The Sword and the Rose
Encyclopedia
The Sword and the Rose, is a United States
family and adventure film, produced by Perce Pearce
and Walt Disney
and directed by Ken Annakin
. The film features the story of Mary Tudor
, a younger sister of Henry VIII of England
.
Based on the 1898
novel When Knighthood Was in Flower by Charles Major
, it was originally made into a motion picture in 1908 and again in 1922. The 1953 Disney version was adapted for the screen by Lawrence Edward Watkin
. The film was shot at Denham Film Studios
and was the third of Disney's British productions after Treasure Island
(1950) and The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men
(1952). In 1956, it was broadcast on American television
in two parts under the original book title.
. She convinces her brother King Henry VIII to make him his Captain of the Guard
. Meanwhile, Henry is determined to marry her off to the aging King Louis XII of France
as part of a peace agreement. Mary's longtime suitor the Duke of Buckingham
takes a dislike to Charles as he is a commoner and the Duke wants Mary for himself. However, troubled by his feelings for the princess, Brandon resigns and decides to sail to the New World
. Against the advice of her lady-in-waiting Lady Margaret, Mary dresses up like a boy and follows Brandon to Bristol
. Henry's men find them and throw Brandon in the Tower of London
. King Henry agrees to spare his life if Mary will marry King Louis and tells her that when Louis dies she is free to marry whoever she wants. Meanwhile, Mary asks the Duke of Buckingham for help but he only pretends to help Brandon escape from the Tower, really planning to have him killed while escaping. The Duke thinks he is drowned in the Thames, but he survives.
Mary marries King Louis and encourages him to drink to excess and be active so that his already deteriorating health worsens. His heir Francis
makes it clear that he will not return Mary to England after the king's death, but keep her for himself. When she goes to him for help, the Duke of Buckingham tells Lady Margaret that Brandon is dead and decides to go "rescue" Mary himself. Lady Margaret discovers that Brandon is alive and learning of the Duke's treachery they hurry back to France. Louis dies and the Duke of Buckingham arrives in France to bring Mary back to England. He tells her that Brandon is dead and tries to force her to marry him. Charles arrives in time, rescues her and kills the Duke. Mary and Brandon are married and remind Henry of his promise to let her pick her second husband. He forgives them and makes Charles Duke of Suffolk
.
At the beginning of production, Annakin and Dillon went to Burbank, Disney Studios in order to develop the script and set the stage with storyboards, a technique used by Annakin on production of Robin Hood . During this step, each time a batch of storyboards was finished, it was presented to Walt Disney who commented and brought his personal touch. Annakin was granted great freedom with the dialogue.
Walt Disney came to oversee the production of the film in the UK from June to September 1952. The team spent several months researching period details to make the film more realistic. Working in pre-production had helped reduce the need for natural settings in favor of studio sets designed by Peter Ellenshaw. Ellenshaw painted sets for 62 different scenes in total. According to Leonard Maltin, Ellenshaw's work was such that it is sometimes impossible to tell where the painting ends and reality begins.
The film's budget exceeded that of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men, but earned only $2.5 million. The film was serialized in the show The Wonderful World of Disney.
(1940) although it remains primarily a dramatic entertainment featuring costumed actors. However, it was greeted coolly in the UK mainly because of its historical approximations despite reviews from The Times that said that Mary had "remarkably alive moments" and James Robertson Justice's King Henry had "a royal air". On the other side of the Atlantic in the United States the New York Times reviewed the film as "a time consuming tangle of mild satisfaction". Despite these criticisms, the team responsible for the film was reassembled for another film Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue
.
Peter Ellenshaw's work on set allowed him to get a "lifetime contract" with the Disney studio. He moved to the United States after the shooting of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
(1954).
Douglas Brode draws a parallel between The Sword and the Rose and Lady and the Tramp
(then in production) in which two female characters of noble lineage are enamored of a poor male character, a relationship similar to that of Zorro
and Senorita Elena Torres Zorro.
