Mrs. Brown
Encyclopedia
Mrs. Brown is a 1997 British drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...

 starring Judi Dench
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...

, Billy Connolly
Billy Connolly
William "Billy" Connolly, Jr., CBE is a Scottish comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname The Big Yin...

, Geoffrey Palmer
Geoffrey Palmer (actor)
Geoffrey Dyson Palmer, OBE is an English actor, best known for his roles in sitcoms such as Butterflies and As Time Goes By.-Career:...

, Antony Sher
Antony Sher
Sir Antony Sher, KBE is a double Olivier Award winning South African-born British actor, writer, theatre director and painter.- Early years :...

 and Gerard Butler
Gerard Butler
Gerard James Butler is a Scottish actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television. A trained lawyer, Butler turned to acting in the mid-1990s with small roles in productions such as the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies , which he followed with steady work on television, most notably in...

. It was written by Jeremy Brock
Jeremy Brock
Jeremy Brock is an English actor, producer, writer, fisher and director whose works include the screenplays Mrs. Brown, Driving Lessons, Last King of Scotland, and Charlotte Gray....

 and directed by John Madden
John Madden (director)
John Philip Madden is an English director of theatre, film, television, and radio.- Biography :Madden was educated at Clifton College. He was in the same house as friend and fellow director Roger Michell. He began his career in British independent films, and graduated from the University of...

.

The film was produced by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 and Ecosse Films
Ecosse Films
Ecosse Films is a British film and television production company based in London. Ecosse Films is a multi award-winning company, specialising in high-quality drama for film and television, producing 11 films and over 300 hours of network television for BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Showtime, Starz Channel...

 with the intention of being shown on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...

 and on WGBH
WGBH-TV
WGBH-TV, channel 2, is a non-commercial educational public television station located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. WGBH-TV is a member station of the Public Broadcasting Service , and produces more than two-thirds of PBS's national prime time television programming...

's Masterpiece Theatre
Masterpiece Theatre
Masterpiece is a drama anthology television series produced by WGBH Boston. It premiered on Public Broadcasting Service on January 10, 1971, making it America's longest-running weekly prime time drama series. The series has presented numerous acclaimed British productions...

. However, it was acquired by Miramax and released to unexpected success, going on to earn more than $13,000,000 worldwide.

The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's Official Selection. It is run at the Salle Debussy, parallel to the competition for the Palme d'Or.This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob...

 section at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival
1997 Cannes Film Festival
-Jury:*Isabelle Adjani *Gong Li *Mira Sorvino *Paul Auster *Tim Burton *Luc Bondy *Patrick Dupond *Mike Leigh *Nanni Moretti *Michael Ondaatje -Feature film competition:...

. Dench was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...

, but lost to Helen Hunt
Helen Hunt
Helen Elizabeth Hunt is an American actress, film director, and screenwriter. She starred in the sitcom Mad About You for seven years, before being cast in the romantic comedy As Good as It Gets...

 for her role in As Good as It Gets
As Good as It Gets
As Good as It Gets is a 1997 American romantic comedy film directed by James L. Brooks and produced by Laura Ziskin. It stars Jack Nicholson as a misanthropic, obsessive-compulsive novelist, Helen Hunt as a single mother with an asthmatic son, and Greg Kinnear as a gay artist. The screenplay was...

opposite Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...

.

Synopsis

Several screens of text giving some background are shown before a bust is shown flying over a palace wall and shattering into countless pieces.

The film shows the story of a bereaved Queen Victoria (portrayed by Judi Dench
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...

) and her relationship with a Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 servant, John Brown
John Brown (servant)
John Brown was a Scottish personal servant and favourite of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom for many years. He was appreciated by many for his competence and companionship, and resented by others for his influence and informal manner...

 (played by Billy Connolly
Billy Connolly
William "Billy" Connolly, Jr., CBE is a Scottish comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname The Big Yin...

), and the subsequent uproar it provoked. Brown had been a trusted servant of Victoria's then deceased and beloved Prince Consort, Prince Albert; Victoria's chief servants thought Brown might help to ease an inconsolable Queen since the Prince Consort's death in 1861. In 1863, hoping to subtly coax the Queen toward resuming public life after years of seclusion, Mr. Brown is summoned to court.

The plan succeeds a little too well for the servants' liking, especially Victoria's chief secretary Sir Henry Ponsonby
Henry Ponsonby
Sir Henry Frederick Ponsonby GCB was a British soldier and royal court official who served as Queen Victoria's Private Secretary.-Biography:He was the son of the British Army general, Sir Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby....

