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Young Bess

1953 · 112 min

A lush, old-fashioned historical romance that sweeps you into court intrigue and forbidden longing with stately, earnest grandeur.

Tagline
A Great and Spectacular Drama!
Overview
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.
In the UKNo streaming, rental or purchase options known.
In your watch list

How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • earneststrength 2 of 3
  • romanticstrength 2 of 3
  • melancholicstrength 2 of 3
  • tensestrength 1 of 3
Pacing
measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • power
  • love
  • betrayal
  • family
  • ambition
Places
  • single country house
  • big city
Era
period
Audience
adult
Form
  • true story
Content intensity
  • Gore none
  • Language none
  • Violence mild
  • Sex mild
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action3
Horror1
Humour3
Realism7
Romance6
Tension5
Darkness5
Complexity5
Emotional weight6

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Where to watch in the UK

No UK streaming, rental or purchase options are known.

Streaming data from JustWatch.TMDB

Details

Genres
drama, history, romance
Directed by
George Sidney
Written by
Arthur Wimperis, Jan Lustig
Starring
Jean Simmons, Stewart Granger, Deborah Kerr, Charles Laughton, Kay Walsh, Guy Rolfe, Kathleen Byron, Cecil Kellaway
Music
Miklós Rózsa
Cinematography
Charles Rosher
Runtime
112 min
Country
United States of America
Languages
English

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