The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex

In 1939 two of Warner Brothers biggest stars were paired, and the results were not happy. By all accounts, Errol Flynn and Bette Davis hated each other during the shooting of The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, a soggy historical epic, directed by Michael Curtiz. Davis didn't consider Flynn a serious actor, and Flynn didn't like the way he was treated (when she slapped him during a scene she really let him have it, and you can see him flinch as he holds off on slugging her).

Based on the Maxwell Anderson play Elizabeth the Queen, Warner Brothers wanted both of their stars' characters to be referenced in the title. The solution was The Knight and the Lady, which enraged Davis. Not only was the Queen of England merely referred to as a "lady," but she was getting second-billing. The unwieldy title is the compromise result.

Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex, was a nobleman and soldier who was a favorite of Elizabeth's, though they frequently sparred, as she had to put the needs of the country ahead of her own personal interests. The film begins with him returning to triumph after defeating the Spanish at Cadiz, but due to the machinations of her privy council (especially Sir Robert Cecil, played by the excellent villain Henry Daniell) she upbraids Essex for not bringing home as much treasure as he promised. Eventually he is tricked into leading an expedition to put down an Irish rebellion where he is a complete failure, and Elizabeth eventually has to send him to the chopping block.

Checking the facts on Wikipedia, much of what happens in the film appears to be true, except perhaps for the sessions of tonsil hockey that Flynn and Davis play. The queen was over thirty years older than Essex, and though Davis frequently refers to an age discrepancy and is made-up to be rock-bottom homely, I suspect Essex and the Queen never actually did the nasty. But the palace intrigue all seems real, with Cecil and Sir Walter Raleigh (coolly played by Vincent Price) on one side, and Francis Bacon (Donald Crisp) taking Essex's side.

In the end, though, the film just doesn't work. Davis and Flynn have no chemistry, and Davis seems less like herself than one of those female impersonators that mimic her in Vegas. The film's last third is best, when she comes to the realization that he lusts for power more than he does her, and can't be trusted, and therefore he must be executed, but much of the film is no better than a third-rate historical pageant.

Also in the cast were Olivia DeHavilland as a scheming lady in waiting, Alan Hale as the Irish rebel leader Hugh O'Neill, and eventual TV sit-com veteran Nanette Fabray as a very young lady in waiting. She is interviewed at length in the extras.