The Virgin Queen (1955 film)
| The Virgin Queen | |
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Original poster
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| Directed by | Henry Koster |
| Produced by | Charles Brackett |
| Written by | Harry Brown |
| Screenplay by | Mildret Lord |
| Based on | Sir Walter Raleigh |
| Starring |
Bette Davis Richard Todd Joan Collins |
| Music by | Franz Waxman |
| Cinematography | Charles G. Clarke |
| Edited by | Robert L. Simpson |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
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Release date
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Running time
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92 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1.6 million |
The Virgin Queen is a 1955 DeLuxe Color historical drama film in CinemaScope starring Bette Davis, Richard Todd and Joan Collins. It focuses on the relationship between Elizabeth I of England and Sir Walter Raleigh.
The film marks the second time Davis played the English monarch; the first was The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939). It was also the first Hollywood film for Australian actor Rod Taylor.
Charles LeMaire and Mary Wills were nominated for the Academy Award for Costume Design. LeMaire won, but for another film, Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955).
In 1581, Walter Raleigh (Richard Todd), recently returned from the fighting in Ireland, pressures unwilling tavern patrons into freeing from the mud the stuck carriage of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester (Herbert Marshall). When Leicester asks how he can repay the kindness, Raleigh asks for an introduction to Queen Elizabeth I (Bette Davis), to whom Leicester is a trusted adviser. Leicester grants the request.
Elizabeth takes a great liking to Raleigh and his forthright manner, much to the disgust of her current favorite, Christopher Hatton (Robert Douglas). As the court ventures outside, Raleigh graciously drapes his cloak (an expensive item borrowed from a reluctant tailor) over some mud so that the Queen need not soil her shoes. At dinner, Raleigh reveals his dream of sailing to the New World to reap the riches there. Elizabeth decides to make him the captain of her personal guard. He enlists his Irish friend, Lord Derry (Dan O'Herlihy).
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Wikipedia