Product Description

Bette Davis and Errol Flynn made The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex fascinatingly public striking sparks in this lavish Technicolor tale of the ill-fated love between the aging Elizabeth I and the dashing Earl of Essex. Thoroughly unglamorous here - eyes and hairline shaved face painted chalky white - double Academy AwardO winner* Davis exudes such intelligence energy and ardor that her romance with the decades-younger Essex (Flynn at the peak of his remarkable good looks and athletic verve) is completely believable. Based on Maxwell Anderson's play Elizabeth the Queen and directed by Michael Curtiz this nominee for five OscarsO** takes liberties with historical accuracy but none with dramatic impact. Long may these tempestuous titled lovers reign!Running Time: 106 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/CLASSIC UPC: 012569522824

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #32471 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2005-04-19
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Dubbed in: French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 106 minutes

Features

• Bette Davis and Errol Flynn made The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex fascinatingly public, striking sparks in this lavish Technicolor tale of the ill-fated love between the aging Elizabeth I and the dashing Earl of Essex. Thoroughly unglamorous here - eyes and hairline shaved, face painted chalky white - double Academy AwardO winner* Davis exudes such intelligence, energy and ardor that her r

Customer Reviews

Elizabeth and Essex A Beautiful Love Story
This is a glorious film produced by Warner Brothers in 1938, filled with fantastic scenes, wardrobe, and a beautiful love story highly suggested as all. Bette Davis and Errol Flynn shine together in this film.

"A brilliant historical drama of the war between passion and power."

Bette Davis and Errol Flynn made The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex fascinatingly public, striking sparks in this lavish Techincolor tale of the ill-fated love between the aging Elizabeth I and the dashing Earl of Essex. Thoroughly unglamorous here - eyes and hairline shaved, pace fainted chalky white - double Academy Award winner* Davis exudes such intelligence, energy and ardor that her romance with the decades-younger Essex (Flynn at the peak of his remarkable good looks and athletic verve) is completely believable. Based on Maxwell Anderson's play Elizabeth the Queen and directed by Micharl Curtiz, this nominee for five Oscars takes liberties with historical accuracy, but none with dramatic impact. Long may these tempestuous, titled lovers reign!

This dvd also has some brilliant special features including:

:Leonard Maltin Hosts Warner Night at the movies 1939:
:Newsreel:
:Musical Short The Royal Rodeo:
:Cartoon Old Glory:
:Theatrical Trailers:
:New Featurette Elizabeth and Essex Royal Battle:

This is a great movie for all.

Great historical drama and off-the-beaten track special features
This historical epic is definitely Hollywood-ized, but Hollywood-ized in the best sense: there are lavish sets, rich technicolor costumes, big dramatic situations, and biting dialogue. And it's definitely intelligent Hollywood-ization, too, as I'm betting there's enough truth here about the real-life situation between Elizabeth I and Lord Essex to give one at least a rudimentary grounding in that situation. And a painless grounding it is: just sit back and enjoy the verbal jousting and inflamed passions between Bette Davis and Errol Flynn. History was never so entertaining.

An overall wonderful print (only occasionally marred by a blurry, misaligned technicolor shot) is accompanied by some interesting special features. The oddest one is a short subject about a little kid who runs a kingdom about to be overthrown, until a Wild West show comes to town to save the day. There's also a rare serious-in-tone Warner Brothers cartoon from 1938 or so, depicting Porky Pig learning to appreciate our nation's history and what the words behind the "Pledge of Allegiance" mean. Interestingly, the words "under God" don't appear in Porky's (or Warner Brothers') version of the circa-1938 pledge. So, the belief in a separation between church and state DIDN'T start with modern-day "lefties"? Funny what you can learn from an old cartoon... talk about "out of the mouths of babes".

The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
As before, There is no one like Bette Davis, and this movie proves it. No other women in Hollywood at the time of the making of this picture would have gone out on the limb that Miss Davis did - That is why this picture is so good. Errol Flynn, always a feast to look at, is extremely up to the task of going toe to toe with Bette Davis as Queen Elizabeth I, Mr. Flynn, possibly was better than even he thought he could be - and this movie proves it -