Kirpianuscus So many reasons for see it ! from the status of testimony about the spirit of a period to the performances - Vivien Leigh is magnificent as Emma Hilton - to the naval battle and the imposible love story. it is not a film for define it. and not an artistic delight. or a masterpiece. after its end, you discover it as a very personal message. sure, romanticism is present. and it could appear as the basic ingredient. but the film gives more than a sensitive story. but a kind of ...spell. about succes and sacrifice and fall. using the perfect couple.

Bucs1960 Thus says Vivian Leigh when asked "What happened then, what happened after". As she lies in prison, drunk and penniless, she describes to a fellow prisoner, her life as the beloved mistress of one of England's greatest heroes.This is a film that stays with you, not only for the story of the ill-fated romance of Admiral Lord Nelson and Lady Emma Hamilton, but also for the perfect casting of the leads, Vivian Leigh and Laurence Olivier. They were impossibly beautiful and besotted with each other in real life (they had just married). That attraction was obvious on the screen and reflected the love affair of the characters they portrayed.The story follows Lady Emma's life from a possession passed from nephew to uncle (Sir Edward Hamilton, well played by Alan Mowbray), to her marriage to Hamilton and her meeting with Horatio Nelson. From that point, it's time to bring out the hankies as the love affair, doomed from the beginning, moves to its inevitable conclusion. There is more than enough pathos to move the most jaded movie lover.One of my favorite scenes in the film is that in which Nelson returns to Naples against orders to rescue Emma and she collapses against him saying "I would have died if you would have left me here".The film may not be for all tastes, as it contains a plethora of propaganda aimed at the US which was still neutral in WWII, and does not portray the characters exactly as they may have been. But I say "Who cares"??? It's the kind of love story that will grab your heart and bring you back to watch it again and again.It seems impossible to find it on anything but tape......my copy is on BETA which goes to show how badly I want to have repeated viewings!!!!

Jem Odewahn This film is a must for fans of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. Made shortly after they married, and before the extra-marital affairs (on both sides) and Leigh's bouts with TB and manic depression, the film is a showcase for their almost-mythical star power. The film itself, directed by Alexander Korda, is a WW2 propaganda piece designed to draw the then-neutral America towards the British cause, and thus made quickly, cheaply and with more emphasis on patriotism and uplifting national spirit than creating a great motion picture. Still, it's an enjoyable film tracing the doomed romance of Lord Nelson (Olivier) and Lady Emma Hamilton (Leigh).Watching Leigh and Olivier in this film is fascinating; the film is one of three the couple made together, and one of the lasting records of this great theater team's work. Leigh is absolutely charming as Emma (this was the role said to be most like Leigh in real life), full of energy and radiance, witty and beautiful. Olivier is rather stiff as Nelson (though the wig, eye patch, missing arm and wounded leg would weigh anyone down a bit), yet he projects Nelson's essential predicament, that of being torn between his love Emma and his love and duty to England, well. The magic of merely watching these two together almost makes the downsides of Korda's film (stitlted camera movements, shooting at the back of his actor's heads when a close-up would have worked much better, a noticeably low budget)insignificant.

Brian Wright The sense of pride of country also reminds me of Master and Commander, another English seafaring-based tale. It's rather stirring in both cases when the characters exclaim on the importance of their missions to decent folk everywhere who yearn to breathe free. We feel that passion and pride in the person of Lord Nelson when he storms into the port of Naples, Italy, requesting the help of British Ambassador Sir William Hamilton (Alan Mowbray). It's urgent and requires the intervention of the Italian king, but the bureaucracy is such an impediment that the authorization will take days. Enter Lady Emma Hamilton (Vivien Leigh)—hubba hubba—who is in daily contact with the queen. She will help the admiral get what he needs that very day. ...For my complete review of this movie and for other movie and book reviews, please visit my site TheCoffeeCoaster.com.Brian Wright Copyright 2008