The Divine Lady
About The Divine Lady
Emma Hart rises from artist's model and mistress to become Lady Hamilton, wife of Sir William Hamilton, the British envoy in Naples. During the wars with France she and Admiral Horatio Nelson become lovers. The film follows his victory at the Nile and the scandal that trails them. Nelson is killed at Trafalgar. Emma is left with the talk and without him.
Cast & crew
More about The Divine Lady
Frank Lloyd directed and produced with Walter Morosco and Richard A. Rowland. Forrest Halsey, Harry Carr, Agnes Christine Johnston, and Edwin Justus Mayer adapted E. Barrington's novel The Divine Lady: A Romance of Nelson and Emma Hamilton. There is no spoken dialogue. Music and effects were synchronized on Vitaphone discs. John F. Seitz photographed it. Cecil Copping is credited with the music. Corinne Griffith plays Emma and Victor Varconi plays Nelson. The release year is 1929.
Themes
Background
The 2nd Academy Awards, given in 1930, covered films released from August 1928 through July 1929, the season this Vitaphone romance played.
Making
Lloyd shot a historical romance silent, then Warner fitted a Vitaphone score and effects track so it could play in wired houses without dialogue scenes.
Look
John F. Seitz photographed the Naples scenes and the naval battles. He was nominated for the cinematography Oscar.
Technique
The picture has no spoken dialogue. Music and effects are on a Vitaphone disc.
Music
A Vitaphone disc carries Cecil Copping's score, effects, and the song "Lady Divine" by Nathaniel Shilkret and Richard Kountz. No one speaks.
Preservation
Picture and Vitaphone sound survive.
Notes
- H. B. Warner, Ian Keith, Marie Dressler, Montagu Love, William Conklin, and Dorothy Cumming are in the cast.
- At the 2nd Academy Awards Frank Lloyd won Best Director. Corinne Griffith was nominated for Best Actress and John F. Seitz for Best Cinematography. The film was not nominated for Best Picture. Two Arabian Knights, the year before, had won Best Director of a Comedy Picture without a Best Picture nomination.
- The theme song "Lady Divine," lyric by Richard Kountz and music by Nathaniel Shilkret, was recorded in 1929 by Shilkret, Frank Munn, Ben Selvin, and others.
Awards
- Academy Award for Best Director (Frank Lloyd, 2nd Academy Awards)
Scenes
- Emma, now Lady Hamilton, meets Nelson in Naples.
- The Nile is fought with model ships.
Influenced by
- The Divine Lady: A Romance of Nelson and Emma Hamilton (E. Barrington)
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons
