***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** As is the usual case with the historical films MGM did at this time,the production values and effects can't be beat.Costumes,sets,props,make-up,staging,sound,and camera work are first-rate.From a technical point of view,it couldn't have been better.Any studio would be proud to present this movie.
Not having read the original novel,I don't feel qualified to venture an opinion as to it's fidelity.I do feel moved,however,to point out certain historical inaccuracies:
1.)It was Diane's FATHER,not her husband,who was convicted of treason,and received the capital sentence.
2.)Diane DID tender the ultimate inhospitality in return for the death sentance being commuted.
3.)She was never Henri's mistress UNTIL after The death of Francis.
4.)Francis,instead of having defeated the Duke of Burgundy,was actually captured by him,and held captive for 2 years.
These inaccuracies aside,this film is still highly enjoyable,within certain parameters.Let's take a look at these;
1.)Lana is playing the same character that she portrayed in "Three Musketeers",and "The Prodigal",with one difference-in those she showed an EVIL heroine,and in this she's a GOOD heroine.
2.)Pedro,as Francis,gives a historically accurate portrait-arrogant,tyrannical,autocratic,lecherous,commanding.Still,he's playing the same role as in "From Russia With Love."
3.)Moore,as Henri,is also right on the money,from a historical perspective.If he had lived long enough,he would have been the same as Francis.Not the same as doing Bond,but nothing that any capable,well-trained actor couldn't have done.
4.)I don't know enough about the actress doing Catherine to judge her performance,but she does a good job.
The rest of the cast does a splendid job in their parts.Still,it's nothing that we haven't seen each one of them do in at least 4 other perod dramas,swashbucklers,and costume-dramas.They do it well,but it's nothing new.Enjoy it as repraisals of things done previously.
HISTORICAL NOTE:When Diane's father was on the scaffold,facing the executioner,the herald appeared,and announced that the sentence had been commuted to life imprisonment.He was aware of the price she had paid,and praised her actions in language that can't be used in mixed company.A year later,he was released,and restored to his estates and titles.He then spent the rest of his life going around France,complaining to anyone who would listen,and crabbing that his daughter had purchased his life at the cost of her own virtue.
MORAL:THERE"S REALLY NO PLEASING SOME PEOPLE,NOW,IS THERE?
Not having read the original novel,I don't feel qualified to venture an opinion as to it's fidelity.I do feel moved,however,to point out certain historical inaccuracies:
1.)It was Diane's FATHER,not her husband,who was convicted of treason,and received the capital sentence.
2.)Diane DID tender the ultimate inhospitality in return for the death sentance being commuted.
3.)She was never Henri's mistress UNTIL after The death of Francis.
4.)Francis,instead of having defeated the Duke of Burgundy,was actually captured by him,and held captive for 2 years.
These inaccuracies aside,this film is still highly enjoyable,within certain parameters.Let's take a look at these;
1.)Lana is playing the same character that she portrayed in "Three Musketeers",and "The Prodigal",with one difference-in those she showed an EVIL heroine,and in this she's a GOOD heroine.
2.)Pedro,as Francis,gives a historically accurate portrait-arrogant,tyrannical,autocratic,lecherous,commanding.Still,he's playing the same role as in "From Russia With Love."
3.)Moore,as Henri,is also right on the money,from a historical perspective.If he had lived long enough,he would have been the same as Francis.Not the same as doing Bond,but nothing that any capable,well-trained actor couldn't have done.
4.)I don't know enough about the actress doing Catherine to judge her performance,but she does a good job.
The rest of the cast does a splendid job in their parts.Still,it's nothing that we haven't seen each one of them do in at least 4 other perod dramas,swashbucklers,and costume-dramas.They do it well,but it's nothing new.Enjoy it as repraisals of things done previously.
HISTORICAL NOTE:When Diane's father was on the scaffold,facing the executioner,the herald appeared,and announced that the sentence had been commuted to life imprisonment.He was aware of the price she had paid,and praised her actions in language that can't be used in mixed company.A year later,he was released,and restored to his estates and titles.He then spent the rest of his life going around France,complaining to anyone who would listen,and crabbing that his daughter had purchased his life at the cost of her own virtue.
MORAL:THERE"S REALLY NO PLEASING SOME PEOPLE,NOW,IS THERE?