Mrs. Fitzherbert | |
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Original Australian daybill
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Directed by | Montgomery Tully |
Produced by | Louis H. Jackson |
Written by | Montgomery Tully |
Based on | the novel Princess Fitz by Winifred Carter |
Starring |
Peter Graves Joyce Howard Leslie Banks Margaretta Scott |
Music by | Stanley Black |
Cinematography | James Wilson |
Edited by | Charles Hasse |
Production
company |
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Distributed by | Pathé Pictures International (UK) |
Release date
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3 December 1947 (London) (UK) |
Running time
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99 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Mrs. Fitzherbert (also known as Princess Fitz and A Court Secret), is a rarely seen 1947 British historical drama film directed by Montgomery Tully and starring Peter Graves, Joyce Howard and Leslie Banks. It depicts the relationship between George IV and Maria Fitzherbert.
The Prince Regent falls in love with Mrs. Fitzherbert, a Catholic widow, but because of their great social divide, she laughs at his advances. The distraught prince responds with a suicide attempt. Mrs. Fitzherbert feels compassion, and the couple are secretly married. Unfortunately, their secret soon becomes the stuff of gossip and rumour, and when this threatens the relationship between the prince and the king, the prince denies his marriage. The jilted Mrs. Fitzherbert then runs away, and the prince marries the woman to whom he was originally betrothed.
In The New York Times, Bosley Crowther wrote, "it is so rigidly played that the whole thing has the appearance of an animated wax-works on the move."