Mary of Scotland (film)
Encyclopedia
Mary of Scotland is a 1936
RKO film starring Katharine Hepburn
as the 16th century ruler, Mary, Queen of Scots. Directed by John Ford
, it is an adaptation of the 1933 Maxwell Anderson
play by Dudley Nichols
. The play starred Helen Hayes
as Mary. It is largely in blank verse
.
(played by Fredric March
), as a romantic hero.
and her great comeback in The Philadelphia Story.
1936 in film
The year 1936 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 29 - Fritz Lang's first Hollywood film Fury, starring Spencer Tracy and Bruce Cabot, is released.*November 6 - first Porky Pig animated cartoon...
RKO film starring Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, stage, and television. In a career that spanned 62 years as a leading lady, she was best known for playing strong-willed, sophisticated women in both dramas and comedies...
as the 16th century ruler, Mary, Queen of Scots. Directed by John Ford
John Ford
John Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
, it is an adaptation of the 1933 Maxwell Anderson
Maxwell Anderson
James Maxwell Anderson was an American playwright, author, poet, journalist and lyricist.-Early years:Anderson was born in Atlantic, Pennsylvania, the second of eight children to William Lincoln "Link" Anderson, a Baptist minister, and Charlotte Perrimela Stephenson, both of Scots and Irish descent...
play by Dudley Nichols
Dudley Nichols
Dudley Nichols was an American screenwriter who first came to prominence after winning and refusing the screenwriting Oscar for The Informer in 1936....
. The play starred Helen Hayes
Helen Hayes
Helen Hayes Brown was an American actress whose career spanned almost 70 years. She eventually garnered the nickname "First Lady of the American Theatre" and was one of twelve people who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award...
as Mary. It is largely in blank verse
Blank verse
Blank verse is poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the sixteenth century" and Paul Fussell has claimed that "about three-quarters of all English poetry is in blank verse."The first...
.
Accuracy
The film does not keep close to the historical truth, portraying Mary as something of a wronged martyr and her husband, James Hepburn, Earl of BothwellJames Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell
James Hepburn, 1st Duke of Orkney , better known by his inherited title as 4th Earl of Bothwell, was hereditary Lord High Admiral of Scotland. He is best known for his association with and subsequent marriage to Mary, Queen of Scots, as her third husband...
(played by Fredric March
Fredric March
Fredric March was an American stage and film actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1932 for Dr. Jekyll and Mr...
), as a romantic hero.
Cast
- Katharine Hepburn as Mary Stuart
- Fredric March as Bothwell
- Florence EldridgeFlorence EldridgeFlorence Eldridge was an American actress.-Personal life:...
as Elizabeth TudorElizabeth I of EnglandElizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty... - Douglas Walton as DarnleyHenry Stuart, Lord DarnleyHenry Stewart or Stuart, 1st Duke of Albany , styled Lord Darnley before 1565, was king consort of Scotland and murdered at Kirk o'Field...
- John CarradineJohn CarradineJohn Carradine was an American actor, best known for his roles in horror films and Westerns as well as Shakespearean theater. A member of Cecil B DeMille's stock company and later John Ford's company, he was one of the most prolific character actors in Hollywood history...
as RizzioDavid RizzioDavide Rizzio, sometimes written as Davide Riccio or Davide Rizzo , was an Italian courtier, born close to Turin, a descendant of an ancient and noble family still living in Piedmont, the Riccio Counts de San Paolo et Solbrito, who rose to become the private secretary of Mary, Queen of Scots... - Robert BarratRobert BarratRobert Harriot Barrat was an American stage, motion picture, and television character actor.-Career:Born in New York, Barrat's theatrical debut was in a stock company in Springfield, Massachusetts...
as Morton - Gavin Muir as Leicester
- Ian KeithIan Keith-Life and career:Born Keith Ross in Boston, Massachusetts, Ian Keith was a veteran character actor of the legitimate theater, and appeared in a variety of colorful roles in silent features of the 1920s. His stage training made him a natural choice for the new "talking pictures"; he played John...
as Moray - Moroni OlsenMoroni OlsenMoroni Olsen was an American actor.-Biography:Olsen was born in Ogden, Utah to Mormon parents Edward Arenholt Olsen and Marsha Hoverholst who named him after the Moroni found in the Book of Mormon. Some sources have claimed that Olsen's birth name was John Willard Clawson, or even John Willard...
as John KnoxJohn KnoxJohn Knox was a Scottish clergyman and a leader of the Protestant Reformation who brought reformation to the church in Scotland. He was educated at the University of St Andrews or possibly the University of Glasgow and was ordained to the Catholic priesthood in 1536...
