The Virgin Queen (1955 film)

The Virgin Queen
Original poster
Directed byHenry Koster
Written byHarry Brown
Screenplay byMildret Lord
Based onSir Walter Raleigh
Produced byCharles Brackett
StarringBette Davis
Richard Todd
Joan Collins
CinematographyCharles G. Clarke
Edited byRobert L. Simpson
Music byFranz Waxman
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • July 22, 1955 (July 22, 1955)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1.6 million[1]

The Virgin Queen is a 1955 American DeLuxe Color historical drama film directed by Henry Koster and starring Bette Davis, Richard Todd and Joan Collins. Filmed in CinemaScope, it focuses on the relationship between Elizabeth I of England and Sir Walter Raleigh.

The film marks the second time Davis played the English monarch; the first was The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939). It was also the first Hollywood film for Australian actor Rod Taylor.[2]

Charles LeMaire and Mary Wills were nominated for an Oscar for Best Costume Design of a Color Production. LeMaire then won the award for another film instead; Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955).

  1. ^ Solomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1. p249
  2. ^ Stephen Vagg, Rod Taylor: An Aussie in Hollywood, Bear Manor Media, 2010 p 48