Young Bess (1953)

The mother died under the executioners axe the daughter rose to become Englands greatest monarch the brilliant and cunning Queen Elizabeth I Jean Simmons portrays young Bess in this rich tapestry of a film that traces the tumultuous dangerfraught years from Elizabeths birth to her unexpected ascension to the throne at a mere 25 Charles Laughton reprises his Academy Awardwinning role as her formidable father Henry VIII Deborah Kerr plays her last stepmother and Henrys last of six wives gentle Catherine Parr And Simmons then reallife husband Stewart Granger adds heroics as Lord Admiral Thomas Seymour In a resplendent world of adventure romance and court intrigue Young Bess reigns