Directed by john ford, it is an adaptation of the 1933 maxwell anderson play. Maxwell andersons blankverse play mary of scotland was adapted for the screen by dudley. A bloody rivalry for the throne, this time with margot robbie. Mary of scotland is a 1936 rko film starring katharine hepburn as the 16thcentury ruler mary, queen of scots. Written by robert burns for the scots musical museum published between 1787 and 1803, it is said he wrote the words to the ancient air, entitled mary queen of scots lament. The facts remain the same but the way theyre presented is changed to protect the images both filmmakers and viewers had of themselves at the time. The story had been told before in a 1936 rko film, mary of scotland, that starred katharine hepburn, was directed by john ford, and adapted by dudley nichols from maxwell andersons play. Mary of scotland 1936 its always a bad idea for me to watch a tudor drama. Aug 18, 2019 the facts remain the same but the way theyre presented is changed to protect the images both filmmakers and viewers had of themselves at the time. Jan 18, 2019 since then, the doomed scottish queen has been the subject of numerous biopics, ranging from katharine hepburns mary of scotland 1936 to the new josie rourke film mary queen of scots. Mary queen of scots 2018 in a battle between blackandwhite make believe and fullcolor fantasy thats just as hard to take seriously. Ginger rogers wanted to play this role and made a convincing screen test, but rko. Katharine hepburn and florence eldridge played the parts in 1936s mary of scotland, and vanessa redgrave and glenda jackson took their turns in 1971s mary, queen of scots.
Since then, the doomed scottish queen has been the subject of numerous biopics, ranging from katharine hepburns mary of scotland 1936 to the new josie rourke film mary queen of scots. Mary, queen of scots was the daughter of james v of scotland and mary of guise. Mary of scotland is a 1936 historical romance film from rko studios, recounting the life and love of mary, queen of scots, directed by john ford and starring katharine hepburn and fredric march. Mary of scotland is a 1936 historical romance film from rko studios, recounting the life and love of mary, queen of scots, directed by john ford and starring katharine hepburn and fredric march the film, based on a successful blank verse drama by playwright maxwell anderson, is an example of hollywood history at its most extravagant but it is less the numerous historical inaccuracies. Hepburn plays mary as passionate but naive, with a fatally slow learning curve about the ruthless politics of her scottish lords and her great rival, queen elizabeth of england. The twisted tale of bloody mary 2008 similar movies related stories. One of the films responsible for the hepburn backlash was the john ford film mary of scotland, an expensive rko epic surrounding 16th century monarch mary, queen of scots. Focus features mary stuart defies the pressure put on her to remarry after she is widowed at 18. Other films about mary stuart include a 1923 british silent called the loves of mary, queen of socts, directed by denison clift and starring fay compton. Maxwell andersons blankverse play mary of scotland was adapted for the screen by dudley nichols and directed with a surprising paucity of verve by john ford.
Mary, queen of scots kate with her future husband, the. Video memories of mary queen of scots films history scotland. Now, saoirse ronan stars as the beleaguered queen in a visuallycaptivating costume drama marking the directorial debut of josie rourke. Jan 21, 2019 since then, the doomed scottish queen has been the subject of numerous biopics, from katharine hepburns mary of scotland 1936 to the new josie rourke film mary queen of scots, starring. Mary queen of scots throne of england plot synopsis. Picture 1 photo of scene in the movie mary of scotland. Mary, queen of scots 8 december 1542 8 february 1587, also known as mary stuart or mary i of scotland, reigned over scotland from 14 december 1542 to 24 july 1567 mary. In the july issue of scottish memories magazine we remember the different films on the life of mary queen of scots, from the first film in 1936, when katharine hepburn played the title role, through to a 1972 film starring glenda jackson and timothy dalton. The film explores the turbulent life of the charismatic mary stuart saoirse ronan.
Mary queen of scots explores the turbulent life of the charismatic mary stuart ronan. Mary queen of scots 2018 rotten tomatoes movie trailers. Watch clips from classic films on the life of mary queen of scots, including the original 1936 movie starring katharine hepburn. Queen mary of scotland katharine hepburn called before queen elizabeths high court, defends herself with regal defiance in director john fords mary of scotland. Well made and well performed for the most part, any entertainment you receive from watching this film is purely coincidental. Glenda jackson this is a 70s take on marys story, so of course it comes fully equipped with the narrative. When news media cover period dramas, historians are always asked if they are accurate. Mary queen of scots is a 2018 historical drama film directed by josie rourke and written by beau willimon, based on john guys biography queen of scots. Camille rutherford sean biggerstaff aneurin barnard edward hogg. Mary of scotland is a 1936 rko film starring katharine hepburn as the 16th century ruler mary, queen of scots. The katharine hepburn version focuses specifically on the time after marys husband, the king of france, passes away and she returns to the highlands of scotland. He sent the ballad to a mrs dunlop in june 1790, knowing that she shared his sympathies for this tragic heroine of scottish history.
