La princesse d'Eboli

As a very big fan of Mrs De Havilland ,I was very anxious to watch it! What a big disappointment!This costume melodrama is certainly one of her worst parts if not simply the worst!she's so subtle an actress one wonders why she did not turn it down and let it to lesser talents ;there are plenty of starlets who could have been content with it!perhaps because an one-eyed character is not very attractive!

As for the story itself ,it's a Spanish princess in love with the king's minister -and loved by the king too-;the minister is involved in a murder but that lady cannot even serve as an alibi .The king has his own problems with his brother who covets his throne .The script is inept,the cinematography is poor ,and the actors ,left to their own devices ,do what they can but it's not enough to save the movie;French viewers will notice the presence of Françoise Rosay as Bernadine aka Bernie ,one of our greatest actresses;like De Havilland and Scofield,why did she get involved in that business with that lady?

Paul Scofield made his film debut as Philip II of Spain in this handsome but slow-paced costumer that has Olivia de Havilland in the title role (wearing a black eyepatch as the one-eyed Ana de Mendoza, Princess of Eboli). Interesting costumes and scenery but it's all too talky with not enough movement, giving it the static look of a stage play rather than cinema. Gilbert Roland is excellent as de Havilland's lover and the rest of the supporting cast is fine, including Christopher Lee in an early bit role. Olivia is photographed beautifully throughout but the role, as written, gives her little opportunity to really shine. She was a great admirer of Katharine Cornell who played the role on stage to rave notices--probably the reason she chose to make this film. Lensed in Cinemascope and color, it loses a lot on the small screen and I don't believe Fox has ever released it to home video.

...in this British-Spanish historical drama from 20th Century Fox and director Terence Young. In late 16th century Spain, King Philip II (Paul Scofield) enlists the aid of old friend and confidante Ana de Mendoza (Olivia de Havilland), the Princess of Eboli, to help Philip train a worthy successor to be his chief minister. Philip has his eye on commoner Antonio Perez (Gilbert Roland), so the king asks Ana to teach Antonio in the ways of the court. This leads to an affair between Antonio and the long-widowed Ana, a scandal in strict Catholic Spain. Scheming courtier Don Mateo (Dennis Price) sees to it that the scandal becomes a national outrage, forcing Philip to take harsh action.

I can see why de Havilland wanted this role, as it's showy and she gets to wear a lot of extravagant costumes, including an eye patch! Paul Scofield made his film debut here, and won a BAFTA as Best Newcomer. I'm curious how I would view his performance in that time, not knowing him from his subsequent roles, as he uses an affected voice, and makeup and hair design that make him appear older than his actual 33 years. I think he does a good job, but those character choices are glaring in the early scenes. Dennis Price is underused, and Christopher Lee, as the Captain of the Guard and ally of Price's baddie, just gets to look imposing. The Spanish location shooting is a plus. The story lurches from courtly intrigue to uninspired romance, with the latter winning out in the end.

The English language literature and cinema has not been kind to Philip II of Spain. The two best known cinematic portrayals of him are Raymond Massey in Fire Over England and Montagu Love in The Sea Hawk. Each portrays him as the driven workaholic that he was. If you had an empire that allied with his uncle the Holy Roman Empire covered half of what was called Christendom back in the day, you might be a 24/7 guy like he was to keep it together.

That Lady shows Philip as a central character, but not the center of the story. For That Lady is played by Olivia DeHavilland as Ana deMendoza who with one eye was still one of the regal beauties of those medieval times.

Back in the day Philip would have gotten together, but for reasons of state he married 4 other women at one time or other in his life. He married her off to one of his aging courtiers with the hope probably that she might be free one day.

And one day she's a widow and free, but Philip is not, but he sends for her anyway to kind of tutor his commoner new minister Antonio Perez played by Gilbert Roland in court ways and politics.

Being a commoner, Roland gets more than the usual jealousy and Philip's other minister Dennis Price looks to bring him down playing a wonderful Iago type. Philip isn't quite the raging jealous type that Othello was, but he's got his weaknesses.

Playing Philip and making his big screen debut is Paul Scofield, one of the great players of the English speaking world of the last century. Scofield takes the character made familiar by Massey and Love and adds quite a bit to it. This is a most lonely man as rulers are and having put aside his own passion for DeHavilland is subject to some nasty impulses. That he controls them as well as he did is something of a tribute to his character. But Philip if he was nothing else was about control, most of all self control.

That Lady originated as a play on Broadway that starred Katharine Cornell that ran 79 performances in the 1949-50 season. It was not one of her bigger successes, but we are the poorer for it because like the Lunts, Kit Cornell stuck with the stage. Playing Perez was Torin Thatcher and playing Philip was Henry Daniell. That's a production I can easily see the casting of.

That Lady when its not on Scofield does not move at a good pace. Still the players do what they can with a slow moving story and Scofield is always a pleasure to watch.

It is sad, sad that there is, so far as I know, no way of seeing this great, great actor of enormous distinction and individuality making his debut in films about half a century ago in THAT LADY.

Regardless of its original reception at the box office I am convinced that we would be overwhelmed by the charisma and monumental personality of Mr. Schofield's portrayal of one of the most remarkable European kings that ever reigned.

His characterization of King Lear in Peter Brooke's film of Shakespeare's tragedy is fundamentally magnificent and hardly likely ever to be surpassed. How lovely it would be compare and contrast the two royal portraits and what a treat for generations of great acting fans yet to come.