Best movies like Young Bess

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A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like Young Bess Starring Jean Simmons, Stewart Granger, Deborah Kerr, Charles Laughton, and more. If you liked Young Bess then you may also like: The Young Victoria, Vanity Fair, The Virgin Queen, When Knighthood Was in Flower, The Other Boleyn Girl and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.

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The mother died under the executioner's axe; the daughter rose to become England's greatest monarch -- the brilliant and cunning Queen Elizabeth I. Jean Simmons portrays young Bess in this rich tapestry of a film that traces the tumultuous, danger-fraught years from Elizabeth's birth to her unexpected ascension to the throne at a mere 25. Charles Laughton reprises his Academy Award®-winning* role as her formidable father Henry VIII. Deborah Kerr plays her last stepmother (and Henry's last of six wives), gentle Catherine Parr. And Simmons' then real-life husband, Stewart Granger, adds heroics as Lord Admiral Thomas Seymour. In a resplendent world of adventure, romance and court intrigue, Young Bess reigns.

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The Young Victoria

As the only legitimate heir of England's King William, teenage Victoria gets caught up in the political machinations of her own family. Victoria's mother wants her to sign a regency order, while her Belgian uncle schemes to arrange a marriage between the future monarch and Prince Albert, the man who will become the love of her life.

Vanity Fair

Beautiful, funny, passionate, and calculating, Becky is the orphaned daughter of a starving English artist and a French chorus girl. She yearns for a more glamorous life than her birthright promises and resolves to conquer English society by any means possible. A mere ascension into the heights of society is simply not enough. So Becky finds a patron in the powerful Marquess of Steyne whose whims enable Becky to realise her dreams. But is the ultimate cost too high for her?

The Virgin Queen

Sir Walter Raleigh overcomes court intrigue to win favor with the Queen in order to get financing for a proposed voyage to the New World.

When Knighthood Was in Flower

Mary Tudor falls in love with a new arrival to court, Charles Brandon. She convinces her brother King Henry VIII to make him his Captain of the Guard. Meanwhile, Henry is determined to marry her off to the aging King Louis XII of France as part of a peace agreement.

The Other Boleyn Girl

Based on the controversial novel by Philippa Gregory, "The Other Boleyn Girl" is a fictionalised account of the life of Lady Mary Boleyn who becomes mistress to England's king, Henry VIII, before being ousted by her younger sister, Anne. Mary leaves the Court to marry a commoner, but returns when Anne embarks on a reckless policy to save herself from ruin.

The Other Boleyn Girl

A sumptuous and sensual tale of intrigue, romance and betrayal set against the backdrop of a defining moment in European history: two beautiful sisters, Anne and Mary Boleyn, driven by their family's blind ambition, compete for the love of the handsome and passionate King Henry VIII.

Anne of the Thousand Days

Henry VIII of England discards his wife, Katharine of Aragon, who has failed to produce a male heir, in favor of the young and beautiful Anne Boleyn.

Beau Brummell

Lavishly told story of George Bryan Brummel, a commoner born in the era of Napoleon who uses wit, brilliance and sartorial flair to align himself with the future King George IV. Lush settings in authentic locations and Taylor in Regency …

Bonjour Tristesse

Cecile is a decadent young girl who lives with her rich playboy father, Raymond. When Anne, Raymond's old love interest, comes to Raymond's villa, Cecile is afraid for her way of life.

The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex

This period drama frames the tumultuous affair between Queen Elizabeth I and the man who would be King of England.

Mary Queen of Scots

In 1561, Mary Stuart, widow of the King of France, returns to Scotland, reclaims her rightful throne and menaces the future of Queen Elizabeth I as ruler of England, because she has a legitimate claim to the English throne. Betrayals, rebellions, conspiracies and their own life choices imperil both Queens. They experience the bitter cost of power, until their tragic fate is finally fulfilled.

Firebrand

In blood-soaked Tudor England, Catherine Parr attempts to navigate English politics when she becomes King Henry VIII’s sixth wife.