Steven Watts sees The Sword and the Rose and Rob Roy as showing the Disney studio's concern for individual liberty fighting against powerful social structures and governments. He is joined in this opinion by Douglas Brode. Brode sees the film and the ball scene, not as a conservative, but as an incentive to "dance crazes" (as the twist
) for the American youth of the 1950s and 1960s. The ballroom dancing bears more resemblance to a dance competition in the 1950s than to a minuet
of pre-Elizabethan England. Brode sees a form of rebel involvement. The proximity of the dancers, and rhythms not resemble the flip is introduced to the court by Mary Tudor near the rebellious teenager. Moreover, Henry VIII took advantage of the proximity afforded by this dance to flirt with a young lady of his court. Brode cites the reply of Mary to the older Catherine of Aragon who is shocked by this dance: "Shall I not have what music and dances I like at my own ball?". Brode said that two years later rock and roll
would similarly upset the American nation.
from Henry in 1513. Furthermore, the couple's aborted attempt to sail to the New World never happened. It was Brandon and not the Duke of Buckingham who escorted Mary back to England after the death of Louis. The Duke's involvement is purely fictitious and his wife Eleanor Percy
is eliminated entirely from the story.
King Henry is portrayed as a middle aged and corpulent figure, although at the time he was only 23. His wife Catherine of Aragon
is also shown as a brunette although she was blonde.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
family and adventure film, produced by Perce Pearce
Perce Pearce
Perce Pearce was a producer, director, and writer born 1900 and died 4 July 1955.- As producer :* 1946 : Song of the South* 1948 : So Dear to My Heart* 1950 : Treasure Island* 1952 : The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men...
and Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
and directed by Ken Annakin
Ken Annakin
Kenneth Cooper Annakin, OBE was an English film director.- Biography :Annakin grew up in Beverley, Yorkshire where he attended the local school. He began his career in feature films following an early experience making documentaries. His first filmwork was in 1947 with the Rank Organisation...
. The film features the story of Mary Tudor
Mary Tudor (queen consort of France)
Mary Tudor was the younger sister of King Henry VIII of England and queen consort of France through her marriage to Louis XII. The latter was more than 30 years her senior. Following his death, which occurred less than two months after her coronation as his third wife, she married Charles Brandon,...
, a younger sister of Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
.
Based on the 1898
1898 in literature
The year 1898 in literature involved some significant new books.-New books:*Elizabeth von Arnim - Elizabeth and Her German Garden*F. W. Bain - A Digit of the Moon*L...
novel When Knighthood Was in Flower by Charles Major
Charles Major
Charles Major was an American lawyer and novelist.Born to an upper-middle class Indianapolis family, Major developed an interest in both law and English history at an early age and attended the University of Michigan from 1872 through 1875, being admitted to the Indiana bar association in 1877...
, it was originally made into a motion picture in 1908 and again in 1922. The 1953 Disney version was adapted for the screen by Lawrence Edward Watkin
Lawrence Edward Watkin
Lawrence Edward Watkin was an American author and scriptwriter. He has become known especially as a scriptwriter for a series of Walt Disney films of the 1950s....
. The film was shot at Denham Film Studios
Denham Film Studios
Denham Film Studios were a British film production studio operating from 1936 to 1952.The studios were founded by Alexander Korda, on a 165 acre site near the village of Denham, Buckinghamshire. At the time it was the largest facility of its kind in the UK, but it was merged with Rank's Pinewood...
and was the third of Disney's British productions after Treasure Island
Treasure Island (1950 film)
Treasure Island is a 1950 Disney adventure film, adapted from the Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island. It starred Bobby Driscoll as Jim Hawkins, and Robert Newton as Long John Silver...
(1950) and The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men
The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men
The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men is a 1952 live action Disney version of the Robin Hood story in Technicolor which was filmed in Buckinghamshire, England...
(1952). In 1956, it was broadcast on American television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
in two parts under the original book title.
Plot
Mary Tudor falls in love with a new arrival to court, Charles BrandonCharles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk
Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, 1st Viscount Lisle, KG was the son of Sir William Brandon and Elizabeth Bruyn. Through his third wife Mary Tudor he was brother-in-law to Henry VIII. His father was the standard-bearer of Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond and was slain by Richard III in person at...
. She convinces her brother King Henry VIII to make him his Captain of the Guard
Captain of the Guard
The Captain of the Guard is the commanding position of a military security force. The position of Captain of the Guard is not or no longer associated with the rank of Captain. The Guard is commonly associated with bodyguard duty for royalty or head of state, but the Guard can refer to the military...
