Fire Over England

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Fire Over England

Film poster
Directed by William K. Howard
Produced by Erich Pommer
Alexander Korda
Written by A. E. W. Mason
Screenplay by Clemence Dane
Sergei Nolbandov
Based on Fire Over England
Starring Laurence Olivier
Vivien Leigh
Flora Robson
Leslie Banks
Music by Richard Addinsell
Cinematography James Wong Howe
Editing by Jack Dennis
Studio London Film Productions
Distributed by United Artists
Release dates 5 March 1937
Running time 92 min.
Country United Kingdom
Language English

Fire Over England is a 1937 London Film Productions' film drama, notable for providing the first pairing of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. It was directed by William K. Howard and written by Clemence Dane from the novel Fire Over England by A. E. W. Mason. Leigh's performance in the movie helped to convince David O. Selznick to cast her as Scarlett O'Hara in his production of Gone with the Wind.

Plot

The film is a historical drama set during the reign of Elizabeth I (Flora Robson), focusing on the English defeat of the Spanish Armada, hence the title.

In 1588, relations between Spain and England are at the breaking point. With the support of Queen Elizabeth I (Flora Robson), English sea raiders such as Sir Francis Drake regularly capture Spanish merchantmen bringing gold from the New World.

Elizabeth's chief advisors are the lord treasurer, Lord Burleigh (Morton Selten), and her longtime admirer, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester (Leslie Banks). Burleigh's beautiful but featherbrained granddaughter Cynthia (Vivien Leigh) is one of Elizabeth's ladies-in-waiting, and the aging queen is plagued with jealousy of the girl's attractiveness and vitality.

In a sea battle between the Spanish, led by Don Miguel (Robert Rendel), and the English, led by his old friend Sir Richard Ingolby (Lyn Harding) the English are captured. Miguel arranges for Richard's son Michael (Laurence Olivier) to escape. Michael washes ashore on Miguel's estate, and his wounds are tended to by Miguel's daughter Elena (Tamara Desni), who quickly becomes enamoured of the handsome Englishman. As the months pass, Michael recovers and laments being apart from Cynthia, his sweetheart, but is nonetheless impressed by Elena's charms.

Miguel brings Michael the sad news that Sir Richard, his father, has been executed as a heretic. The grieving Michael denounces his rescuers and flees to England in a small fishing boat. When he is granted an audience with the Queen he urges her to fight the Spanish menace by whatever means necessary, and swears undying loyalty to her. Elizabeth is flattered by the young man's fervent devotion and later has an opportunity to take advantage of his offer of service when Hillary Vane (James Mason), an Englishman spying for Spain, is killed before the names of his English co-conspirators can be uncovered.

Michael, disguised as Vane, goes to the court of King Philip II of Spain (Raymond Massey) to get the letters that will set into motion a plan to assassinate Elizabeth. At the palace Michael meets Elena. Her father has been killed by the English and she is now married to Don Pedro (Robert Newton), the palace governor. Elena keeps Michael's identity a secret as long as she can, but finally must tell her husband out of loyalty to him.

Philip sees through Michael's disguise and orders his arrest. Pedro helps him escape so that it will not be discovered that his wife aided a heretic. While Michael is returning home, the Spanish Armada sails against England and Elizabeth joins her army in Tilbury. Michael meets her there and reveals the names of the traitors. Elizabeth knights Michael and then confronts the six traitors and tells them to fulfill their plot and kill her. They are overwhelmed with shame and agree to go with Michael on a dangerous mission, using fire ships to make a night attack on the Armada, which is massed off the coast of England.

The mission is successful as Michael and his men set the Armada aflame and then safely return. Elizabeth allows Michael and Cynthia to be wed, and after sadly ordering all mirrors to be removed from her rooms, greets her adoring subjects.[1]

Cast

See also

  • List of films in the public domain

Notes

  1. ↑ http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=74944

Bibliography

  • The Great British Films, pp 36–38, Jerry Vermilye, 1978, Citadel Press, ISBN 0-8065-0661-X

External links

Films directed by William K. Howard
1920s
1930s
1940s
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