Elizabeth the Queen | |
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![]() First edition 1930 | |
Written by | Maxwell Anderson |
Date premiered | November 27, 1930 |
Place premiered | Guild Theatre New York City |
Original language | English |
Genre | Drama |
Setting | various parts of Whitehall palace |
Elizabeth the Queen was a 1930 Broadway three-act play written in blank verse by Maxwell Anderson, produced by the Theatre Guild, directed by Philip Moeller and with scenic and costume design by Lee Simonson. It ran for 147 performances from November 3, 1930, to March 1931 at the Guild Theatre. The starring roles were played by Lynn Fontanne as Elizabeth and Alfred Lunt as Lord Essex.
It was adapted into a film The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939) directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Bette Davis, Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland and a television movie, Elizabeth the Queen (1968) directed by George Schaefer and starring Judith Anderson and Charlton Heston.
On radio, it has been adapted four times: for NBC's "Great Plays" program on WJZ (May 7, 1939), with Mady Christians and Wesley Addy; [1] on Matinee Theater (December 17, 1944) with Judith Evelyn and Victor Jory; on The Theatre Guild on the Air (December 2, 1945) with Lynn Fontanne and Alfred Lunt and on Best Plays (November 9, 1952) with Eva Le Gallienne.
The play revolves around the turbulent love affair between the aging Queen Elizabeth I of England and her much younger suitor Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, who is ambitious for the throne.
Multiple roles as Courtiers, Guards, Men-at-arms:
Alfred David Lunt was an American actor and director, best known for his long stage partnership with his wife, Lynn Fontanne, from the 1920s to 1960, co-starring in Broadway and West End productions. After their marriage, they nearly always appeared together. They became known as "the Lunts" and were celebrated on both sides of the Atlantic.
The Guardsman is a 1931 American pre-Code film based on the play Testőr by Ferenc Molnár. It stars Alfred Lunt, Lynn Fontanne, Roland Young and ZaSu Pitts. It opens with a stage re-enactment of the final scene of Maxwell Anderson's Elizabeth the Queen, with Fontanne as Elizabeth and Lunt as the Earl of Essex, but otherwise has nothing to do with that play.
The Magnificent Yankee is a 1950 American biographical film adapted by Emmet Lavery from his 1946 play of the same title, which was in turn adapted from the 1942 book Mr. Justice Holmes by Francis Biddle. The story examines the life of United States Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
Lynn Fontanne was an English actress. After early success in supporting roles in the West End, she met the American actor Alfred Lunt, whom she married in 1922 and with whom she co-starred in Broadway and West End productions over the next four decades. They became known as "The Lunts", and were celebrated on both sides of the Atlantic.
James Maxwell Anderson was an American playwright, author, poet, journalist, and lyricist.
Alfred Drake was an American actor and singer.
Design for Living is a comedy play written by Noël Coward in 1932. It concerns a trio of artistic characters, Gilda, Otto and Leo, and their complicated three-way relationship. Originally written to star Lynn Fontanne, Alfred Lunt and Coward, it was premiered on Broadway, partly because its risqué subject matter was thought unacceptable to the official censor in London. It was not until 1939 that a London production was presented.
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, for a time also entitled Elizabeth the Queen, is a 1939 American historical romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, and Olivia de Havilland. Based on the play Elizabeth the Queen by Maxwell Anderson—which had a successful run on Broadway with Lynn Fontanne and Alfred Lunt in the lead roles—the film fictionalizes the historical relationship between Queen Elizabeth I and Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex. The screenplay was written by Norman Reilly Raine and Aeneas MacKenzie.
Quadrille is a play by Noël Coward. It is a romantic comedy set in the mid-Victorian era, and depicts the romantic permutations when an English aristocrat elopes with the wife of an American businessman and the American falls in love with the aristocrat's deserted wife.
Eduardo Ciannelli was an Italian baritone and character actor with a long career in American films, mostly playing gangsters and criminals. He was sometimes credited as Edward Ciannelli.
Elizabeth I of England has inspired artistic and cultural works for over four centuries. The following lists cover various media, enduring works of high art, and recent representations in popular culture, film and fiction. The entries represent portrayals that a reader has a reasonable chance of encountering rather than a complete catalogue.
Ten Chimneys was the summer home and gentleman's farm of Broadway actors Lynn Fontanne and Alfred Lunt, and a social center for American theater. The property is located in Genesee Depot in the Town of Genesee in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States.
Idiot's Delight is a 1936 Pulitzer-Prize-winning play written by American playwright Robert E. Sherwood and presented by the Theatre Guild. The play takes place in the Hotel Monte Gabriel in the Italian Alps during 24 hours at the beginning of a world war. The guests trapped in the hotel by the sudden onset of hostilities are from Germany, France, the United States and Britain. Directed by Bretaigne Windust, the cast starred Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne (Irene), with Sydney Greenstreet as Dr. Waldersee and Francis Compton as Achille Weber. The play was nominated for the 1936 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, Best American Play.
There Shall Be No Night is a three-act play written by American playwright Robert E. Sherwood.
Theresa Helburn was an American playwright and theatrical producer best known for her work as a co-founder and producer of New York's Theatre Guild from 1919 to the 1950s.
Worthington Miner was an American film producer, screenwriter, actor and director. He was married to actress Frances Fuller, with whom he had three children, including producer/director Peter Miner. He was the paternal grandfather of actress Rachel Miner.
The Philadelphia Story is a 1939 American comic play by Philip Barry. It tells the story of a socialite whose wedding plans are complicated by the simultaneous arrival of her ex-husband and an attractive journalist. Written as a vehicle for Katharine Hepburn, its success marked a reversal of fortunes for the actress, who was one of the film stars deemed "box office poison" in 1938.
The Old Lady Shows Her Medals is a play by J. M. Barrie. It was first published in his collection Echoes of the War in 1918, which also included the stories The New Word, Barbara's Wedding and A Well-Remembered Voice. It is set on the home front of World War I.
Mary of Scotland was a 1933 Broadway three-act play written in blank verse by Maxwell Anderson, produced by the Theatre Guild, directed by Theresa Helburn and with scenic and costume design by Robert Edmond Jones. It ran for 248 performances from November 27, 1933 to July 1934 at the Alvin Theatre. A scene between Mary and Elizabeth never actually happened as they never met. Anderson's son Quentin Anderson played a warder. It was included in Burns Mantle's The Best Plays of 1933-1934.
Elizabeth the Queen is a 1968 TV movie presented on Hallmark Hall of Fame. It is an adaptation of the 1930 play Elizabeth the Queen by Maxwell Anderson. The film was directed by George Schaefer.