. Meanwhile, Henry is determined to marry her off to the aging King Louis XII of France
Louis XII of France
Louis proved to be a popular king. At the end of his reign the crown deficit was no greater than it had been when he succeeded Charles VIII in 1498, despite several expensive military campaigns in Italy. His fiscal reforms of 1504 and 1508 tightened and improved procedures for the collection of taxes...
as part of a peace agreement. Mary's longtime suitor the Duke of Buckingham
Duke of Buckingham
The titles Marquess and Duke of Buckingham, referring to Buckingham, have been created several times in the peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. There have also been Earls of Buckingham.-1444 creation:...
takes a dislike to Charles as he is a commoner and the Duke wants Mary for himself. However, troubled by his feelings for the princess, Brandon resigns and decides to sail to the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
. Against the advice of her lady-in-waiting Lady Margaret, Mary dresses up like a boy and follows Brandon to Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
. Henry's men find them and throw Brandon in the Tower of London
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
. King Henry agrees to spare his life if Mary will marry King Louis and tells her that when Louis dies she is free to marry whoever she wants. Meanwhile, Mary asks the Duke of Buckingham for help but he only pretends to help Brandon escape from the Tower, really planning to have him killed while escaping. The Duke thinks he is drowned in the Thames, but he survives.
Mary marries King Louis and encourages him to drink to excess and be active so that his already deteriorating health worsens. His heir Francis
Francis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
makes it clear that he will not return Mary to England after the king's death, but keep her for himself. When she goes to him for help, the Duke of Buckingham tells Lady Margaret that Brandon is dead and decides to go "rescue" Mary himself. Lady Margaret discovers that Brandon is alive and learning of the Duke's treachery they hurry back to France. Louis dies and the Duke of Buckingham arrives in France to bring Mary back to England. He tells her that Brandon is dead and tries to force her to marry him. Charles arrives in time, rescues her and kills the Duke. Mary and Brandon are married and remind Henry of his promise to let her pick her second husband. He forgives them and makes Charles Duke of Suffolk
Duke of Suffolk
Duke of Suffolk is a title that has been created three times in British history, all three times in the Peerage of England.The third creation of the dukedom of Suffolk was for Henry Grey, 3rd Marquess of Dorset, in 1551. The duke also held the title Baron Ferrers of Groby...
.
Cast
- Mary TudorMary Tudor (queen consort of France)Mary Tudor was the younger sister of King Henry VIII of England and queen consort of France through her marriage to Louis XII. The latter was more than 30 years her senior. Following his death, which occurred less than two months after her coronation as his third wife, she married Charles Brandon,...
- Glynis JohnsGlynis JohnsGlynis Johns is a South African-born Welsh stage and film actress, dancer, pianist and singer . With a career spanning seven decades, Johns is often cited as the "complete actress", who happens to be a trained pianist and singer... - King Henry VIIIHenry VIII of EnglandHenry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
- James Robertson JusticeJames Robertson JusticeJames Robertson Justice was a popular British character actor in British films of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.-Biography:... - Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of SuffolkCharles Brandon, 1st Duke of SuffolkCharles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, 1st Viscount Lisle, KG was the son of Sir William Brandon and Elizabeth Bruyn. Through his third wife Mary Tudor he was brother-in-law to Henry VIII. His father was the standard-bearer of Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond and was slain by Richard III in person at...
- Richard ToddRichard ToddRichard Todd OBE was an Irish-born British stage and film actor and soldier.-Early life:Richard Todd was born as Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd in Dublin, Ireland. His father, Andrew William Palethorpe Todd, was an Irish physician and an international Irish rugby player who gained three caps for... - Duke of BuckinghamEdward Stafford, 3rd Duke of BuckinghamEdward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, KG was an English nobleman. He was the son of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and the former Lady Catherine Woodville, daughter of the 1st Earl Rivers and sister-in-law of King Edward IV.-Early life:Stafford was born at Brecknock Castle in Wales...
- Michael GoughMichael GoughMichael Gough was an English character actor who appeared in over 150 films. He is perhaps best known to international audiences for his roles in the Hammer Horror films from 1958, and for his recurring role as Alfred Pennyworth in all four movies of the Burton/Schumacher Batman franchise,... - Lady Margaret - Jane Barrett
- Sir Edwin Caskoden - Peter CopleyPeter CopleyPeter Copley was a British television, film and stage actor.-Biography:Copley was born in Bushey, Hertfordshire, son of the printmakers, John Copley and Ethel Gabain....
