Feature1953·112m·5.8

Young Bess

A Great and Spectacular Drama!

DramaHistoryRomance

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.

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Cast

Jean Simmons

Young Bess (Queen Elizabeth I)

Stewart Granger

Thomas Seymour

Deborah Kerr

Catherine Parr

Charles Laughton

King Henry VIII

Kay Walsh

Mrs. Ashley

Guy Rolfe

Ned Seymour

Kathleen Byron

Ann Seymour

Cecil Kellaway

Mr. Parry

Rex Thompson

Prince Edward / King Edward VI

Robert Arthur

Barnaby

Leo G. Carroll

Mr. Mums

Norma Varden

Lady Tyrwhitt

Alan Napier

Robert Tyrwhitt

Noreen Corcoran

Bess as a child

Ivan Triesault

Danish Envoy

Elaine Stewart

Anne Boleyn

Dawn Addams

Kate Howard

Doris Lloyd

Mother Jack

Lumsden Hare

Archbishop Cranmer

Lester Matthews

Sir William Paget

Details

Status: Released
Original language: English
Languages: English
Budget: —
Revenue: —
Age rating: —
Quality: 4K UHD · HDR10 · Dolby Vision
Production: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Crew

Director

George Sidney

Writers

Margaret Irwin, Arthur Wimperis, Jan Lustig

Charles Rosher

Director of Photography

Ralph E. Winters

Editor

Walter Plunkett

Costume Design

Miklós Rózsa

Original Music Composer

Gallery

Reviews

CinemaSerf

12/24/2022

7.0

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.