Today is the 15th anniversary of the start of this blog. Over 700 reviews later, I am still going strong. If you had told me that after 15 years I still would have hundreds of war movies to watch and review, I would tell you that surely there are not that many war movies. I did manage to complete my reviews of Military History magazine's 100 Greatest War Movies a few years ago. And recently I completed my own 100 Best War Movies, but I am not stopping. I chose this movie for the 15th anniversary because "That Hamilton Woman" is a war movie about actual people who it attempts to tell the story of. Naturally, it can not be expected to be perfectly accurate, so the fun is to find out how accurate it is. I have an interest in the Napoleonic Wars and Horatio Nelson, so it makes sense to post this review now.
“That Hamilton Woman” (“Lady Hamilton” in Great Britain) was one of the films made to encourage American support for Britain during its darkest days of WWII. The treatment was suggested to director/producer Alexander Korda by Winston Churchill and supposedly became his favorite movie. He once claimed to have seen it 83 times! Churchill, a fan of Horatio Nelson, wanted a movie made about him and his famous romance with Emma Hamilton. It was a tale all Englishmen were familiar with, but it would have been revelatory for American audiences. Korda had the brilliant idea of casting the current Hollywood celebrity couple – the newly wed Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. It didn’t hurt marketing that their romance had some parallels to those of the movie’s characters. The actors had fallen in love and conducted a public affair while still married. It was their third movie together. They had begun their affair during the filming of “Fire Over England” (1937). The movie was scripted by Walter Reisch (“Ninotchka”) and R.C. Sheriff (“Journey’s End”). They had the ulterior motive of slyly tying the tale to Britain’s current situation. They succeeded in drawing the attention of the America First Committee, which encouraged a boycott of it and similar films (“The Great Dictator”, “Foreign Correspondent”, “The Mortal Storm”). And Korda drew the attention of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee because of accusations he facilitated MI-5 agents in their ferreting out German activities and infiltration of isolationist groups in America. Fortunately for Korda, his appearance before the committee was aborted by the attack on Pearl Harbor. The movie was well-received by critics and audiences. It was nominated for four Academy Awards - Sound, Art Direction (Alexander’s brother Vincent, who did a wonderful job on a small budget), Cinematography, and Effects. It won for Best Sound.
The movie opens in Calais where an alcoholic prostitute is arrested and thrown in jail. She shocks her cell mates by revealing that she used to be the famous Lady Hamilton (Leigh). Her tale results in a flashback to her better days. When she was 18 and significantly more beautiful than her current jailed self, she arrived in Naples at he home of Sir William Hamilton (Alan Mowbray). Although engaged to his nephew, Hamilton has paid off his nephew’s debts and “acquired” Emma. She is offended at first, but what’s a stripper to do but make the best of it. And the best of it is a lavish lifestyle with a husband who only requires she grace his arm. He Eliza Doolittles her and soon she is running his Tara. Two years later, in walks the dashing, but officious, Capt. Horatio Nelson (Olivier). There is a spark there and when she intervenes with the rulers of Naples to support the British, Nelson is impressed. At this point, the movie becomes a chronicle of Nelson’s career and the evolution of their romance. Nelson’s greatest hits are simply alluded to. If you are British, you can fill in the blanks. If you are American, read up on it. The romance progresses to the point where Sir William snarkily acknowledges it and Horatio has some very awkward moments with his wife. But love will prevail and they manage to weather the storms. While sailing by Nelson’s successes at the Nile and Copenhagen, the movie goes all in for the climactic Battle of Trafalgar. And then it’s back to the Calais jail cell for the what-ifs.
