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. 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.
Cast
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
Patrick Whyte
Officer
Crew
George Sidney
Director
Arthur Wimperis
Screenplay
Jan Lustig
Screenplay
Margaret Irwin
Novel
Ralph E. Winters
Editor
Charles Rosher
Director of Photography
Henri Jaffa
Colorist
George Rhein
Assistant Director
Sidney Franklin
Producer
Walter Plunkett
Costume Design
Sydney Guilaroff
Hairstylist
William Tuttle
Makeup Artist
A. Arnold Gillespie
Special Effects
Warren Newcombe
Special Effects
Miklós Rózsa
Original Music Composer
Jack D. Moore
Set Decoration
Edwin B. Willis
Set Decoration
Douglas Shearer
Recording Supervision
Cedric Gibbons
Art Direction
Urie McCleary
Art Direction
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