Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 1973


Bequest to the Nation (film)

Buy Bequest to the Nation (film) now from Amazon

First, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.

Wikipedia article




'Bequest to the Nation' is a 1973 British historical drama film directed by James Cellan Jones and starring Glenda Jackson, Peter Finch, Michael Jayston and Margaret Leighton. It is based on the 1970 Terence Rattigan play 'A Bequest to the Nation'. In the United States, it was released as 'The Nelson Affair'.

Plot summary



The film depicts the relationship between Admiral Lord Nelson and his mistress, Lady Hamilton, during the Napoleonic Wars plus others they would meet, including Nelson's nephew, George Matcham Jr.

Much of the story takes place at Merton Place, Nelson & Hamilton's estate, before Nelson's heading out to sea for the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar.

Cast





Critical reception



'The New York Times' found the film "thoroughly genteel", and wrote that Rattigan's dialogue was written "in the manner of someone regurgitating the cadences of a 19th-century schoolgirl's diary... Peter Finch plays Lord Nelson with a reserved passion that seems intelligently thought out but is not terribly interesting to watch, while Glenda Jackson seems to go at Lady Hamilton from the opposite direction." 'Sky Cinema' found the film "remarkable for the handsome Technicolor photography of Gerry Fisher and the brilliant production design of Carmen Dillon. There are some touching moments, notably those involving Margaret Leighton as Lady Nelson, and vivid climactic battle scenes. However, the two principals are not very well cast, and while Peter Finch struggles gamely to erase memories of Olivier's version of the role, Miss Jackson responds by stridently over-playing her hand as a sluttish Emma"; and 'Time Out' wrote, "Histrionics apart, you come out wondering whether it really matters."

Locations



Lansdown Crescent, Bath

References




Buy Bequest to the Nation (film) now from Amazon

<-- Return to movies from 1973



This work is released under CC-BY-SA. Some or all of this content attributed to http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1108487283.