Diagonaldi Very well executed

Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Fluentiama Perfect cast and a good story

MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant

vincentlynch-moonoi I didn't have high hopes for this film. It's not exactly my kind of film...not into movies that are very much related to the military. And, other than her exceptional portrayal of Scarlett O'Hara in "Gone With The Wind", I am not very enthusiastic about Vivien Leigh. Similarly, while I don't question his acting ability, I' not usually very enamored with Laurence Olivier in films. And, just to add one more factor, I'm usually not very impressed with films from the 1940s from Great Britian.HOWEVER, despite all those misgivings, I really enjoyed this film!First, from some light reading that I did about about the two lead characters -- Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton -- it appears this biographical film is more faithful to the truth than are many such films. Bonus points there.The film concentrates on the relationship between Nelson and Hamilton, not on the military aspect, so that worked for me, too. However, if you are into military stuff, there are enough references to historical events to satisfy you, and at the end of the film there is a terrific sea battle, in which Nelson is killed.Vivien Leigh's performance here is excellent. Second (in my view) only to her performance as Scarlett O'Hara. In fact, every once in a while I saw shades of Scarlett. Similarly, I was impressed with Olivier here, as well. I was trying to think of another actor that could have played the part as well, and I couldn't.As far as British films of the era, this is richly ornamented and impressive in its staging and cinematography. My only criticism here is that apparently the two never went outdoors. All the significant scenes (except for the final battle) are filmed indoors.I was also pleased to see a number of fine character actors in supporting roles. One of my favorites -- Henry Wilcoxon -- is here in a significant role. Alan Mowbray is very good as the diplomat and husband of Mrs. Hamilton, and Gladys Cooper is wonderful (as always) as Lady Nelson.There's very little to complain about here. Highly recommended.

valdelli The screenplay would give a different role to Lady Hamilton and to Nelson different than the real history. Lady Hamilton actually was a very frivolous courtesan, closely linked to the to the equally frivolous Neapolitan court, Nelson's lover and capable of managing a a triangular relationship, very similar to the extended families of the current time, but also to convince Nelson to condemn to death more than 100 people of the Neapolitan Revolution without understanding the meaning of her act. All this sense doesn't shine through the film, there is just an unfortunate woman almost heroic. The story is completely different and has some implications and completely different meanings.

kijii I was interested in seeing this movie as one that Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier made together during their 20-year marriage. To me, it seemed like their characters might not mesh on screen. It seemed hard to imagine Leigh's 'Fiddle-dee-dee' Scarlett O'Hara from Gone (1937) with the Wind playing opposite Olivier's aloof 'Maxim' de Winter from Rebecca (1940) or Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights (1939). Nevertheless, the story and characters of this movie soon captivated me, and I was able to forget their different character types.--------------------------------"That Hamilton Woman was the favorite film of Britian's great wartime prime minister, Winston Churchill. Churchill's introduction to the movie began even before production started. Churchill had cabled Korda the day following the announcement that a film about Lord Nelson was to be made; Churchill suggested the title for the film. England was enmeshed in WWII when That Hamilton Woman was made. ..Korda had journeyed to the U.S. where film making facilities were more readily available that in his war-torn adopted country, England, Hungarian-born Korda got the idea for the picture during a train trip from New York to Hollywwod as he whiled away the travel time reading a book on naval history by Adm. A Slatterly, penniless, drunken old crone--played by Leigh is consigned to the lockup on charges of thievery and assault. There, she relates the story of the life to a young streetwalker cellmate played by the inappropriately named Angel. The tale unfolds in flashback..."-------------------------------In the late 18th Century, the loose Emma (Lyon) Hart (Vivien Leigh) and her mother, Mrs. Cadogan-Lyon (Sara Allgood), are sent to Naples to await the arrival of Emma's future husband Charles Francis Greville. Once there, they learn that Charles' uncle, Sir William Hamilton (Alan Mowbray), the British Ambassador to Naples, has basically bought her by paying off Charles' debts and assuming his assets. In the bargain between nephew and uncle, Emma is considered as one of his assets. Having nowhere else to turn, Emma and her mother settle for living in the lap of luxury in Naples, learning French and Italian, and becoming a favorite of the Naples' queen. In a sham marriage Emma becomes Lady Hamilton, just another work of art, a 'trophy wife,' to Sir Hamilton. During the Napoleonic Wars that ravaged most of Europe at the time, Britain's Admiral Horatio Nelson (Laurence Olivier) and his navy seem to be the only thing keeping Napoleon from conquering Great Britain and guarding its crucial sea-lanes. When Nelson and his fleet come to Naples, the Hamiltons entertain him, and Nelson and Lady Hamilton soon fall in love. Though their love affair is known and talked about throughout Europe, neither Lady Nelson (Gladys Cooper) nor Sir Hamilton are able to stop it. In fact, though Lady Hamilton and Lord Nelson live together in the end, Lady Nelson refuses to drag the Nelson name through England's divorce courts, and Emma openly confronts her husband about their sham marriage. Sir William has no power to keep her to himself because Nelson had, by this time, become a highly decorated national hero. The three, Lord and Lady Hamilton, and Nelson live together in London as a 'menage a trois' until Lord Hamilton's death. After retiring from the British Navy, Nelson becomes a Lord and enters the House of Lords. There, he steadfastly speaks out against signing any peace agreement between Great Britain and France until Napoleon is completely defeated. His warnings turn out to be prophetic when a combined France and Spanish fleet, tries to cross the English Channel to conquer England. In the Battle of Trafalgar, the British fleet rebuffs the fleet of the French and Spanish. However, Lord Nelson is fatally wounded in the battle, leaving Emma Hamilton and their daughter to fend for themselves without the benefit of Nelson's money or clout. When this movie was released, it was a propaganda film to bolster the moral of British soldiers and the English people during the German bombings of London. However, it still holds up as a very good film, an interesting story, and a fairly accurate depiction in British history. This movie should be restored if it hasn't been yet.

