Mary Stuart (1913)
The beautiful and much loved Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland, is one of the most unfortunate and sympathetic characters in history. Born in Scotland, educated at the court of Francis II of France, whom she married at fifteen, queen of France at sixteen, a widow at seventeen, beginning her reign as Scotland's Queen at eighteen, married to Darnley of the Royal Blood at nineteen; her life began amid turmoil and disaster. Her husband, Lord Darnley, who after their marriage proved himself a vicious braggart and coxcomb, was intensely jealous of Rizzio, Mary's favorite singer and secretary. One night as Rizzio sang to the queen, Darnley and his band of night hawks waited at the foot of the narrow staircase for the singer. Down the staircase he comes full of youth and love. Darnley's hand shoots out of the shadow and Darnley's dagger finds its rest in Rizzio's heart. Such marital dissensions, together with political factions and religious contentions, cause Scotland to rise in arms, and the queen in jeopardy of life and without followers, accepts the offered hospitality of England's queen, Elizabeth, who extends Mary an invitation to sojourn at Kennilworth Castle, in Warwickshire, until the broils of Scottish clans subside and Mary can return to her throne. With gratitude and haste, the Stuart repairs to Kennilworth, only to find herself trapped, a prisoner, by Elizabeth who really fears not only the Scottish queen's beauty and power, but her legal birthrights to the English crown. Elizabeth, not daring to openly execute her royal sister, tries secretly to affect her assassination but in vain, owing to the loyalty of Mary's servitors. A charge of treason is then brought against her by the English crown. She is found guilty and sentenced to the block. Pending the signing of the death warrant by Queen Elizabeth, attempts to rescue her are made, one by a gallant and loving Englishman, Sir Edward Mortimer; but these only resulted in failure of plans, frustrated attempts on Elizabeth's life, and deeper confinement and unhappiness for Mary. In a meeting between the two queens, affected after much planning, Elizabeth taunts Mary whose proud spirit rebels and bursts forth in denunciations. After this disastrous interview and at the urging of Lord Burleigh, the Lord Treasurer, Elizabeth signs the death warrant and the martyr queen is led to public execution. The Earl of Leicester has been secretly in love with Mary but, fearing in his safety, deserts her when the crisis comes. There is a white haired old man who follows her, with breaking heart, to the scaffold, and a gray haired old woman bowed down by weeping; these, her nurse and her physician, the remnants of her faithful followers. She mounts the scaffold the charges of treason are read to the curious hungry crowd watching. She forgives the headsman, offers a prayer for her too trusting soul, and bares her white neck to the axe. The film fades on Leicester bowed with grief and remorse on the stairs which Mary had just ascended on her way to the scaffold.
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GenresDrama
Short
IMDbPro
See more details at IMDbPro
| Filmmakers | Role |
|---|---|
| Walter Edwin | Director |
| J. Searle Dawley | Writer |
| Friedrich Schiller | Writer |
| Cast | Role |
|---|---|
| Mary Fuller | |
| Richard Neill | |
| Elizabeth Miller | |
| Wallace Scott |
