Last night we watched another epic from producer Hal Wallis, the legendary impresario who brought us "Becket" (recently reviewed). We raved about that film, and have more to applaud with "Mary, Queen of Scots" (1971), a historical account of Mary Stuart, who ruled Scotland in the 16th century. The story details her adversarial relationship with Elizabeth, Queen of England. Talk about a potboiler. The treachery! Rival queens, scheming lords, Catholics versus Protestants. There's also a jealous king, a lusty minstrel and a vengeful brother. "Mary" has it all. It sometimes feels a bit soapy in comparison to an all time classic like "A Man for All Seasons", but in the qualities that matter most, plot and acting, it nearly equals that film and "Becket" too.
Vanessa Redgrave stars as Mary, who as the story begins is married to Francois II, King of France. Due to lack of blood lineage, she is only Queen Consort (i.e. the King's wife). When he dies, she loses her aristocracy and is urged by her bishop to return to Scotland (pronounced Skaertlnd), where she remains the reigning Queen. He further says she has a claim to England, too. "Elizabeth is a bastard Queen, my lady. She consorts with her horse master. Her throne is rightfully yours". Mary is also a Catholic. The bishop wants Britain returned to Papal rule. Elizabeth and her lords are Protestant. Man these religious schisms were brutal. The conflict begins as soon as Elizabeth hears of Mary's return.
It's not that Elizabeth is afraid of Mary (yeah, sure), she just believes there isn't room for two Queens on one island, especially when one of them is an amateur. "Mary is a charlatan, a slave to her heart. She hasn't the brains to be Queen, but her Catholic masters will use her for their own agenda. We must prevent that, and I know just the way". Elizabeth then sends two suitors to court Mary, knowing she's on the rebound from Francois. The first is her own boyfriend, the horse master Robert Dudley. He's a gentleman, but this is obviously a trick. Elizabeth figures that Mary will know of Robert's relationship with her and will thus turn him down, but she wins either way : if Mary accepts Robert's advances, Elizabeth will have blackmail ("She's an adultress"!), and if she rebuffs him as expected, Elizabeth can send in a clown, a boy toy named Henry Lord Darnley. This is Plan B. Mary won't know Darnley and will think him genuinely interested in her. He's young, handsome and passionate, and most importantly he's Protestant. If he and Mary wed, he'll be King Consort of Scotland, not sovereign perhaps, but strong enough to rule behind the scenes.
But is Darnley strong? Temperamental, yes. But strong of character? Hardly. He's really a fop, parading as a proud young lion. He's also bisexual, so when he does start up with Mary, he's just as interested in her court minstrel, a little Italian man named Davie (Ian Holm). Davie is bi also, and may be having an affair with Mary. This will lead to a Triangle of Turpitude, in which all three are in the sack, though not at the same time. Mary ends up pregnant. It's unclear who's the father. Mary does marry Henry, for love and the child's sake. He soon throws a tantrum and demands to be treated like a king. Elizabeth appears to be the winner, her plan having worked to a tee.
Mary is no pushover, however. After Henry's hissy fit, she has him locked away and then exiled. Her brother steps in - Patrick F. McGoohan - demanding to be named Regent (the guy who runs things for the Royal). "You can't cover your own affairs"!, he tells his sister. Oh yeah? You wanna bet? Mary locks him up, too. Now a plan is hatched, with some Scottish Lords loyal to the English Queen. Like Elizabeth, they are Protestant. They don't want a Catholic pushing the Pope down their throats. The lords approach Henry with a contract, to dethrone his wife Mary Stuart. Their plan is to kill her. Henry is skittish (pronounced Skeaertish), but agrees. Anything to become King. But down in England, Elizabeth says no. "I'll not have her blood on my hands. Take her down if you will, but keep her alive. It'll be fun watching her struggle".
But once again Mary answers the bell. By now, she has an ally in Lord Bothwell, a Scottish loyalist. His allegiance is to the throne, pure and simple. Right now the Queen is Mary so he'll fight for her. He also falls in love in the process.
