Nelson & His World

I picked up this little titbit on a website - but I'm struggling to decide if it is true or not.

It is reported on that website that when Alexander Korda's film was released in 1941:



The details seem very precise, so I am inclined to believe it, but I thought this was a British film - not Hollywood.

Or had Korda and all the actors decamped to the U.S?

I suppose that is quite possible??

MB

There's some information here that might be useful. It seems Korda was pursuing production possibilities in Hollywood away from war-ravaged Britain.

http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article.js ... eId=218568

The details of the sea scenes are amusing - Vivien Leigh on sea-sickness pills!

Nelson/Olivier's make up for this film was very skilled. The right eye looked rather milky. I suppose an opaque contact lens was used. It was very convincing.

Mark,

As far as I am aware, the film is only now known and sold under its American title, 'That Hamilton Woman', the British one having been 'Lady Hamilton'.

The reverse of my copy of the DVD says, 'Shot in just six weeks in Los Angeles, Korda's first directional effort since 'Rembrant' is an appealing mix of high drama and romance which succeeded with the critics and audiences alike. Politically the film also made an impact on both sides of the Atlantic. In the UK Churchill decided it was his favourite film while the American Senate decided it was mere propaganda and subpoenaed Korda to appear before them, along with Chaplin and Hitchcock, on the Suspicion of being British Agents.'

It's worthwhile also looking at the film's entry in the Internet Movie Data Base: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034272/

By the way, the model for the Victory used in the film is now at Chatham Historic Dockyard – or it was in 2003, when I went there with the Nelson Society and we had a talk about it from Peter Goodwin.

So it's obviously quite true then.

Thanks very much for your help with that.

The IMDB website shows 3 studios - one in England and two in Hollywood.

I was wondering how come the model of the Victory is in Chatham. But it makes sense now that the film that includes the model was most likely shot in England - Denham Studios in Bucks.

Sorry to go off topic here. But it always catches my attention when I see Gladys Cooper's name (playing Lady Nelson). Some while ago I "inherited" a collection of postcards of Gladys Cooper. They date back to around the 1920's when she was a poplular stage actress and postcard mania was at it's height.

She had a very characteristic face with quite a square jaw line.

This is not one of mine - but below I posted a really fantastic image of her that I took from the internet.

Quite a rival for Vivienne Leigh in this picture.

And history might have run a different course if Fanny had truly looked like this!!



MB

Here's are two photos of the model used in the film, and on display at Chatham:

http://www.chdt.org.uk/Museum_of_the_Ro ... llery.html

As you can see, its 'big' and reasonably accurate, although I believe Peter Goodwin noted some things not quite right!

I can't remember how she came to be there, but it's certainly the best place for her. Obviously she came originally from the Denham studios and I imagine she might have been in storage. I think the staff at Chatham think its the next best thing to having their old full-size ship back - which I gather they believe Portsmouth stole!

Mark:

I thought you might be interested in this snippet I came across about 'That Hamilton Woman':

'Churchill adored the film. And why not? Churchill himself wrote Nelson's stirring speech on why Bonaparte should be resisted.'


from 'Churchill's Wizards: the British Genius for Deception 1914-1945' by Nicholas Rankin.

I wonder if Churchill got a cut of the royalties?