 (played by Geoffrey Palmer
Geoffrey Palmer (actor)
Geoffrey Dyson Palmer, OBE is an English actor, best known for his roles in sitcoms such as Butterflies and As Time Goes By.-Career:...

) and The Prince of Wales
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...

 (played by David Westhead
David Westhead
David Westhead is a British actor. He is notable as having been a member of the regular cast of Criminal Justice, Life Begins, The Lakes and The Time of Your Life...

) as well as other members of the Royal family
British Royal Family
The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...

; the public, press and politicians soon come to resent Brown's perceived influence over the queen. Brown takes considerable liberties with court protocol, especially by addressing Her Majesty as "woman". He also quickly takes control over the Queen's daily activities, further aggravating the tensions between himself and the royal family and servants.

The moniker "Mrs. Brown", used both at the time and in the film, implied an improper, and perhaps sexual, relationship. The film does not directly address the contemporary suspicions that the Queen and Brown had had a sexual relationship and perhaps had even secretly married (see the article on Brown
John Brown (servant)
John Brown was a Scottish personal servant and favourite of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom for many years. He was appreciated by many for his competence and companionship, and resented by others for his influence and informal manner...

), though cartoons from the satirical magazine Punch
Punch (magazine)
Punch, or the London Charivari was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and engraver Ebenezer Landells. Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 50s, when it helped to coin the term "cartoon" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration...

are shown as being passed around in Parliament (only one of the cartoons is revealed to the camera, showing an empty throne, with the sceptre lying unhanded across it).

As a result of Victoria's virtual recluse, especially at Balmoral Castle
Balmoral Castle
Balmoral Castle is a large estate house in Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is located near the village of Crathie, west of Ballater and east of Braemar. Balmoral has been one of the residences of the British Royal Family since 1852, when it was purchased by Queen Victoria and her...

 in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, something initially encouraged by Brown, her popularity is failing and there is a growing rise in republican
Republicanism
Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context...

 sentiment. Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...

 Benjamin Disraeli (Antony Sher
Antony Sher
Sir Antony Sher, KBE is a double Olivier Award winning South African-born British actor, writer, theatre director and painter.- Early years :...

) has a weakening hold over the House of Commons and a fear of rising anti-monarchical sentiment in the country. He persuades Brown to use his influence with the Queen and persuade her to return to the performance of her public duties, especially the speech from the throne
Speech from the Throne
A speech from the throne is an event in certain monarchies in which the reigning sovereign reads a prepared speech to a complete session of parliament, outlining the government's agenda for the coming session...

 at the impending opening of Parliament.

Brown is reluctant to do so, rightly fearing that Victoria will take this as a personal betrayal. When Brown urges Victoria to return to London and fulfill her public duties, an argument ensues. Feeling betrayed by Brown, the Queen becomes enraged. She can't believe what she is hearing. When Brown once again refers to her as "woman", she sharply rebukes him. Leaving the room, she turns to Ponsonby and Jenner requesting that they serve her needs, clearly reducing Mr. Brown's contact and influence over her. Their relationship was never to be the same again.

The Queen's eventual acquiescence and her decision to return to public life eventually leads to a revitalization of her popularity and a resurgence in public support of the monarchy.

Brown continues to serve Queen Victoria, until his death in 1883. In his final years, his duties become reduced to head of security. The palace staff has become weary of Brown's dogmatic ways and they mock and rebuke his security efforts as paranoid delusions. Finally, during a public event, a gun wielding assassin appears out of the crowd leaping toward the royal family. An ever vigilant Mr. Brown successfully thwarts the assassination attempt. At dinner the next evening, the Prince of Wales retells the story, bragging to their dinner companions that he had been the one to warn Brown of the assassin. Seeing through her son's bragging, the Queen announces instead that a special medal for bravery, the "Devoted Service Medal," will be minted and awarded to Mr. Brown.

Some years later, Mr. Brown becomes gravely ill with pneumonia after chasing through the woods late at night searching for a possible intruder. Hearing of Brown's illness, the Queen visits Mr. Brown's room and is visibly shaken to see her old friend so ill. Placing a cool damp cloth against Brown's fevered brow, she confesses that she has not been as good a friend as she might have been in recent years. It is clear that her apology is accepted by Brown. The pneumonia proves fatal for Brown and he passes away.

During his years of service, Mr. Brown has kept a diary and upon his passing, Ponsonby and Dr. Jenner discuss its contents stating that it must never be seen by anyone. Holding the diary at his side, Ponsonby walks away and it's implied that the diary will be destroyed or will disappear.