. Olsen was the only member of the film's cast to repeat his original stage role. - William Stack as Ruthven
- Ralph ForbesRalph ForbesrightRalph Forbes was an English actor in the American cinema. He was also a noted stage actor....
as Randolph - Alan MowbrayAlan MowbrayAlan Mowbray MM, , was an English stage and film actor who found success in Hollywood.Born Alfred Ernest Allen in London, England, he served with distinction the British Army in World War I, being awarded the Military Medal for bravery...
as Throckmorton - Frieda InescortFrieda InescortFrieda Inescort was a Scottish-born actress best known for creating the role of Sorel Bliss in Noel Coward's play Hay Fever....
as Mary Beaton - Donald CrispDonald CrispDonald Crisp was an English film actor. He was also an early motion picture producer, director and screenwriter...
as Huntly - David TorrenceDavid TorrenceDavid Torrence was a Scottish-born film actor. His birth name was David Tayson. He appeared in 104 films between 1913 and 1953. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame....
as Lindsay - Molly LamontMolly LamontMolly Lamont was a British film actress.Lamont was born in Boksburg, Transvaal, South Africa. She began her career in British films in 1930 and for several years played small, often uncredited roles...
as Mary Livingstone - Anita ColbyAnita ColbyAnita Colby was an actress and model. Colby was born Anita Counihan, the daughter of the cartoonist, Bud Counihan, a legendary figure among New York artists and newsmen. Early in her career, at $50 an hour, she was the highest paid model at the time...
as Mary Fleming - Jean Fenwick as Mary Seton
- Lionel Pape as Burghley
- Alec Craig as Donal
- Mary Gordon as Nurse
- Monte BlueMonte BlueMonte Blue was a movie actor who began his career as a romantic leading man in the silent film era, and later progressed to character roles....
as Messenger - Leonard MudieLeonard MudieLeonard Mudie was a British-born character actor whose career ran many decades.His first film appearance was in 1921, and his last on-screen performance was in the Star Trek classic TV series....
as Maitland - Brandon HurstBrandon HurstBrandon Hurst was an English stage and film actor. He studied linguistics in his youth and began playing in theatre in 1880s. He was nearly fifty years old when he acted in his first film Via Wireless as Edward Pnickney in year 1915 and continued acting in the 129 other films until his death 1947...
as Airan - Wilfred LucasWilfred LucasWilfred Lucas was a Canadian stage and film actor, film director, and screenwriter.-Career:A native of Ontario, Canada, Lucas headed to New York City to work in the theater, making his Broadway acting debut in 1904 at the Savoy Theater in the production of The Superstition of Sue...
as Lexington - D'Arcy CorriganD'Arcy CorriganD'Arcy Corrigan was an Irish-born lawyer who became a character actor, playing some 49 film roles, typically very brief but impressive, such as his ominously silent, darkly shrouded Ghost of Christmas Future in the popular 1938 version of the film A Christmas Carol...
as Kirkcaldy - Frank Baker as Douglas
- Cyril McLaglenCyril McLaglenCyril McLaglen was a British actor who appeared in a variety of films between 1920 and 1951. He was born in London in 1899 and made his film debut in the 1920 film The Call of the Road. He was the younger brother of the actor Victor McLaglen...
as Faudoncide - Doris LloydDoris LloydHessy Doris Lloyd was an English actress.She appeared in over 150 films between 1920 and 1967, including the 1933 low-budget Monogram Pictures version of Oliver Twist, in which she played Nancy...
as Fisherman's Wife - Robert Warwick as Sir Francis Knollys
Reception
The film is highly regarded by some critics today, but in its time was a box office flop. It was one of the films that led to Katharine Hepburn's being labeled "box office poison" in the late 1930s, leading to her move to MGMMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
and her great comeback in The Philadelphia Story.