Oscar nomination for its lovely star Corinne Griffith (who, after seeing all the nominees from that year, I have decided should have won) and an Oscar win for Best Direction (for Frank Lloyd). The opening scene is upbeat and humorous. The deliciously hammy Marie Dressler is a delight as the English cook, Mrs. Hart. When her and her hussy of a daughter Emma (Griffith) arrive at the home of the Honorable Charles Greville (Ian Kieth) to work, Sir Charles is skeptical and doubts allowing a vulgar young gamine to enter his home. After her persuasions, however, the man changes his mind and begins to romance Emma. Anxious to inherit the fortune of a rich uncle Sir William Hamilton, Greville sends Emma to live with him in Naples. His motivation is that Sir William could never bring himself to marry such a woman, and that she will exist as his mistress; thus, he himself will inherit the fortune of his uncle when he dies unmarried. When Emma learns that her love will not be joining her, however, she foils the plans of her suitor and marries Sir William. One day, a young naval officer, Horatio Nelson (Victor Varconi), comes to ask a favor of Sir William. Instead, he meets his lovely wife and the two are attracted to one another. When, after a great deal of success, Nelson returns, the two carry out a much-gossipped-about affair. Struggling for the peace and tranquility they desire, the two settle down to live a quiet life. But when Napoleon becomes a threat to England again, the lovers must separate and Nelson must go fight another naval battle. Dripping with beautiful production values, the Divine Lady is a wonderful film, even today. The characters are portrayed vividly and realistically. The photography is some of the best ever, at times similar to the much-touted 'Sunrise.' Over all, the film is a massive experience. It is truly one of the best silents of American film!