Fire Over England
| Fire Over England | |
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Film poster
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| Directed by | William K. Howard |
| Produced by |
Erich Pommer Alexander Korda |
| Screenplay by |
Clemence Dane Sergei Nolbandov |
| Based on |
Fire Over England 1936 novel by A. E. W. Mason |
| Starring |
Laurence Olivier Vivien Leigh Flora Robson Leslie Banks |
| Music by | Richard Addinsell |
| Cinematography | James Wong Howe |
| Edited by | Jack Dennis |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | United Artists |
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Release date
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Running time
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92 min. |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Fire Over England (aka Gloriana) is a 1937 London Film Productions film drama, notable for providing the first pairing of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. It was directed by William K. Howard and written by Clemence Dane from the novel Fire Over England by A. E. W. Mason. Leigh's performance in the film helped to convince David O. Selznick to cast her as Scarlett O'Hara in his production of Gone with the Wind. The film is a historical drama set during the reign of Elizabeth I focusing on England's victory over the Spanish Armada.
During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, England is concerned by the impending arrival of the Spanish Armada. In 1588, relations between Spain and England are at breaking point. With the support of Queen Elizabeth I (Flora Robson), English privateers such as Sir Francis Drake regularly capture Spanish merchantmen bringing gold from the New World.
Elizabeth's chief advisers are the Lord Treasurer, Lord Burleigh (Morton Selten), and her longtime admirer, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester (Leslie Banks). Burleigh's 18-year-old granddaughter Cynthia (Vivien Leigh) is one of Elizabeth's ladies-in-waiting, and the ageing queen is plagued by jealousy of the girl's beauty and vivacity.
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