Saturday Night Cinema: Fire Over England

8

Fire over England (1937) Sir Laurence Olivier, Vivian Leigh, Leslie Howard (it doesn't get better than that). 16th century adventurer Michael Ingleby (Laurence Olivier) goes undercover as a dead traitor to foil a plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth (Flora Robson). Vivien Leigh plays Cynthia, an absent-minded lady-in-waiting who makes the aging monarch jealous when she falls for the young Ingleby.

Laurence Olivier plays a British naval officer who offers his services to Queen Elizabeth (Flora Robson) after his father is executed by the Spaniards. The queen dispatches Olivier to the court of Spain, there to determine which of her courtiers are actually spies for King Philip (Raymond Massey). Working under cover, Olivier learns that the Spaniards intend to send an armada to decimate the British navy. Barely escaping with his life, Olivier relays this information to his queen and also dispatches the traitors in her midst. Cast as one of Elizabeth's ladies-in-waiting, Vivien Leigh appears in the role that brought her to the attention of Gone With the Wind producer David O. Selznick. Directed by Hollywood's William K. Howard, Fire Over England was based on a novel by A.E.W. Mason of Four Feathers fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Flora Robson …. Queen Elizabeth I of England
Raymond Massey …. King Philip II of Spain
Leslie Banks …. 'Robin', the Earl of Leicester
Laurence Olivier …. Michael Ingolby
Vivien Leigh …. Cynthia
Morton Selten …. Lord Burleigh
Tamara Desni …. Elena
Lyn Harding …. Sir Richard Ingolby
George Thirlwell …. Mr. Lawrence Gregory

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Ma Sands
Ma Sands
13 years ago

Thank you, Pamela. : )

sheik yer'mami
sheik yer'mami
13 years ago

No need to feed the British obsession with the second world war, Pamela.
The Brits have to realize that the world moved on. More is at stake here than fighting yesterdays wars. The German’s today find themselves in the same trap the British, the French and the rest of Europe has fallen into.
Today’s Nazis are the Islamofascists…..

Ma Sands
Ma Sands
13 years ago

Pamela, this movie is such a treat for me; I have read books, Charles’ Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities”, and Elizabeth Goudge’s “A Child from the Sea”, and, a few years ago was moved to study those times on the internet, and was greatly fascinated. This is such a filling in, to see a movie with all those costumes of that time…..and their manners and Shakespearean way of speaking. : ) Thank you.

jane
jane
13 years ago

Marxism + Muslims

cornell
cornell
13 years ago

Thank you you, Pamela. I just watched the whole film. It carries many messages for today’s world, including loyalty, patriotism, trust and leadership.

Dave
Dave
13 years ago

Thank you Pamela, for another winner! I did not realize that this war was fought between two nations with the same religion and God. Very interesting!

Tom Billesley
Tom Billesley
13 years ago

The film was released in early 1937, so if the director wanted to parallel the mood of WW2 he’d be a bit prescient. Henry V, released in 1944 and with many cast members in common, might better fit that bill – “once more unto the breach, dear friends” in the same year as the Normandy Landings.
However, I suppose that by the time they were making the film there were concerns about growing militarism in Germany. Hitler had re-militarised the Rhineland and sent military aid to Franco in Spain. Also, many Jewish refugees from the German theatre and film industries had come to England.
Also, Afghanistan isn’t the first time that Britons have fought alongside Germans. The Kings of England from George I to IV were also rulers of Hanover and this link was instrumental in a number of wars against the French culminating in Waterloo when British allies included Prussia. Some British Army regiments were recruited from Germany – hence the Hessian troops in North America during the American Rebellion. The British monarchy is still of predominantly German heritage.
To understand their apparently fickle foreign policy you have to understand that England, later Britain, always tends to act against the strongest power in continental Europe, whatever country that is at the time (Spain, France, Germany, Russia) and form alliances against them with the lesser powers. It wasn’t in British interests for any one continental European power to become dominant. Even today, British policy within the EU tends to be against the centralising Franco-German interests and more aligned with the peripheral less “federalist” countries.

Marcus_A_FRE
Marcus_A_FRE
13 years ago

This film would make a great double bill with Errol Flynn’s The Sea Hawk, as both feature Flora Robson’s great Elizabeth the Queen portrayal (her prayer at the end of Fire over England and her speech at the end of The Sea Hawk are unforgettable) and both capture the brutality of Spain (at one point Flynn and crew are sentenced to the galleys).

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Thanks for sharing!