Dr. Jenner also reveals that the Prince of Wales has hurled the Queen's favorite bust of Mr. Brown up and over the "palace wall", referring us back to the film's opening sequence.

The film's closing crawl informs us that: "John Brown's diary was never found."

Cast

  • Judi Dench
    Judi Dench
    Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...

     as Queen Victoria
  • Billy Connolly
    Billy Connolly
    William "Billy" Connolly, Jr., CBE is a Scottish comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname The Big Yin...

     as John Brown
    John Brown (servant)
    John Brown was a Scottish personal servant and favourite of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom for many years. He was appreciated by many for his competence and companionship, and resented by others for his influence and informal manner...

  • Geoffrey Palmer
    Geoffrey Palmer (actor)
    Geoffrey Dyson Palmer, OBE is an English actor, best known for his roles in sitcoms such as Butterflies and As Time Goes By.-Career:...

     as Henry Ponsonby
    Henry Ponsonby
    Sir Henry Frederick Ponsonby GCB was a British soldier and royal court official who served as Queen Victoria's Private Secretary.-Biography:He was the son of the British Army general, Sir Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby....

  • Antony Sher
    Antony Sher
    Sir Antony Sher, KBE is a double Olivier Award winning South African-born British actor, writer, theatre director and painter.- Early years :...

     as Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli
  • Gerard Butler
    Gerard Butler
    Gerard James Butler is a Scottish actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television. A trained lawyer, Butler turned to acting in the mid-1990s with small roles in productions such as the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies , which he followed with steady work on television, most notably in...

     as Archie Brown
  • David Westhead
    David Westhead
    David Westhead is a British actor. He is notable as having been a member of the regular cast of Criminal Justice, Life Begins, The Lakes and The Time of Your Life...

     as Bertie/Prince of Wales
    Edward VII of the United Kingdom
    Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...

  • Bridget McConnell as Lady Ely
    Jane Loftus, Marchioness of Ely
    Jane Loftus , Marchioness of Ely was an English lady of the bedchamber and a close friend of Queen Victoria. Her parents were James Hope-Vere and Lady Elizabeth Hay, and through her mother she was a cousin of Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington...

  • Georgie Glen
    Georgie Glen
    Georgie Glen is a prolific British actress, best known for her stage and television work. Her most notable role is as Hannah More in the 2006 film Amazing Grace. She plays John Ruskin's mother in the drama Desperate Romantics about the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood...

     as Lady Churchill
    Jane Spencer, Baroness Churchill
    Jane Spencer, Baroness Churchill, VA , born Lady Jane Conyngham, daughter of the Earl of Mount Charles , married, on 19 May 1849, the Francis Spencer, 2nd Baron Churchill, at Bifrons House, Kent.From 1854 to her death, Lady Churchill was a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria...

  • Catherine O'Donnell as Lady in waiting
    Elizabeth Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington
    Elizabeth, Duchess of Wellington was born Lady Elizabeth Hay, a daughter of the eighth Marquess of Tweeddale. One of her brothers was the ornithologist Viscount Walden, and another the Admiral of the Fleet Lord John Hay...

  • Sara Stewart
    Sara Stewart
    Sara Stewart is a Scottish actress, perhaps most famously known for her role as Stella in Sugar Rush.-Early life:Stewart was born Sara Scott Griffith in Edinburgh, Scotland, to American parents...

     as Princess Alexandra
    Alexandra of Denmark
    Alexandra of Denmark was the wife of Edward VII of the United Kingdom...

  • Finty Williams
    Finty Williams
    Tara Cressida Frances Williams is an English actress who performs under the name Finty Williams....

     as Princess Helena
    Princess Helena of the United Kingdom
    Princess Helena was a member of the British Royal Family, the third daughter and fifth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert....

  • Claire Nicolson as Princess Louise
    Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll
    The Princess Louise was a member of the British Royal Family, the sixth child and fourth daughter of Queen Victoria and her husband, Albert, Prince Consort.Louise's early life was spent moving between the various royal residences in the...

  • Hattie Ladbury as Princess Alice
    Princess Alice of the United Kingdom
    The Princess Alice was a member of the British royal family, the third child and second daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.Alice's education was devised by Albert's close friend and adviser, Baron Stockmar...

  • Oliver Kent as Prince Alfred
    Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
    Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was the third Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and reigned from 1893 to 1900. He was also a member of the British Royal Family, the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha...

