The Abdication | |
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Directed by | Anthony Harvey |
Screenplay by | Ruth Wolff |
Based on | Ruth Wolff (based on her play) |
Produced by | James Cresson Robert Fryer |
Starring | Peter Finch Liv Ullmann |
Cinematography | Geoffrey Unsworth |
Edited by | John Bloom |
Music by | Nino Rota |
Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | A Robert Fryer-James Cresson Production |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release dates |
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Running time | 103 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
The Abdication is a 1974 British historical drama film directed by Anthony Harvey and starring Peter Finch and Liv Ullmann. The film's score was composed by Nino Rota. [1] It tells a fictionalized version of the rumored love affair between Christina, Queen of Sweden and Cardinal Decio Azzolino during the former's stay in Rome after abdicating her throne.
After abdicating her throne and converting to Catholicism, Queen Christina arrives in Rome, where Cardinal Azzolino is appointed to evaluate her and to help her to adapt to life in Rome. They fall in love, but after the Pope's death, Azzolino rejects her to re-embrace his position in the church. [2]
Liv Johanne Ullmann is a Norwegian actress. Recognised as one of the greatest European actresses of all time, Ullmann is known as the muse and frequent collaborator of filmmaker Ingmar Bergman. She acted in many of his films, including Persona (1966), Cries and Whispers (1972), Scenes from a Marriage (1973), The Passion of Anna (1969), and Autumn Sonata (1978).
Christina was a member of the House of Vasa and the Queen of Sweden in her own right from 1632 until her abdication in 1654. Her conversion to Catholicism and refusal to marry led her to relinquish her throne and move to Rome.
Juliana was Queen of the Netherlands from 1948 until her abdication in 1980.
Lost Horizon is a 1973 musical fantasy adventure film directed by Charles Jarrott and starring Peter Finch, Liv Ullmann, Sally Kellerman, George Kennedy, Michael York, Olivia Hussey, Bobby Van, James Shigeta, Charles Boyer and John Gielgud. It was also the final film produced by Ross Hunter. The film is a remake of Frank Capra's 1937 film of the same name, with a screenplay by Larry Kramer. Both stories were adapted from James Hilton's 1933 novel Lost Horizon.
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Queen Christina is a pre-Code Hollywood biographical film, produced for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1933 by Walter Wanger and directed by Rouben Mamoulian. It stars Swedish-born actress Greta Garbo and John Gilbert in their fourth and last film together.
Anthony Harvey was an English filmmaker who began his career as a teenage actor, was a film editor in the 1950s, and moved into directing in the mid-1960s. Harvey had fifteen film credits as an editor, and he directed thirteen films, the second of which, The Lion in Winter (1968), earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director. Harvey's career is also notable for his recurring work with a number of leading actors and directors including Terry-Thomas, Peter Sellers, Katharine Hepburn, Peter O'Toole, Richard Attenborough, Liv Ullman, Sam Waterston, Nick Nolte, the Boulting Brothers, Anthony Asquith, Bryan Forbes and Stanley Kubrick. He died in November 2017 at the age of 87.
The Squadrone Volante was a 17th-century group of independent and liberal cardinals within the College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church. It attempted to influence the outcome of a number of papal conclaves.
Decio Azzolino was an Italian Catholic Cardinal, code-breaker, investigator and leader of the Squadrone Volante.
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The 1669–70 papal conclave was convened on the death of Pope Clement IX and ended with the election of Cardinal Emilio Altieri as Pope Clement X. The election saw deference within the College of Cardinals to Louis XIV of France, and a freeing of the cardinals loyal to Spain to vote according to their conscience. Eventually the elderly Altieri was elected with support of the major factions within the College.
Pope Joan is a 1972 British historical drama film based on the story of Pope Joan. Even though modern consensus generally considers Pope Joan to be legendary, in the film her existence is treated as fact.
Ebba Larsdotter Sparre was a Swedish lady-in-waiting and noblewoman. She is known as the intimate friend and possible lover of Queen Christina of Sweden.
Danaë is a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Correggio, executed around 1531 and now in the Galleria Borghese in Rome.
Zandy's Bride is a 1974 American Western film directed by Jan Troell and starring Gene Hackman and Liv Ullmann.
Events from the year 1654 in Sweden.