Mary of Scotland (film)

Mary of Scotland
250px movie poster
Directed by	John Ford
Produced by	Pandro S. Berman
Written by	adaptation of the 1933 Maxwell Anderson play
Screenplay by	Dudley Nichols
Starring	Katharine Hepburn Fredric March
Music by	Nathaniel Shilkret
Cinematography	Joseph H. August Jack MacKenzie
Edited by	Jane Loring
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures
Release dates	July 30, 1936 (1936-07-30) (New York) August 28, 1936 (1936-08-28)
Running time	123 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$864,000
Box office	$1,276,000

Mary of Scotland is a 1936 RKO film starring Katharine Hepburn as the 16th century ruler, Mary, Queen of Scots. Directed by John Ford, it is an adaptation of the 1933 Maxwell Anderson play. The screenplay was written by Dudley Nichols. It is largely in blank verse. Ginger Rogers wanted to play this role and made a convincing screen test, but RKO rejected her request to be cast in the part feeling that the role was not suitable to Miss Rogers' image.

Plot summary

Mary (Katharine Hepburn), by assuming her throne as Queen of Scotland, strikes terror into the heart of Queen Elizabeth I (Florence Eldridge). After languishing in jail for 18 years at Elizabeth's command, Mary is offered a pardon if she will sign away her throne. Will she accept the deal, or die instead?

Cast

• Katharine Hepburn as Mary Stuart
• Fredric March as Bothwell
• Florence Eldridge as Elizabeth Tudor
• Douglas Walton as Darnley
• John Carradine as Rizzio
• Robert Barrat as Morton
• Gavin Muir as Leicester
• Ian Keith as Moray
• Moroni Olsen as John Knox. Olsen was the only member of the film's cast to repeat his original stage role.
• William Stack as Ruthven
• Ralph Forbes as Randolph
• Alan Mowbray as Throckmorton
• Frieda Inescort as Mary Beaton
• Donald Crisp as Huntly
• David Torrence as Lindsay
• Molly Lamont as Mary Livingstone
• Anita Colby as Mary Fleming
• Jean Fenwick as Mary Seton
• Lionel Pape as Burghley
• Alec Craig as Donal

Hepburn in a publicity still from film

• Mary Gordon as Nurse
• Monte Blue as Messenger
• Leonard Mudie as Maitland
• Brandon Hurst as Airan
• Wilfred Lucas as Lexington
• D'Arcy Corrigan as Kirkcaldy
• Frank Baker as Douglas
• Cyril McLaglen as Faudoncide
• Doris Lloyd as Fisherman's Wife
• Robert Warwick as Sir Francis Knollys
• Murray Kinnell as a Judge
• Lawrence Grant as a Judge
• Ivan F. Simpson as a Judge
• Nigel De Brulier as a Judge
• Barlowe Borland as a Judge
• Walter Byron as Walsingham
• Wyndham Standing as a Sergeant-at-Arms
• Earle Foxe as the Earl of Kent
• Paul McAllister as du Croche
• Lionel Belmore as a Fisherman
• Gaston Glass as the Frenchman
• Neil Fitzgerald as the Nobleman

Accuracy

The film does not keep close to the historical truth, portraying Mary as something of a wronged martyr and her third husband, James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell (played by Fredric March), as a romantic hero.

Reception

Contemporary reviews were generally positive. Frank S. Nugent of The New York Times said it had a "blend of excellence and mere adequacy." He wrote that the film had "depth, vigor and warm humanity" but had scenes which "lack the vitality they possessed in the play", and considered Hepburn's characterization of the title role rather too soft in comparison with the historical Mary. Variety praised the "extra-strong cast" and Ford's "sure-footed" direction. Hepburn's performance was described as "not really Mary Stuart but rather Katie Hepburn. And that is all in the film's favor because it humanizes it all and makes it that much more nearly acceptable." However, the review also found the film too long and the ending too sad, while conceding it could not end any other way without "completely corrupting history." "Impressive historical drama finely acted and produced with all-around distinction", reported Film Daily. Motion Picture Daily called the film "a splendidly powerful drama" with a "sincere, intelligent and genuine" performance by Hepburn. Russell Maloney reviewed the film negatively in The New Yorker, writing that despite its high production values, "it has little or nothing to do with Maxwell Anderson's play. Any other historical drama of the period could have been sandwiched in between these scenes and it wouldn't have made a bit of difference." Of Hepburn's performance Maloney wrote that she had "the cards stacked against her from the very start, because pageantry naturally interferes with characterization."

The film is highly regarded by a few critics today, but in its time was a box office flop, making a loss of $165,000. This was Katharine Hepburn's second flop in a row causing her to being labeled "box office poison" in the late 1930s, leading to (after a two-year screen absence) her move to MGM for her comeback in The Philadelphia Story.

External links

• Mary of Scotland at IMDb
• Mary of Scotland at AllMovie
• Mary of Scotland at the TCM Movie Database
• Mary of Scotland at Virtual History
• radio adaptation of original play done for Theatre Guild on the Air in 1946 at Internet Archive