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Katharine Hepburn, Fredric March, Florence Eldridge, Douglas Walton, John Carradine ... see more see more... , Robert H. Barrat , Gavin Muir , Ian Keith , Moroni Olsen , William Stack , Ralph Forbes , Alan Mowbray , Frieda Inescort , Donald Crisp , David Torrence , Molly Lamont , Anita Colby , Jean Fenwick , Lionel Pape , Alec Craig , Mary Gordon , Monte Blue , Leonard Mudie , Brandon Hurst , Wilfred Lucas , D'Arcy Corrigan , Frank Baker , Cyril McLaglen , Doris Lloyd , Robert Warwick , Murray Kinnell , Lawrence Grant , Ivan Simpson , Nigel De Brulier , Barlowe Borland , Walter Byron , Wyndham Standing , Earl Foxe , Paul McAllister , Lionel Belmore , Gaston Glass , Neil Fitzgerald , Robert E. Homans , Bobby Watson

Maxwell Anderson's blank-verse play Mary of Scotland was adapted for the screen by Dudley Nichols and directed with a surprising paucity of verve by John Ford. Katharine Hepburn, in one of the "icy" r... read more read more...oles that would later earn her the onus of "box office poison", stars as Mary Stuart, who serves as the Queen of Scotland until she is jealously put out of the way by her British cousin, Queen Elizabeth I (Florence Eldredge). Sold out by the Scots nobles, Mary is sentenced to the chopping block for treason. Elizabeth is willing to pardon Mary if only the latter will renounce all claims to the British throne, but Mary refuses, marching to her death with head held high (the Mary/Elizabeth confrontation scene was purely the product of Maxwell Anderson's imagination; in real life, the two women never met). RKO contractee Ginger Rogers dearly coveted the role of Queen Elizabeth, but the studio refused to allow her to play so secondary a role. To prove to the RKO executives that she would be ideal for the part, Ginger secretly arranged for a screen test, in which she was convincingly made up as Elizabeth (even to the point of cutting her hair into a high-foreheaded widow's peak). Contemporary reports indicate that Ginger's audition was brilliant; still, RKO would not consider casting her in the part, so the role of Elizabeth went to Florence Eldridge, the wife of Fredric March, who was cast in Mary of Scotland as Mary's fearless protector the Earl of Bothwell. On the whole, Mary of Scotland is a snoozefest, save for the scenes featuring Douglas Walton as Mary's cowardly husband Darnley. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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54% liked it

1,450 ratings

Unrated, 2 hr. 3 min.

Directed by: John Ford

Release Date: August 28, 1936

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DVD Release Date: June 6, 2006

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Flixster Reviews (57)

  • ajv2688
    September 20, 2010
    ajv2688
    This movie is very long, boring, and jumps around in time. It does have some humorous scenes, but the movie is mostly boring. The only thing I liked about the movie was Hepburn's performance, she's great as always, but the rest of the cast kind of glides through.
  • fb68600877
    January 23, 2012
    fb68600877
    Moderately interesting period piece that plays more like propaganda than anything else. I'm not really sure what Ford was going for here.
  • telb6
    September 4, 2007
    telb6
    This movie wasn't great by any means, but it is well worth it to see Kate in one of her early leading roles. Quite frankly, she never looked lovelier. March was great as her dapper, handsome Scottish hero. Florence Eldridge turned in a nice supporting role as the evil, hell-b... read moreent on destroying Mary, Elizabeth; altough the characterization of Elizabeth, at times, seemed a bit over the top. I'm not sure why this film didn't work. March (who, as always, looked quite lovely himself) and Hepburn are convincing in their only on-screen pairing. The film seems to lack direction, which is odd, considering John Ford directed it. Overall, this is worth a look. If anything, it's worth a look just for the on-screen greatness of March and Hepburn.

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Critic Reviews

October 18, 2008
Variety

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Frank S. Nugent
March 25, 2006
Frank S. Nugent, New York Times

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Derek Adams
June 24, 2006
Derek Adams, Time Out

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May 24, 2003
Film4

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