Elizabeth the Queen (film)

Elizabeth the Queen is a 1968 TV movie presented on Hallmark Hall of Fame. It is an adaptation of the 1930 play Elizabeth the Queen by Maxwell Anderson. The film was directed by George Schaefer.

Cast

 * Judith Anderson as Queen Elizabeth I
 * Charlton Heston as Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex
 * Michael Allinson as Sir Walter Raleigh
 * Alan Caillou as Burbage
 * Jody Carter as Lady In Waiting
 * Peter Church as Hemmings
 * Dana Elcar as Captain Marvel
 * Lynn Harper as Ann Rousseau
 * Harvey Jason as Herald
 * Donald Marlatt as Irish Courier
 * Anne Rogers as Penelope
 * Gilchrist Stuart as Physician
 * Harry Townes as Sir Robert Cecil

Production
In 1964 George Schaefer said he had decided not to do a production of this or another Maxwell Anderson play, Mary Queen of Scot, because they depended on pageantry, which was hard to do on television.

Schaefer changed his mind and Judith Anderson signed to star in a production in May 1967. It was her third production for the Hallmark Hall of Fame following Macbeth and The Cradle Song. She had performed in the play the year before in New York and received poor reviews but insisted the production was faulty rather than the play itself. Charlton Heston agreed to co star.