Instead, she returns to her native scotland to reclaim her rightful throne. During the sixteenth century, the catholic mary, queen of scots engages in over two decades of religious and political conflict with her cousin, the protestant. The film stars saoirse ronan as mary, queen of scots and margot robbie as her cousin queen elizabeth i, and chronicles the 1569 conflict between their two countries. My rampant love and overabundance of knowledge has the tendency to color my perspective of any hollywood attempt to cash in on the story of henry the viii and his descendants or acquaintances, or really anyone who strolled through the time period.
Mary stuart queen of scotland and france, but only sometime ruler of. Mary of scotland 1936 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. Jan 22, 2019 since then, the doomed scottish queen has been the subject of numerous biopics, ranging from katharine hepburns mary of scotland 1936 to the new josie rourke film mary queen of scots. A 1936 attempt ended with star katharine hepburn labeled box office poison, though 1971s mary. Mary of scotland 1936 this 1936 mary queen of scots movie featured katharine hepburn in the role of the stuart queen. Beau willimon hopscotches from a fictional house of cards to an historical game of thrones in mary queen of scots, a spirited feminist take on the oftdramatized tug of war between two 16 th. Hepburn, katherine star of the movie, mary of scotland. Queen mary of scotland katharine hepburn called before queen elizabeths high court, defends herself with regal defiance in director john fords mary of scotland, 1936.
Mary of scotland 1936 rotten tomatoes movie trailers. The katharine hepburn version focuses specifically on the time after mary s husband, the king of france, passes away and she returns to the highlands of scotland. Beau willimon hopscotches from a fictional house of cards to an historical game of thrones in mary queen of scots, a spirited feminist take on the oftdramatized tugofwar between two 16 th. Rent mary of scotland 1936 starring katharine hepburn and fredric march on dvd and bluray. Mary of scotland 1936 stream and watch online moviefone. This movie about events of the 16th century concludes with a rendition of the. Queen of france at 16 and widowed at 18, mary defies pressure to remarry. From 1936 we have katharine hepburn as mary of scotland, who should have been the queen of england but due to all kinds of intrigue and back stabbing she lost any chance of ever becoming the queen. Mary stuart katharine hepburn, the queen of scotland, returns to her native highlands upon the. Nov 28, 2018 katharine hepburn and florence eldridge played the parts in 1936 s mary of scotland, and vanessa redgrave and glenda jackson took their turns in 1971s mary, queen of scots. The movie was adapted from a 1933 play by maxwell anderson. Unfortunately for the scottish monarch, her lands become divided which then forces the rightful queen to abdicate the scottish throne.
Mary queen of scots movie the life of mary queen of. Rent mary of scotland 1936 on dvd and bluray dvd netflix. Inside the making of mary queen of scots with margot. Since then, the doomed scottish queen has been the subject of numerous biopics, ranging from katharine hepburns mary of scotland 1936 to the new josie rourke film mary queen of scots, starring saoirse ronan as mary. Sep 17, 2014 mary of scotland 1936 its always a bad idea for me to watch a tudor drama. The recently widowed mary stuart returns to scotland to reclaim her throne but is opposed by her halfbrother and her own scottish lords. Heres everything you need to know about the actors playing big roles in the film.
Mary stuart returns to scotland to rule as queen, to the chagrin of elizabeth i of. One thing the historical drama mary queen of scots seems to acknowledge straight away is that to apply the traditional biopic structure to the life of mary stuart, a queen of scotland and wouldbe queen of england from the 16th century, would be an exercise in uncontrollable dramatic excess. Mary of scotland 1936 the recently widowed mary stuart returns to scotland to reclaim her throne but is opposed by her halfbrother and her own scottish lords. The true life of mary stuart, though the production seems less concerned with historical accuracy than with flamboyant hair and makeup. Katharine hepburn, in one of the icy roles that would later earn her the onus of box office poison, stars as mary stuart, who serves as the queen of scotland until she is jealously put out of the way by her british cousin, queen. With katharine hepburn, fredric march, florence eldridge, douglas walton. Katharine hepburn as mary, queen of scots in john fords mary of. Mary queen of scots explores the turbulent life of the charismatic mary stuart. Inside the making of mary queen of scots with margot robbie. If youve recently watched 2018s mary queen of scots, its interesting to compare it to the 1936 film. Katharine hepburn in the 1936 rko film mary of scotland. Walton, douglas supporting actor of the movie, mary of scotland.
Since then, the doomed scottish queen has been the subject of numerous biopics, from katharine hepburns mary of scotland 1936 to the new josie rourke film. Mary queen of scots movie the life of mary queen of scots. The sets and costumes are lavish, but the film features hepburns most unengaged. Anderson, maxwell author of the movie, mary of scotland. This isnt as romantic as earlier versions of mary queen of scots life, and the movie does cover parts of her history that other films gloss over, like her childhood in scotland and her life in france. Even if the story of mary queen of scots wasnt the sort of thing we adore and it is wed be dying to see it based on the cast alone. Alamy the leftwing scottish political commentator, angela haggerty, said. Mary of scotland was kates tenth film, but the first in which she attempted to play. Mary of scotland is a 1936 film produced by rko radio pictures that follows mary, queen of scotland, as she returns to her celtic homeland.
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