Young Bess

1953

1h 52m

IMDb RATING

5.8/10

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Drama

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The mother died under the executioner's axe; the daughter rose to become England's greatest monarch -- the brilliant and cunning Queen Elizabeth I. Jean Simmons portrays young Bess in this rich tapestry of a film that traces the tumultuous, danger-fraught years from Elizabeth's birth to her unexpected ascension to the throne at a mere 25. Charles Laughton reprises his Academy Award®-winning* role as her formidable father Henry VIII. Deborah Kerr plays her last stepmother (and Henry's last of six wives), gentle Catherine Parr. And Simmons' then real-life husband, Stewart Granger, adds heroics as Lord Admiral Thomas Seymour. In a resplendent world of adventure, romance and court intrigue, Young Bess reigns.

Directors

George Sidney

Writers

Margaret Irwin(novel by)

Arthur Wimperis(screenplay by)

Jan Lustig(screenplay by)

Stars

Jean Simmons

Stewart Granger

Deborah Kerr

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Videos1

Trailer
Watch Young Bess - Available Now on DVD

Photos12

Top cast

Jean Simmons

Young Bess (Queen Elizabeth I)

Thomas Seymour

Catherine Parr

King Henry VIII

Mrs. Ashley

Ned Seymour

Ann Seymour

Mr. Parry

Prince Edward …

Barnaby

Mr. Mums

Lady Tyrwhitt

Robert Tyrwhitt

Bess as a child

Danish Envoy

Anne Boleyn

Kate Howard

Mother Jack

Directors

George Sidney

Writers

Margaret Irwin(novel by)

Arthur Wimperis(screenplay by)

Jan Lustig(screenplay by)

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Featured review

7/10

Maybe not quite how it actually happened, but this was Hollywood, remember. Jean Simmons plays the Princess Elizabeth brought up in rags and riches depending on the whim of her father Henry VIII (rather rumbustiously played by Charles Laughton). Meantime Thomas Seymour (a handsome, swashbuckling rogue played by Stewart Granger) is marrying Henry's widow Catherine Parr (Deborah Kerr) and so we have our menage-a-trois. History is fact about the marriage; much less so about the "love affair" between Elizabeth and Seymour. This film follows her coming-of-age as she navigates the political intrigues after her father's death. It's is colourful and engaging - her two servants add quite a lot too. It's entertainment though, nothing too educational.

Geronimo196724 Dec, 2022