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The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 6.4/10
Reviews Counted: 7
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 2

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Release Date: Jan 1, 1939 Wide

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Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 2,715

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Movie Info

It is no secret that Bette Davis and Errol Flynn were at each other's throats throughout the filming of The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex. Boiled down to essentials: Davis felt that Flynn was unprofessional, while Flynn thought that Davis took herself too damned seriously. Besides, Davis had wanted Laurence Olivier to play the Earl of Essex opposite her Queen Elizabeth I. She was forced to compromise on this point, but refused to allow Flynn proxy top billing via his suggestion that the

Unrated, 1 hr. 46 min.

Drama, Romance, Classics

Directed By: Michael Curtiz

Written By: Norman Reilly Raine, Aeneas MacKenzie

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1939 Wide

On DVD: Apr 19, 2005

Cast

Bette Davis
Elizabeth I
Errol Flynn
Robert Devereaux Earl o...
Olivia de Havilland
Penelope Gray
Vincent Price
Sir Walter Raleigh
Donald Crisp
Francis Bacon
Alan Hale
Earl of Tyrone
Henry Stephenson
Lord Burghley
Henry Daniell
Sir Robert Cecil
James Stephenson
Sir Thomas Egerton
Ralph Forbes
Lord Knollys
Robert Warwick
Lord Mountjoy
Leo G Carroll
Sir Edward Coke
Judith Anderson
Guy Bellis
Lord Charles Howard
Nanette Fabray
Mistress Margaret Radcl...
Forrester Harvey
I. Stanford Jolley
Doris Lloyd
John Sutton
Rosella Towne
Maris Wrixon

Critic Reviews for The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex

All Critics (12) | Top Critics (3) | Fresh (6) | Rotten (3) | DVD (7)

The DVD provides many pleasureable moments...

April 27, 2005 Full Review Source: Film Threat

| Comment

Rory L. Aronsky

Film Threat

It's a war of minds and wills, but where it stands is at a point where Michael Curtiz still could direct ably, but the material wouldn't give way toward something better.

April 27, 2005 Full Review Source: Film Threat

| Comment

Rory L. Aronsky

Film Threat

This dismal bore is for Bette Davis completists only.

April 23, 2005 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

| Comment

Jeremiah Kipp

Slant Magazine

Davis seizes every possible opportunity to make herself into a mad spectacle.

April 23, 2005 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

| Comment

Jeremiah Kipp

Slant Magazine

This strange film--a romantic fable, wholly fictitious yet rooted in historically accurate minutiae--is a pleasure

July 20, 2003 Full Review Source: Not Coming to a Theater Near You

| Comment

Matt Bailey

Not Coming to a Theater Near You

Lavish, star-studded, but ultimately rather dull

August 26, 2002 Comment

Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

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Audience Reviews for The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex

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A film that basically relies on exchanges of fine dialogue. The war scenes are now naturally dated and the final act is very weak, with the main characters saying one thing only to contradict themselves and keep the plot moving. Even so, it is Davis who raises this film from ordinary to enjoyable.

April 14, 2011