Tudor Rose [Nine Days a Queen] ** (1936, Nova Pilbeam, Cedric Hardwicke, John Mills, Felix Aylmer) – Classic Movie Review 7092

Director Robert Stevenson’s 1936 Gainsborough Pictures’ historical biopic Tudor Rose is the first film to tell the tragic tale of Lady Jane Grey, England’s queen for nine days in 1553 before she was executed by beheading for alleged treason. Tudor Rose looks remarkable in handsome sets designed by Alex Vetchinsky and in Mutz Greenbaum’s striking black and white photography, but alas it is undynamic and historically inaccurate. Greenbaum won the Best Cinematography award at the Venice Film Festival in 1936.

Nova Pilbeam, aged 16, stars in an attractive, noble turn as the doomed damsel while featured star players Cedric Hardwicke (as the Earl of Warwick), John Mills (Lord Guilford Dudley), Felix Aylmer (Edward Seymour), Leslie Perrins (Thomas Seymour) and Frank Cellier (Henry VIII) give excellent performances, kitted out in handsome costumes designed by Joe Strassner.

Stevenson directs and co-writes with the actor Miles Malleson (who gives himself a part as Sir Henry Grey, Jane’s Father), but there is no real zest to the dialogue or to the action. Stevenson writes the screenplay and Malleson the dialogue.

Also in the cast are Desmond Tester as Edward VI, Gwen Ffrangcon Davies as Mary Tudor, Sybil Thorndike as Ellen, Martita Hunt as Jane’s Mother, John Laurie as John Knox, Roy Emerton, C V France, John Turnbull, Peter Croft, Albert Davies, Arthur Goullet and H F Maltby.

The action unfolds between 28 January 1547 and 12 February 1554.

Tudor Rose (also known in the US as Nine Days a Queen) is directed by Robert Stevenson, runs 80 minutes, is made by Gainsborough Pictures, is released by General Film Distributors (UK), is written by Robert Stevenson (written by) and Miles Malleson (dialogue), is shot in black and white by Mutz Greenbaum [Max Greene], is produced by Michael Balcon and is scored by Hubert Bath and Louis Levy (musical director and composer of additional music), with Art Direction by Alex Vetchinsky. The Film Editing is by Terence Fisher.

The same story was the basis for Trevor Nunn’s 1986 film Lady Jane starring Helena Bonham Carter.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7092

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