The names of actresses who have played Queen Elizabeth on screen is a who's who of the greatest talents of our time, from Flora Robson, Bette Davis and Cate Blanchett in two films each, Glenda Jackson on both TV and the big screen, Judi Dench, Jean Simmons, Florence Eldridge and Agnes Moorehead. Judith Anderson comes to this TV special from a City Center revival of the Maxwell Anderson play, directed by George Schaefer who had earlier guided her as Lady Macbeth and Medea, and directed Julie Harris as Queen Victoria. Playing the Earl of Essex is Anderson's co-star from "The Ten Commandments", the actor who probably played more historical characters than any other actor, Charlton Heston.
Looking every inch the queen, Anderson is at times imperious or in a fury, but underneath all of that, her vulnerability for finding love has her almost like a sweet young lady, giggling under her breath by his attentions to her. Heston is perfectly cast, but even at his best, you never forget that it's Heston playing Essex. Like "Victoria Regina", this would be rerun on cable TV in the late 1980's, and it truly was a treat to find this bit of classic television popping up in my TV guide, having been too young to watch it in 1968.
Anderson isn't emulating any other of her imperious grand ladies so there's no Lady Macbeth or Queen Herodias or Gertrude, Hamlet's mother. She's a combination of Big Mama and Minx Lockridge (her stern but lovable matriarch on the TV soap opera "Santa Barbara"), and next to Jackson becomes my favorite actress to play this challenging part. Beautifully videotaped in color for the Hallmark Hall of Fame, this is a TV special that definitely needs to circulate outside of private collectors who were lucky enough to tape it when it was rerun.
Looking every inch the queen, Anderson is at times imperious or in a fury, but underneath all of that, her vulnerability for finding love has her almost like a sweet young lady, giggling under her breath by his attentions to her. Heston is perfectly cast, but even at his best, you never forget that it's Heston playing Essex. Like "Victoria Regina", this would be rerun on cable TV in the late 1980's, and it truly was a treat to find this bit of classic television popping up in my TV guide, having been too young to watch it in 1968.
Anderson isn't emulating any other of her imperious grand ladies so there's no Lady Macbeth or Queen Herodias or Gertrude, Hamlet's mother. She's a combination of Big Mama and Minx Lockridge (her stern but lovable matriarch on the TV soap opera "Santa Barbara"), and next to Jackson becomes my favorite actress to play this challenging part. Beautifully videotaped in color for the Hallmark Hall of Fame, this is a TV special that definitely needs to circulate outside of private collectors who were lucky enough to tape it when it was rerun.
