morrison-dylan-fan
After seeing some juicy screen-caps I started looking for a costume Drama that Michèle Mercier had made.Being unable to find any version other than a French edition with no English subtitles,I was happily caught by surprise,when a fellow IMDber kindly told me about a DVD on Amazon.com with the film on!,which led to me getting ready to finally meet Emma Hamilton.The plot:Working on the family farm, Emma Lyon dreams of entering high society.Trying to climb up the ladder,Lyon ends up working in a "courtesan" brothel.Taken by her grace at the brothel, Lord William Hamilton proposes to Lyon,which she agrees to,and leads to Emma becoming Lady Emma Lyon-Hamilton.As Emma enjoys finally living the high life,Lyon-Hamilton starts to fall in love for Horatio Nelson. View on the film:Before I get to the movie,I have to mention that for this English dubbed version,the DVD company deliver a terribly worn-down print,with the full screen print ruining a number of co- writer/(along with Jameson Brewer/Valeria Bonamano & Werner P. Zibaso)director Christian-Jaque's elegant shots.Listed as "cut" to 98 minutes on IMDb,the English dubbed editors cut the title down to 91 minutes with a sledgehammer,which along with cutting any sign of skin away,also leads to scenes being cut mid-conversation!Despite everything going against the movie,director Christian-Jaque & cinematographer Pierre Petit are still able to give the title a regal note,with Riz Ortolani's terrific score giving Jaque's sweeping shots a glamorous atmosphere.Whilst the dubbing editors stop the scenes from flowing freely,the fight scenes still have a rough and tumble edge,thanks to Christian-Jaque firing rapid tracking shots across the screen,as Horatio Nelson creates his legacy.Joined by a dashing Richard Johnson as Nelson and a worn-down John Mills as Lord William Hamilton,the stunning Nadjia Tiller gives a very good performance as Queen Caroline of Naples,who Tiller shows as being incredible naïve over the revolutions starting to gather steam.Looking ravishingly sexy in a white dress-style bikini, Michèle Mercier gives an excellent performance as Emma,with Mercier's expressive,wide-eyed face capturing Emma's desire to live in high society,and also Emma's yearning desire for Nelson,as Emma becomes Lady Hamilton.
Simon
No masterpiece in any respect, this film is a poor man's Angelique and not the best out of vast output of Christian-Jaque, but it is still quite enjoyable and fun to watch. I would still rate it higher than most of costume-dramas of contemporary Hollywood.Visually film is really nice to watch, story evolves in that light 60-ies manner, though the last , slightly "more serious" part drugs a bit. Several nice actors are present, especially worth to mention Michelle Mercier and Nadjia Tiller.I find Nadjia especially effective in this movie. She was a beautiful and talented actress and was definitely underused by film industry. Same goes for the main start of the film - It's a pity the fame of Michelle Mercier faded so quickly.
Stefan Kahrs
A strange film in some respects. It's the kind of film that managed to appear dated before it hit the cinema screen.For most of its running time it's a straight old-fashioned costume period drama in the style of the 1950s or early 1960s. Because it was made in 1969 the makers of the film felt the need to sex it up a little. So we get to see the odd semi-nude scene, and even a touch of lesbianism is thrown in. These additions are blatantly gratuitous and exploitative in the way they are presented, and thus they cross the line of the genre; but they are also so mild and half-hearted (by 1970s standards) that this effort could not be described as an exploitation film.
