When it comes to Brit royalty, as the recent death of the title character's successor has shown, Americans are nearly as besotted as their English cousins. And, to carry the analogy a bit further, Hollywood films on this subject are almost as good as their UK counterparts. This 1953 offering from MGM is typical of the genre, a watchable, entertaining hour and forty five minutes that is poised somewhere between a dynastic drama and an heraldic soap opera. Director George Sidney, kind of a poor man's Mervin Le Roy, shows his usual liveliness and pacing skills despite having to deal with fairly somber material as well as interestingly noirish cinematography from DP Charles Rosher. In this difficult task Sidney is aided immeasurably by a screenplay from Arthur Wimperis and Jan Lustig that knows it is adapting a romantic best seller and that it is probably not a good idea to take it overly seriously, as well as solid performances from Simmons, Laughton, Granger and Kerr and a turn from child actor, Rex Thompson, as alternately bratty and poignant Edward the sixth that nearly steals the show, in my opinion. Give it a B minus.
PS...To those who grouse about this film's lack of historical accuracy I would simply say: If you want accuracy, read J. E. Neale. Or go to a rifle range!
PS...To those who grouse about this film's lack of historical accuracy I would simply say: If you want accuracy, read J. E. Neale. Or go to a rifle range!