Mary, Queen of Scots (Film 1971)

Mary, Queen of Scots is a 1971 historical drama film based on the life of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland, written by John Hale and directed by Charles Jarrott. Audio in English with English subtitles (click on CC for subtitles).

The cast was led by Vanessa Redgrave as the title character and Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth I. Jackson had previously played the part of Elizabeth in the BBC TV drama Elizabeth R, screened in February and March 1971, the first episode of which was also written by Hale.

The film received mixed reviews with criticism of the screenplay, running length and historical inaccuracies; however it received praise for the leading female performances, its production values, and musical score. At the 44th Academy Awards, the film received five nominations including Best Actress (for Redgrave).

Like the play by Friedrich Schiller (Maria Stuart, 1800) and the opera by Gaetano Donizetti (Maria Stuarda, 1835), 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 was shot in France (Château de Chenonceau), Hermitage Castle, Scotland; and in England at Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Parham Park in West Sussex, and Chiltern Open Air Museum in Buckinghamshire. 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.

Cast & Characters:
Vanessa Redgrave as Mary, Queen of Scots
Glenda Jackson as Queen Elizabeth I of England
Patrick McGoohan as Mary's half-brother James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray
Timothy Dalton as Mary's second husband Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley
Nigel Davenport as Mary's third husband, James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell
Trevor Howard as Elizabeth's advisor Sir William Cecil
Daniel Massey as Elizabeth's lover, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester
Ian Holm as Mary's advisor, David Riccio
Andrew Keir as Ruthven
Tom Fleming as John Ballard
Robert James as Scottish religious reformer John Knox
Katherine Kath as Mary's first mother-in-law, Catherine de' Medici
Frances White as Mary's companion, Mary Fleming
Vernon Dobtcheff as Mary's uncle, the Duke of Guise
Raf De La Torre as her other uncle, the Cardinal of Lorraine
Richard Warner as Elizabeth's spy master Francis Walsingham
Bruce Purchase as the Earl of Morton
Brian Coburn as the Earl of Huntly
Richard Denning as Mary's first husband, King Francis II of France
Maria Aitken as Lady Bothwell
Jeremy Bulloch as Andrew