US (1971): Drama
Vanessa Redgrave stars as Mary Stuart of Scotland, with Glenda Jackson co-starred as Queen Elizabeth I. As with the earlier Maxwell Anderson play Mary of Scotland, the film's sympathies are with Mary, and there are two contrived, wholly fabricated face-to-face confrontations between the two queens (who never met in real life). The cast also features Patrick McGoohan, Timothy Dalton, Nigel Davenport, Trevor Howard, Daniel Massey and Ian Holm. Old-line Hollywood producer Hal Wallis once more demonstrates his facility (as proven by Becket, 1964) at showcasing dynamic stars within a period milieu. The film is literally swamped with lavish Tudor decor, perhaps the only completely accurate aspect of the whole project. This picture was merely tolerated by critics of 1971, with Pauline Kael snippily commenting that she preferred the 1925 "Our Gang" two-reeler Mary Queen of Tots! (Universal) (Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide)
5 nominations
· Actress 1971: Vanessa Redgrave
· Art Direction/Set Decoration 1971: Terence Marsh, Robert Cartwright - Art Direction, Peter Howitt - Set Decoration
· Costume Design 1971: Margaret Furse
· Music Scoring Awards (Original Dramatic Score) 1971: John Barry
· Sound 1971: Bob Jones, John Aldred