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The mother died under the executioner’s axe; the daughter rose to become England’s greatest monarch—the brilliant and cunning Queen Elizabeth I.
Jean Simmons portrays young Bess in this rich tapestry of a film that traces the tumultuous, danger-fraught years from Elizabeth’s birth to her unexpected ascension to the throne at a mere 25 years of age.
Charles Laughton reprises his Academy Award®-winning* role as her formidable father Henry VIII. Deborah Kerr plays her last stepmother (and Henry’s last of six wives), gentle Catherine Parr. And Simmons’ then real-life husband, Stewart Granger, adds heroics as Lord Admiral Thomas Seymour.
In a resplendent world of adventure, romance and court intrigue, Young Bess reigns.
Original Release
05/21/1953
US Release
05/21/1953
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Cast
Name | Character |
---|
Jean Simmons | Young Bess (Queen Elizabeth I) |
Stewart Granger | Thomas Seymour |
Deborah Kerr | Catherine Parr |
Charles Laughton | King Henry VIII |
Kay Walsh | Mrs. Ashley |
Guy Rolfe | Ned Seymour |
Kathleen Byron | Ann Seymour |
Cecil Kellaway | Mr. Parry |
Rex Thompson | Prince Edward / King Edward VI |
Robert Arthur | Barnaby |
Directors
Writers
Margaret Irwin, Jan Lustig, Arthur Wimperis
Cast
Name | Character |
---|
Jean Simmons | Young Bess (Queen Elizabeth I) |
Stewart Granger | Thomas Seymour |
Deborah Kerr | Catherine Parr |
Charles Laughton | King Henry VIII |
Kay Walsh | Mrs. Ashley |
Guy Rolfe | Ned Seymour |
Kathleen Byron | Ann Seymour |
Cecil Kellaway | Mr. Parry |
Rex Thompson | Prince Edward / King Edward VI |
Robert Arthur | Barnaby |
Leo G. Carroll | Mr. Mums |
Norma Varden | Lady Tyrwhitt |
Alan Napier | Robert Tyrwhitt |
Noreen Corcoran | Bess as a child |
Ivan Triesault | Danish Envoy |
Elaine Stewart | Anne Boleyn |
Dawn Addams | Kate Howard |
Doris Lloyd | Mother Jack |
Lumsden Hare | Archbishop Cranmer |
Lester Matthews | Sir William Paget |
Producers
Name | Role |
---|
Sidney Franklin | Producer |
Editors
Year | Type | Category | Won |
---|
1954 | Oscar | Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color | Nominated |
1954 | Oscar | Best Costume Design, Color | Nominated |