  • Alex Menzies as Prince Arthur
    Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
    Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn was a member of the shared British and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha royal family who served as the Governor General of Canada, the 10th since Canadian Confederation.Born the seventh child and third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and...

  • Simon McKerrell as Prince Leopold
    Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany
    The Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany was the eighth child and fourth son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Leopold was later created Duke of Albany, Earl of Clarence, and Baron Arklow...

  • Jason Morell as Lord Stanley
    Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby
    Frederick Arthur Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby KG, GCB, GCVO, PC , known as Frederick Stanley until 1886 and as Lord Stanley of Preston between 1886 and 1893, was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom who served as Colonial Secretary from 1885 to 1886 and the sixth Governor General...

  • Cherith Mellor as Mary Anne Disraeli
  • George Hall
    George Hall (actor)
    George Hall was a theater, TV, and film actor best remembered by his role as the 93 year old Indiana Jones in the TV series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles . He debuted on Broadway in 1946. He had a memorable and engaging role as Mr...

     as Speaker of the House of Commons
    Speaker of the House of Commons
    Speaker of the House of Commons can refer to:*Speaker of the House of Commons *Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada*Speaker of the Northern Ireland House of Commons...

  • Oliver Ford Davies
    Oliver Ford Davies
    -Biography:From the King's School, Canterbury, he won a scholarship to Merton College, Oxford, where he read History and became President of the Oxford University Dramatic Society . He was awarded the Laurence Olivier Award in 1990 for Best Actor in a New Play for Racing Demon...

     as Dean of Windsor
    Gerald Valerian Wellesley
    Gerald Valerian Wellesley was a Church of England clergyman who became dean of Windsor.-Family:...

  • James Vaughan as Sir Charles Dilke
    Sir Charles Dilke, 2nd Baronet
    Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, 2nd Baronet PC was an English Liberal and reformist politician. Touted as a future prime minister, his aspirations to higher political office were effectively terminated in 1885, after a notorious and well-publicised divorce case.-Background and education:Dilke was the...


Awards and nominations

Dame Judi Dench
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...

  • nominated, Academy Award (US) for Best Actress in a Leading Role
  • winner, BAFTA Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
  • winner, BAFTA Scotland
    BAFTA Scotland
    BAFTA in Scotland is the Scottish branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Formed in 1997, the branch holds an annual awards ceremony, the British Academy Scotland Awards , to recognise achievement by performers and production staff in Scottish film, television and video games...

     Award for Best Actress in a Film
  • winner, Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
  • nominated, Screen Actors' Guild (SAG) Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role


Billy Connolly
Billy Connolly
William "Billy" Connolly, Jr., CBE is a Scottish comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname The Big Yin...

  • nominated, Screen Actors' Guild (SAG) Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
  • nominated, BAFTA Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
  • nominated, BAFTA Scotland
    BAFTA Scotland
    BAFTA in Scotland is the Scottish branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Formed in 1997, the branch holds an annual awards ceremony, the British Academy Scotland Awards , to recognise achievement by performers and production staff in Scottish film, television and video games...

     Award for Best Actor in a Film


Others
  • winner, BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design, Deirdre Clancy
  • nominated, BAFTA Award for Best Film
  • nominated, Alexander Korda
    Alexander Korda
    Sir Alexander Korda was a Hungarian-born British producer and film director. He was a leading figure in the British film industry, the founder of London Films and the owner of British Lion Films, a film distributing company.-Life and career:The elder brother of filmmakers Zoltán Korda and Vincent...

     Award for Best British Film (also BAFTA)
  • nominated, Academy Award for Makeup

See also

Films about Queen Victoria
  • The Young Victoria
    The Young Victoria
    The Young Victoria is a 2009 period drama film based on the early life and reign of Queen Victoria, and her marriage to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The film was directed by Jean-Marc Vallée and written by screenwriter Julian Fellowes. Graham King, Martin Scorsese, Sarah, Duchess of...

  • Victoria & Albert (TV serial)
    Victoria & Albert (TV serial)
    Victoria & Albert is a 2001 British-US historical television serial. It focused on the early life and marriage of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The series starred Victoria Hamilton as Victoria, Jonathan Firth as Prince Albert and Peter Ustinov as King William IV. It was directed by John Ermant....

  • Victoria the Great
    Victoria the Great
    Victoria the Great is a 1937 British historical film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Anton Walbrook and Walter Rilla. The film biography of Queen Victoria concentrating initially on the early years of her reign with her marriage to Prince Albert and her subsequent rule after...


External links

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