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Sadly Over-hyped

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Fresh and Exciting

If you love Katharine Hepburn and can't imagine how she got her nickname "box office poison", you obviously have never seen Mary of Scotland. Do yourself a favor and keep it that way.In this biopic of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland, she's surrounded by those opposing her rise to the throne, including Florence Eldridge as Queen Elizabeth, Ian Keith as her power-hungry half-brother, and Douglas Walton as her effeminate suitor. Not completely alone, Kate has a few allies: Donald Crisp as a loyal Scottish citizen, John Carradine as her secretary, and Fredric March as the love of her life. I'm not well-versed on any of the details, so I don't know how historically accurate Dudley Nichols's script was, but as an audience member, this movie was atrocious. Fredric March was supposed to play someone so incredibly Scottish, he's never seen in anything besides a kilt, but since he's the same actor who notoriously mispronounced his nemesis's name in Les Miserables, could he really have been expected to speak in a Scottish accent? I wasn't the only one who found Fred's lack of accent comedic; Nathaniel Shilkret's music made it clear he thought he was scoring a funny film rather than a dramatic period piece.Kate's portrayal of Mary—and Nichols's screenplay—makes her seem like perhaps the most incompetent queen in cinematic history. Donald Crisp dares to stand up to her in one scene, criticizing her for letting herself become a woman instead of a queen, and I completely agree with him. Time and time again she's given the ultimatum of keeping either her throne or her true love, and she's unable to decide. She claims to not care about the crown, but she won't sacrifice it to run away with Freddy? She's weak, unlikable, and annoying. Trust me, you don't need to watch this movie.

"Mary of Scotland" is a historical bio-pic of the ill-fated Mary Stuart, commonly referred to as 'Mary Queen of Scots', who reigned over Scotland from 1542 to 1567 before her arrest and eventual execution for treason against Elizabeth I, Queen of England. The movie shows Mary and her 3rd husband, the Earl of Bothwell (Frederic March) in a sympathetic light, portraying them as star-crossed lovers caught up in the times. The movie implies that Mary was set up and betrayed by a paranoid Elizabeth and condemned based on trumped up charges supported by false evidence. The story is much more complex and the central characters likely not as innocent and noble as the movie suggests (Bothwell is suspected in being complicit in the murder of Mary's 2nd husband and Mary's role in the Babington Plot suggests that she was involved in a plan to assassinate Elizabeth). As far as historical films go, the movie is not particularly extravagant – most of the castles shown are obviously just paintings and much of the action is limited to courtyards and rooms. The director, John Ford is clearly more comfortable shooting westerns in the open expanses of Monument Valley than making historical romances in the confines of a set – many of the shots look very 'stagy' and there is an excess of 'shadow shots', sometimes effective but usually just distracting. Hepburn does not make a very convincing Mary and the dramatic shots of her chin quivering with bottled up emotion get old pretty fast. IMO, "Mary of Scotland" is neither nuanced enough to be 'educational' nor exciting enough to be 'entertaining'.

Seems John Ford was really more of an outdoorsman, this movie is ghastly. It looks like a von Sternberg movie for Marlene Dietrich with its claustrophobic sets but without von Sternberg's ability to compose beautiful shots or create a layered mis-en-scene. Even worse the sounds is ghastly, every speech echoes off the walls, the worst sound in a movie that I can recall except maybe "Rebecca" which also suffers from terrible sound. This may be a mercy as most of the actors come in and out of a Scottish brogue that would offend even Groundskeeper Willy.Poor Katherine Hepburn seems to have no idea what she is doing, or who she is playing. Ford must have been more comfortable directing men or perhaps he didn't give a damn. At least she doesn't try a Scotch accent, which is historically correct as Mary was raised in France, and if I recall correctly did not speak English when she arrived in Scotland, the country she left at age 5.Even funnier is the portrayal of Elizabeth I who remarks seriously "Ya know what it's like to be born illegitamate? Ta have royal blood in ya veins?" of course Elizabeth I was not illegitimate except in the eyes of Catholics. Supposedly Ginger Rogers wanted to play Elizabeth and it's hard to imagine she would have been any worse. If RKO denied her the part it must have been for non-artistic reasons. Ah well, there is a reason Hepburn (and Dietrich) were labeled box-office poison around that time. Both came back though Hepburn with "The Philadelphia Story" and Dietrich with "Destry Rides Again."

