Fire Over England
by William K. Howard
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Flora Robson, Laurence Olivier, Raymond Massey, Vivien LeighDirector: William K. Howard
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown)
Format: NTSC
Running Time: 89 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-10-20
Studio: Nobility Studios, Inc.
Movie Reviews of Fire Over England
Movie Review: First pairing of Olivier and Leigh
Summary: 2 Stars
Olivier and Leigh. The husband and wife team of the 40s. Preceded by Fairbanks and Pickford, contemporary with Gable and Lombard and followed by Taylor and Burton.
"Fire Over England" was the first pairing of Laurence Olivier (1907-1989) and his future wife Vivien Leigh (1913-67). They met in 1935 and began their affair during this film. They made several films together, including "Wuthering Heights" (1939) and "That Hamilton Woman" (1941), and toured together many times in performances of "Anthony and Cleopatra", "MacBeth", "Twelfth Night", and "The School for Scandal". They divorced in 1960.
Leigh is best known for her stunning performances in "GWTW" (1939) as Scarlett O'Hara and as Blanche DuBois in "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951) - she won the Oscar both times. Eventually physical problems, a miscarriage, and the difficulty of living with Olivier would take their toll and she began a slow descent into madness, perhaps precipitated by the 326 performances as DuBois on stage in London followed by months filming the movie. Between 1955 and 1965 she made only 1 film, but she carried on with her theatre work and even won a Tony in 1963. Her last film appearance was in 1965 ("Ship of Fools").
Olivier was nominated for an Oscar 10 times, from 1939 ("Wuthering Heights") to 1978 ("Boys from Brazil"), and won in 1949 for "Hamlet". He appeared in 80+ films, usually as an Englishman or in films based in England. His prime period had been in the 40s, and he made few films in the 50s, probably because of all the personal problems he was having. He appears as #14 on the AFI list of Top 50 Screen Legends.
Flora Robson (1902-84) appeared in more than 50 films and was nominated for an Oscar for her role in "Saratoga Trunk" (1945). She played Elizabeth in this film and reprised her role for "The Sea Hawk" (1940), another Alexander Korda film. Many people believe that she is the definitive Elizabeth, although my preference would be Bette Davis in "Essex and Elizabeth" (1939). Other actresses who've played Elizabeth include Glenda Jackson (1971), Helen Mirren (2005), Sarah Bernhardt (1912) and Cate Blanchett (1998, 2007). Actresses who played Elizabeth twice include Robson, Bette Davis (1938, 1955) and Cate Blanchett (1998, 2007).
BTW - Robson was only 35 when she appeared in this film. By comparison, Bette Davis was 30 when she first played her and Cate Blancehtt was 29. The film depicts Elizabeth in her mid 50s.
Raymond Massey (1896-1983) plays King Philip of Spain. He is best remembered for his roles as Lincoln. He was nominated for an Oscar for playing "Abe Lincoln in Illinois" (1940) which remains, to date, the best ever portrayal of Lincoln. He reprised the role on TV in "The Day Lincoln was Shot" (1950) and again in "How the West Was Won" (1962). On TV he played Dr. Gillespie in the series "Dr Kildare" (1961-5). He made nearly 100 films. I remember him best for his over the top portrayal of John Brown in "Santa Fe Trail" (1940). Prior to playing Lincoln, most of his roles were villainous (e.g., Citizen Chauvelin in "The Scarlet Pimpernel", Black Michael in "The Prisoner of Zenda", Prince Ghul in "The Drum").
The great Robert Newton (1905-56) plays Don Pedro. This was his third of what was to become more than 50 films that included "Henry V", "Oliver Twist" (1948), "Les Miserables" (1952) and my personal favorite, "Treasure Island" (1950).
James Mason has a tiny role in the beginning of the film. When it was re-released in 1944 and Mason had become a star, Korda commissioned a new trailer that stressed Mason's part.
Alexander Korda (1893-1956) produced nearly 60 films in his career that started in 1923 in Hungary. His break through film was "The Private Life of Henry VIII" (1933) and there followed a series of historical dramas including "Rise of Catherine the Great" (1934), "Private Life of Don Juan" (1934), "The Scarlet Pimpernel" (1934) and "Rembrandt" (1936), of which "Fire Over England" is a lesser example. Korda was known for his cheap production values, which are evident in this film.
The film was produced in 1937. It has some suggestions that involvement on the continent is dangerous, as later events would prove.
This is a fairly standard historical drama of the 30s and mostly forgettable. It is notable as being the film that David Selznick saw which convinced him that Vivien Leigh could play Scarlett. Far better films from this period about the Elizabethan era include "Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex" (1939) and "The Sea Hawk" (1940).
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