Close that history book and settle back for Hollywood's version of the childhood and first great romance of Queen Elizabeth I. Never mind the facts, there's a feast of good acting on show here, from Jean Simmons as the rebellious Bess, Charles Laughton repeating his Oscar-winning triumph of 20 years before as Henry VIII, Deborah Kerr as a dignified and kindly Catherine Parr, Guy Rolfe and Kathleen Byron as nasty as you could wish as Bess's enemies and young Rex Thompson, endearingly first-class as Edward VI the boy king. Stewart Granger's in it too. Thanks to Charles Rosher's rich Technicolor camerawork, one of the earliest examples of photography making scenes look like old paintings, it's also one of the best-looking films MGM ever made.

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