The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
Elizabeth I's love for the Earl of Essex threatens to destroy her kingdom.
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)
Production
Budget
$1 075 000
Director
Scenario
Composer
Actors
Bette Davis
Queen Elizabeth
Errol Flynn
The Earl of Essex
Olivia de Havilland
Lady Penelope Gray
Donald Crisp
Francis Bacon
Alan Hale
The Prince of Tyrone
Vincent Price
Sir Walter Raleigh
Henry Stephenson
Lord Burghley
Henry Daniell
Sir Robert Cecil
Short description
This period drama frames the tumultuous affair between Queen Elizabeth I and the man who would be King of England.
What's left behind the scenes
- After the film entered production, Errol Flynn was involved in a car accident, forcing the producers to significantly restructure the schedule so that the actor could recover without compromising the film.
- The film had three working titles: 'Queen Elizabeth', 'The Knight and the Lady', and 'Elizabeth and Essex'. It was initially released under the first title, but Errol Flynn insisted on a change because it did not reflect his presence in the film. Bette Davis did not like the second title, and the third—although both actors were satisfied with it—was discarded simply because a book of the same name already existed that had nothing to do with the movie.
- This picture became the first color film in Bette Davis's career.
- To look more like the great queen, Bette Davis had to shave her hairline back by five centimeters and completely pluck her eyebrows.
- Errol Flynn and Bette Davis disliked each other. In the scene where Elizabeth slaps her favorite, the actress lost control and hit Flynn for real; therefore, the anger reflected on his face was not acting, but a natural reaction to the pain.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
