Mary, Queen of Scots (1972) is a Universal Pictures biographical feature film based on the life of Queen Mary I of Scotland. The film stars Vanessa Redgrave as the titular character and Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth I. The screenplay was written by John Hale and the film directed by Charles Jarrott. Like the play on the same subject by Friedrich Schiller and the opera on the same subject by Gaetano Donizetti, it takes considerable liberties with hi...
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Mary, Queen of Scots (1972) is a Universal Pictures biographical feature film based on the life of Queen Mary I of Scotland. The film stars Vanessa Redgrave as the titular character and Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth I. The screenplay was written by John Hale and the film directed by Charles Jarrott. Like the play on the same subject by Friedrich Schiller and the opera on the same subject by Gaetano Donizetti, it takes considerable liberties with history in order to achieve increased dramatic effect, in particular two fictitious face-to-face encounters between the two Queens (who never met in real life). The film received a less than enthusiastic review from the New York Times, but was nominated for several awards.
The film was shot in Scotland, England, and France (Château de Chenonceau). The song in the opening sequence, "Vivre et Mourir," is sung by Redgrave. The lyrics are taken from a sonnet written by Mary, Queen of Scots herself.
Vincent Canby had little good to say about the film...
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