GusF Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh's third and final film together and the only one made during their marriage, this is a hugely enjoyable romantic period film which tells the story of the rise and fall of Emma, Lady Hamilton in Georgian society and her long lasting and very well known affair with Lord Nelson, which ended with his death at Trafalgar in 1805. I am not an expert on either those two individuals or the Napoleonic era in general so I don't know how closely it hues to or how greatly it departs from actual history but tells a wonderful story of two lovers who were in many ways doomed. One thing that I did know about the couple is that they had an illegitimate daughter named Horatia (subtle). Given the film standards of the day, I was expecting this little fact to be left out and I was very surprised that they acknowledged her existence, although they never show her. The film has a very strong script by Walter Reisch and R.C. Sheriff, top notch direction from Alexander Korda and beautiful sets designed by his younger brother Vincent.Olivier and Leigh are both sublime in the leading roles and just make it seem so effortless. It's such a shame that their on screen partnership was limited to a mere three films as their chemistry is fantastic. I do know that Olivier wanted to make at least two films with her before they divorced: his unproduced and seemingly cursed version of Macbeth and The Prince and the Showgirl. In the latter, she was to reprise her stage role as Elsie Marina from The Sleeping Prince but she was replaced by the considerably less gifted actress Marilyn Monroe. The couple are certainly the strongest performers but they receive great support from the hilarious Sara Allgood as Lady Hamilton's Irish mother Mrs. Cadogan-Lyon, Alan Mowbray as her cuckolded husband Sir William Hamilton, the great Gladys Cooper as the imperious yet still sympathetic Lady Nelson, Henry Wilcoxon as Sir Thomas Hardy (of "Kiss me, Hardy" fame), Gilbert Emery as Lord Spencer and Heather Angel as Lady Hamilton's Calais cellmate.Although the film was made by Hollywood, it is British to its core and fiercely patriotic. It was intended as an anti-Nazi propaganda piece, which caused controversy in the US as it was released almost eight months before Pearl Harbor. It is well known to be Churchill's favourite film and he actually wrote two of Nelson's anti-Napoleon speeches. The Nazi allegory is most clearly seen in the scene when Sir William explains to his wife that the British Empire is periodically attacked by military adventurers, in Nelson's line "We are alone but unafraid" and his speech denouncing the idea of negotiating with dictators which Churchill could have delivered in Parliament if five or six words were changed. I imagine that it was quite a stirring film for the Britons of the day. In this sense, it is reminiscent of Olivier's later, better and more subtly propagandist film "Henry V".Overall, this is an excellent film which works as both a great romantic story in its right and a very effective social commentary on its own troubled time.