- Lord Chamberlain - Ernest Jay
- Louis XIILouis XII of FranceLouis proved to be a popular king. At the end of his reign the crown deficit was no greater than it had been when he succeeded Charles VIII in 1498, despite several expensive military campaigns in Italy. His fiscal reforms of 1504 and 1508 tightened and improved procedures for the collection of taxes...
- Jean Mercure - Cardinal Wolsey - D. A. Clarke-SmithD. A. Clarke-SmithD. A. Clarke-Smith was a British actor.He was born on 2 August 1888 at Montrose, Scotland. He was educated at the University of Oxford, studying law and voice culture, and while there joined the Oxford University Dramatic Society. His stage career was interrupted by the First World War...
- Dauphin of France - Gérard OuryGérard OuryGérard Oury was a French film director, actor and writer. His real name was Max-Gérard Houry Tannenbaum.- A commercially successful French filmmaker :...
- DeLongueville - Fernand Fabre
- Antoine DupratAntoine DupratAntoine Duprat was a French Cardinal and politician, who was chancellor of France.-Life:Duprat was born in Issoire in Auvergne. Educated for the law, he won a high position in his profession and in 1507 became first president of the Parlement of Paris...
- Gaston Richer - Queen KatherineCatherine of AragonCatherine of Aragon , also known as Katherine or Katharine, was Queen consort of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII of England and Princess of Wales as the wife to Arthur, Prince of Wales...
- Rosalie CrutchleyRosalie CrutchleyRosalie Crutchley was an English actress. Trained at the Royal Academy of Music, Crutchley was best known for her television performances, but had a long and successful career in the theatre and in films, making her stage debut at least as early as 1932 and her screen debut in 1947... - Earl of SurreyEarl of SurreyThe Earl of Surrey is a title in the Peerage of England, and has been created five times. It was first created for William de Warenne, a close companion of William the Conqueror...
- Bryan ColemanBryan ColemanBryan Coleman was a British film actor and television actor.-Selected filmography:* A Window in London * Jassy * Landfall * The Lost Hours * The Planter's Wife... - Princess ClaudeClaude of FranceClaude of France was a princess and queen consort of France and ruling Duchess of Brittany. She was the eldest daughter of Louis XII of France and Anne, Duchess of Brittany....
- Helen Goss
Production
At the end of 1948, funds from Walt Disney Pictures stranded in foreign countries, including the United Kingdom, exceeded $ 8.5 million. Walt Disney decided to create a studio in Britain, Walt Disney British Films Ltd. or Walt Disney British Productions Ltd. in association with RKO Pictures and started production of Treasure Island (1950). With the success of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952), Disney wanted to keep the production team to make a second film; he chose The Sword and the Rose inspired by the novel When Knighthood Was in Flower (1898) by Charles Major. This team consisted of the director Ken Annakin, producer Douglas Pierce, writer Lawrence Edward Watkin, and the artistic director Carmen Dillon.At the beginning of production, Annakin and Dillon went to Burbank, Disney Studios in order to develop the script and set the stage with storyboards, a technique used by Annakin on production of Robin Hood . During this step, each time a batch of storyboards was finished, it was presented to Walt Disney who commented and brought his personal touch. Annakin was granted great freedom with the dialogue.
Walt Disney came to oversee the production of the film in the UK from June to September 1952. The team spent several months researching period details to make the film more realistic. Working in pre-production had helped reduce the need for natural settings in favor of studio sets designed by Peter Ellenshaw. Ellenshaw painted sets for 62 different scenes in total. According to Leonard Maltin, Ellenshaw's work was such that it is sometimes impossible to tell where the painting ends and reality begins.
The film's budget exceeded that of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men, but earned only $2.5 million. The film was serialized in the show The Wonderful World of Disney.
Analysis
Leonard Maltin surmised that The Sword and the Rose is historically equivalent to PinocchioPinocchio
The Adventures of Pinocchio is a novel for children by Italian author Carlo Collodi, written in Florence. The first half was originally a serial between 1881 and 1883, and then later completed as a book for children in February 1883. It is about the mischievous adventures of Pinocchio , an...