I saw this movie when it was originally released and I was 12-years-old. This was before Bette Davis had done any role of Elizabeth I, so all the gorgeous costumes (although B & W) and the icy queen got into my imagination immediately. Heck I liked ANY movie then - but, when "Mary, Queen of Scots" (Katherine Hepburn) appeared on the screen, I was smitten - what beauty ! That she was a consummate actress, even at that very young age, committed me to seeing all of her movies. I think I have, and enjoy seeing them all again. Bette Davis starred in "The Corn is Green", and Hepburn did a TV re-make - both were excellent, although many years apart, Davis definitely was the best - those eyes ! Ms. Hepburn's roles were magnificent, because she was smart enough to stay away from those which didn't suit her. Davis was an adventuress.....All of the few reviews written here about this very early - but wonderful - movie get very "teachy" in Scotish history. All of that is good to know, but forget it all; just enjoy raw acting without any special effects, except for the blowing-up of the castle. SEE - modern movies weren't the first ! Easy to tell who the "good folk" are and very easy to detect the villains."Mary" was doomed from the moment she set foot on Scottish soil. She had been the Queen of France of 2 years, very young and cultured and Scotland was a wasteland; she was totally unprepared to rule ANY country. Much of the plot (screenplay by Dudley Nichols) stressed that she was the rightful heir to her throne and also the throne of England. The aristocrats of Scotland had been without rule for so many years, they weren't about to give-up their power. It was evident when they did not greet her as their queen, and her half-brother didn't support her. A streak of determination to rule her kingdom only decided her fate - plus, she was Catholic.Although she was smitten at first sight of "Bothwell" (Frederic March), she was forced to marry her cousin, the "Earl of Moray" (Ian Keith) - a "fop", that is, a sissy male with lots of make-up - completely out of place for Scotland. One scene shows "The Earl" greeting "Mary's" ladies as "four lovely ladies", and they saying "now there is five". "Mary" needed a legitimate heir - "Elizabeth" feared it. "Elizabeth's" ambassador to Scotland was "Throckmorton" (Alan Mowbray), and kept her up-to-date on the heathens in Scotland.....they even murdered "Mary's" secretary, because he was a foreigner and Catholic, too - that should tell you a great deal. "John Knox" (Moroni Olsen) was all over the country screaming that Catholics were blasphemers - sounds like Iran, doesn't it? - and should be put to death.......Bin Laden hadn't been heard of.......The plot-twists let you know very early "Mary" would have to escape all the sabotage in Scotland, getting Elizabeth's permission "to visit" in England - which turned into 19 years of imprisonment. They had never met, but it was apparent "Elizabeth" wasn't about to harbor a threat to her throne and had plotted to get "Mary" under her care - in prison.Hepburn's acting is solid all through this historical movie. She stole every scene. All of the other prominent actors - and there were many in this film - couldn't hold a candle to her. Her "trial" was epic. She was aware she was being framed, but realized she had already been judged guilty. "Elizabeth" finally came to visit her in her apartment, but was only interested in getting "Mary" to abdicate. Surprise ! "Mary" did not relent, and "Elizabeth" stomped out. "Mary" was beheaded the next day.Seeing an early movie like this would have told anyone that this was going to be the greatest communication with the masses worldwide. The radiance of Hepburn's acting ordained a great career for this lady. My copy of the VHS is so bad - and, unfortunately, so was the screening in the theater - one would wonder how the industry would survive. When the photography was good, it was wonderful - everyone involved in this film played their roles well, because many of them were actors from silent-screen or the stage. Few younger people would sit still for all this tackiness, but - if they could - they'd see that "movies" were here to stay, and there was magic for the future. Kudos to all those prominent actors, but Ms. Hepburn stole the show - Brava ! I recommend this piece of filmic history to everyone - it gets a 15 -