“That Hamilton Woman” takes its title from the reaction of British crowds upon seeing the couple in public in London. The original title of the film was to be “The Enchantress”, which might have been more accurate about Emma, but a 1941 movie could not have lived up to that title. The Production Code was at its height of ludicrousness, so this famous love affair had to be depicted as chaste. Olivier and Leigh could not be shown in bed together and not even slightly disrobed. How Emma became pregnant with Nelson’s son is left to the imagination. The passion had to come through the actor’s interaction and this is partially successful. Olivier portrays Nelson as upright, but susceptible to a comely ankle. Leigh has more fun with the flirtatious Emma. There is some chemistry from the real-life couple, but the main appeal of the movie to viewers would have been seeing them act together. Leigh is gorgeous, as is to be expected. You don’t get the green eyes because the movie is black and white, but she still has the wow factor. This despite the low budget which resulted in make-up only on the side of the face the camera was on. She was the perfect choice to play a woman who was painted by George Romney. Thankfully, the movie spares us from an accurate depiction of her portly later years. (Leigh in a fat suit would not have been good for box office.)
“That Hamilton Woman” is not a war movie until it gets to Trafalgar. This sequence almost makes the movie worth the wait for war movie buffs (who tend to not be romance buffs). It does a good job depicting the battle and includes the memorable moments like the signal “England expects everyone to do their duty” and Nelson’s refusal to dress less like a peacock begging to be shot. There is plenty of action and cannonading by the models, but it is hard to follow who is who and the movie made the poor decision not to depict the “Nelson touch” by having Olivier explain his plan to his officers. In fact, the movie makes no case for Nelson as a great leader. (And frankly, it is not clear that he was a great lover either.) Nelson’s death is spot on and surprisingly uses the accurate “Kiss me, Hardy” last words (instead of “Kismet, Hardy” which ended up in British textbooks). I wonder how they got that past the censor.
As a war movie, “That Hamilton Woman” comes up short. It reminds of “Gone with the Wind” in that it is more of a romance set in a war. It gets credit for being based on a true story that deserved Hollywood treatment. Even though it had a hidden agenda, it is not overly patriotic and I doubt viewers left the theater and immediately wrote a check to Great Britain. I bet most simply enjoyed it for its entertainment value, which was high for the time, but seems tame today. A miniseries on Nelson is definitely needed today. Why has this not happened, BBC?
GRADE = C
HISTORICAL ACCURACY: The movie is surprisingly accurate for a historical romance. Emma was born poor and early in her life had to fend for herself. She was blessed by striking beauty which meant her career path was obvious, especially for an ill-educated woman. As early as age 15 she was a concubine for a wealthy gentleman. She would dance nude on tables at his bacchanalian parties. She eventually settled with George Greville. He farmed her out to the artist George Romney, who became obsessed with her. He did a lot of paintings of her and made her a celebrity. Greville decided he needed to sleep with someone who was wealthy, so when he got engaged to an heiress and she was not into open marriages, he shuffled her off to Naples to entrance his uncle. She did arrive with her mother. Hamilton was 55 and newly widowed. She was the best present he ever received. He was an art collector and she was living art. She was less excited, but once she realized her “vacation” on Naples was meant to be permanent, she decided to make the best of it. Sir William was kind and doting and they fell in love. When they married, he was 60 and she was 26. She was quite the hostess and soon was best friends with Queen Maria Carolina (sister of Marie Antoinette). Her fame swept Europe when she came up with her performance art called “Attitudes”. She would dress up and portray famous statues and paintings. Nelson had been married six years when they first met. He was infatuated from the start. They corresponded and the love grew. When he returned five years later, crippled lacking some of his dash, she still fainted in his arms and the romance was on. As the movie shows, they were often apart for long stretches, but they eventually returned to England together (with her mother and her husband). Nelson’s wife Fanny was not thrilled, especially since Emma was pregnant. Nelson treated her badly, which of course the movie does not show because Nelson was such a hero. The public excused Nelson for the very public affair. Nelson, Emma, William, and her mother openly lived together. When Nelson left to fight the Battle of Trafalgar, Emma did not cope well. She overdrank and overate and went deeply into debt. She escaped her debtors by escaping to France. Her downward spiral continued as she accumulated debts there too and was an alcoholic and a user of laudanum. I found no evidence that she died in debtor’s prison. She was 49 when she died.