Do you see what I mean about intrigue? There's enough here for two Henry the 8ths. Elizabeth and Mary plot back and forth, with the lords forming their own devious plan and switching sides at will. Who will emerge on top? You can Google it but please don't. This is one pot you've gotta watch boil, and in spite of the old proverb, it does reach that point. Any frogs left inside will not know what hit them.
The great Glenda Jackson plays Elizabeth as an iron-willed vixen. Redgrave's Mary is flightier, but ends up showing fortitude she didn't know she had. Stealing the show, however, may be Timothy Dalton as the tempestuous Henry, at turns belligerent and simpering. He's young here, mid-20s, and because I didn't pay attention to the opening credits I wasn't sure it was him. I kept saying, "Is that Timothy Dalton? It can't be.......he was James Bond, and a stiff one at that. No way would he have the chops for this role". But then I remembered that Patrick F. McGoohan is the real James Bond - or should've been! - and that freed Dalton up to be talented. I kid, but the truth is that I didn't know much about him, other than his Bond gig. Turns out he's RADA trained and a world class Shakespearean. He knocks the role of Henry Lord Darnley right out of the ol' ballpark, going toe-to-toe with Jackson and Redgrave, two legends.
As for Vanessa Redgrave, it's a shame her politics overshadowed her career. She was (and probably still is) a truly great actress, but like Jane Fonda, she couldn't keep her opinions to herself. This is all fine and dandy, imo, if you wanna be known as an activist, but I believe that artists of all stripes should generally stick to what they do best. Fortunately for us film fans, in Redgrave's case that's on full display here. She's incredible as Mary Stuart, who in the end chooses a fate not unlike that of.......of......well, I can't tell ya, but it was the fate of two other protagonists in recent Royalty Epics we've seen. (Better call Rick Wakeman. He can straighten these things out).
Two Huge Thumbs Up for "Mary, Queen of Scots". It doesn't quite have the gravitas to merit our highest rating, but that's not for lack of trying, and it falls just short of the goal in any case. An excellent film, another must-see. /////
I also watched the second Whistler, of which I'll give a synopsis. Richard Dix stars, as always, this time as a man down on his luck and sleeping on a park bench. Then he sees an ad in the paper, listing names for unclaimed funds. One of the names matches his name. He decides to try a ruse. At the bank he impersonates the man due the money. His identity is questioned, but they eventually release the dough : 29 Gees and change, not a bad haul for a chap who was penniless. Now he's living high on the hog.
At a fancy hotel, he's watched by a Man of Polish (that's polish, not Polish as in a man from Poland). Perhaps I should say a Slick Suited Man. Who is H is he? Is he fish, is he Mercural, is he hoodlum or a cop? That's not for me to say, but he's got a fix on Richard Dix, who should not have claimed the moolah. The true claimant is a murderer, or so the Slick Man says.
So, to recap : Dix has gone from park bench to Park Avenue and now to the attention of The Man, and all because - according to The Whistler - he went against his conscience, by claiming cash that wasn't his.
This entry, entitled "Mark of the Whistler"(1944), isn't as complex as the other two films we've seen, but it has one hell of a twist ending, I must say, which makes up for the simplistic story. For that reason it James Garner's Two Big Thumbs Up. Dix is great as always and William Castle directs. /////
Well, that's all I know for tonight. I pounded this blog out in an effort to get back on track, so please excuse any errors or general crumminess. One last note : today I picked up a dvd set from the Libe, Stephen King's "The Outsider", which aired on HBO last year. I didn't see it then (don't have that channel) but I've read the book, and tonight I watched the first two episodes........
Holy holy smokes, folks.........man is it scary and grim. Jason Bateman directs, and stars as one of the main characters. He's very talented, and has created one of the best SK adaptations I've seen. Granted, I'm only two episodes in, but my goodness this is some frightening stuff, with a palpable sense of dread. The subject matter is not for the squeamish, so you might want to Google before you watch, but again - holy moly. This is big league horror.
And that is truly all I know, at least for tonight. See you in the morning, tons of love as always.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
No comments:
Post a Comment