Young Bess

All Young Bess (1953) needed to sell me was casting Jean Simmons as Elizabeth I. Fortunately, the film surrounding Simmons is quite good, a solid take on a bit of Tudor history generally neglected by popular culture.

Upon the death of Henry VIII (Charles Laughton), England falls under the stewardship of child-king Edward VI (Rex Thompson), whose government is ruled by Edward Seymour (Guy Rolfe), Lord Somerset. Princess Elizabeth (Jean Simmons), Edward's sister, remains in the shadows, worried that her descent from the executed Anne Boleyn endangers her. She none-too-discreetly carries on an affair with Thomas Seymour (Stewart Granger), the Lord Protector's brother and an English admiral. The two love each other, but Seymour marries Catherine Parr (Deborah Kerr), Henry's widow, and Elizabeth finds herself targeted by Somerset's scheming.

Young Bess views Elizabeth before she became the "Virgin Queen" of legend. Aside from Tudor Rose and Lady Jane, Edward VI's reign has rarely shown up on film, and Young Bess earns points for showing an England creeping towards modernity, with Edward and Somerset eagerly embracing Protestantism after Henry's hesitant dalliances. Princess Mary is unfairly portrayed as an idiot, and English Catholics get short shrift, but Elizabeth's struggles to land her true love, Edward's religious reforms and the Seymour's Cain-and-Abel rivalry makes for compelling drama. A sumptuous production helmed by George Sidney, Jan Lustig and Arthur Wimperis's smart script and a lavish Miklos Rosza score bring this story to vivid life.

The film's centerpiece, of course, is Jean Simmons's marvelous performance. Even more than Cate Blanchett, she does a superb job depicting the young Elizabeth, impulsive, love struck and vulnerable, but already intelligent, far-sighted and indomitable. Simmons handles her big scenes perfectly, whether professing her love to Seymour or telling off Somerset's kangaroo court. We can ignore Simmons's incorrect hair color when her performance is so good, and when she's ravishing as a brunette.

Stewart Granger (then Simmons's husband) makes a dashing love interest (though much more likeable than the real Seymour). Deborah Kerr (The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp) handles a thankless part well, giving Catherine Parr the right level of gravitas. Groggy favorite Kay Walsh (Oliver Twist) steals her scenes as Elizabeth's lady-in-waiting. Charles Laughton briefly reprises his signature role from The Private Life of Henry VIII twenty years prior. Leo G. Carroll (North by Northwest) has an amusing cameo.

Young Bess is another solid Tudor drama, mixing great performances, smart writing and sumptuous pageantry.