(1940) although it remains primarily a dramatic entertainment featuring costumed actors. However, it was greeted coolly in the UK mainly because of its historical approximations despite reviews from The Times that said that Mary had "remarkably alive moments" and James Robertson Justice's King Henry had "a royal air". On the other side of the Atlantic in the United States the New York Times reviewed the film as "a time consuming tangle of mild satisfaction". Despite these criticisms, the team responsible for the film was reassembled for another film Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue
Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue
Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue is a 1953 British-American action film, made by Walt Disney Productions. This film is about Robert Roy MacGregor. Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue is the final Disney film released through RKO....
.
Peter Ellenshaw's work on set allowed him to get a "lifetime contract" with the Disney studio. He moved to the United States after the shooting of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954 film)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a 1954 adventure film starring Kirk Douglas as Ned Land, James Mason as Captain Nemo, Paul Lukas as Professor Pierre Aronnax, and Peter Lorre as Conseil. It was the first science fiction film produced by Walt Disney Productions, as well as the only science-fiction...
(1954).
Douglas Brode draws a parallel between The Sword and the Rose and Lady and the Tramp
Lady and the Tramp
Lady and the Tramp is a 1955 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released to theaters on June 22, 1955, by Buena Vista Distribution. The fifteenth animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, it was the first animated feature filmed in the CinemaScope widescreen...
(then in production) in which two female characters of noble lineage are enamored of a poor male character, a relationship similar to that of Zorro
Zorro
Zorro is a fictional character created in 1919 by New York-based pulp writer Johnston McCulley. The character has been featured in numerous books, films, television series, and other media....
and Senorita Elena Torres Zorro.
Steven Watts sees The Sword and the Rose and Rob Roy as showing the Disney studio's concern for individual liberty fighting against powerful social structures and governments. He is joined in this opinion by Douglas Brode. Brode sees the film and the ball scene, not as a conservative, but as an incentive to "dance crazes" (as the twist
Twist
Twist may refer to:* Twist , a decorative piece of citrus zest* Twist , a comic by John Cook* Twist in screw theory in applied mathematics and physics* Twist , an American teen magazine...
) for the American youth of the 1950s and 1960s. The ballroom dancing bears more resemblance to a dance competition in the 1950s than to a minuet
Minuet
A minuet, also spelled menuet, is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in 3/4 time. The word was adapted from Italian minuetto and French menuet, and may have been from French menu meaning slender, small, referring to the very small steps, or from the early 17th-century popular...
of pre-Elizabethan England. Brode sees a form of rebel involvement. The proximity of the dancers, and rhythms not resemble the flip is introduced to the court by Mary Tudor near the rebellious teenager. Moreover, Henry VIII took advantage of the proximity afforded by this dance to flirt with a young lady of his court. Brode cites the reply of Mary to the older Catherine of Aragon who is shocked by this dance: "Shall I not have what music and dances I like at my own ball?". Brode said that two years later rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
would similarly upset the American nation.
Historical inaccuracies
There are many historical inaccuracies in the film. Charles Brandon was actually a childhood friend of King Henry and not a newcomer to court as is depicted in the film; he had already received the title of ViscountViscount
A viscount or viscountess is a member of the European nobility whose comital title ranks usually, as in the British peerage, above a baron, below an earl or a count .-Etymology:...
from Henry in 1513. Furthermore, the couple's aborted attempt to sail to the New World never happened. It was Brandon and not the Duke of Buckingham who escorted Mary back to England after the death of Louis. The Duke's involvement is purely fictitious and his wife Eleanor Percy
Eleanor Percy, Duchess of Buckingham
Eleanor Percy, Duchess of Buckingham , also known as Alianore, was a daughter of Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland by his wife Lady Maud Herbert, herself a daughter of the first Earl of Pembroke. She married Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, who was beheaded in 1521 on false charges of...
is eliminated entirely from the story.
King Henry is portrayed as a middle aged and corpulent figure, although at the time he was only 23. His wife Catherine of Aragon
Catherine of Aragon
Catherine of Aragon , also known as Katherine or Katharine, was Queen consort of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII of England and Princess of Wales as the wife to Arthur, Prince of Wales...
is also shown as a brunette although she was blonde.