A Man for All Seasons

A depiction of the conflict between King Henry VIII of England and his Lord Chancellor, Sir Thomas More, who refuses to swear the Oath of Supremacy declaring Henry Supreme Head of the Church in England.

Mary of Scotland

The recently widowed Mary Stuart returns to Scotland to reclaim her throne but is opposed by her half-brother and her own Scottish lords.

Elizabeth

The story of the ascension to the throne and the early reign of Queen Elizabeth the First, the endless attempts by her council to marry her off, the Catholic hatred of her and her romance with Lord Robert Dudley.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

When Queen Elizabeth's reign is threatened by ruthless familial betrayal and Spain's invading army, she and her shrewd adviser must act to safeguard the lives of her people.

Tower of London

In the 15th century Richard Duke of Gloucester, aided by his club-footed executioner Mord, eliminates those ahead of him in succession to the throne, then occupied by his brother King Edward IV of England. As each murder is accomplished he takes particular delight in removing small figurines, each resembling one of the successors, from a throne-room dollhouse, until he alone remains. After the death of Edward he becomes Richard III, King of England, and need only defeat the exiled Henry Tudor to retain power.

Mary, Queen of Scots

Mary Stuart, who was named Queen of Scotland when she was only six days old, is the last Roman Catholic ruler of Scotland. She is imprisoned at the age of 23 by her cousin Elizabeth Tudor, the English Queen and her arch adversary. Nineteen years later the life of Mary is to be ended on the scaffold and with her execution the last threat to Elizabeth's throne has been removed. The two Queens with their contrasting personalities make a dramatic counterpoint to history.

EverAfter

Orphaned as a child, Danielle is treated like a servant by her wicked stepmother and two stepsisters. When she stumbles onto Prince Henry, who's fleeing an arranged marriage, the two inspire each other to resolve their respective troubles.

The Favourite

England, early 18th century. The close relationship between Queen Anne and Sarah Churchill is threatened by the arrival of Sarah's cousin, Abigail Hill, resulting in a bitter rivalry between the two cousins to be the Queen's favourite.

Fire Over England

The film is a historical drama set during the reign of Elizabeth I (Flora Robson), focusing on the English defeat of the Spanish Armada, whence the title. In 1588, relations between Spain and England are at the breaking point. With the support of Queen Elizabeth I, British sea raiders such as Sir Francis Drake regularly capture Spanish merchantmen bringing gold from the New World.

The Slipper and the Rose

In the tiny kingdom of Euphrania, the King and his court are most anxious to get Prince Edward wed. But Edward wants to marry for love. Meanwhile, young Cinderella finds life drastically altered with her father's death as she's forced to be a servant in her own house. But a cheery fairy godmother helps her with her impossible tasks, and even gets her to take an evening out at the King's bride-fin

Spencer

During her Christmas holidays with the royal family at the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England, Diana decides to leave her marriage to Prince Charles.

The Grass Is Greener

Victor and Hillary are down on their luck to the point that they allow tourists to take guided tours of their castle. But Charles Delacro, a millionaire oil tycoon, visits, and takes a liking to more than the house. Soon, Hattie Durant gets involved and they have a good old fashioned love triangle.

Henry VIII and His Six Wives

1547, King Henry VIII's life has taken a turn for the worse and he is forced to look back over his life and the many loves which had brought him his three children, only one of which was the desired male heir to secure the Tudor dynasty.

Lady Jane

The death of King Henry VIII throws his kingdom into chaos because of succession disputes. His weak son, Edward, is on his deathbed. Anxious to keep England true to the Reformation, a scheming minister John Dudley marries off his son, Guildford to Lady Jane Grey, whom he places on the throne after Edward dies. At first hostile to each other, Guildford and Jane fall in love, but they cannot withstand the course of power which will lead to their ultimate downfall.

The Prisoner of Zenda

An Englishman vacationing in Ruritania is recruited to impersonate his cousin, the soon-to-be-crowned king after the monarch is drugged and kidnapped.

The Private Life of Henry VIII

Renowned for his excess, King Henry VIII goes through a series of wives during his rule. With Anne Boleyn, his second wife, executed on charges of treason, King Henry weds maid Jane Seymour, but that marriage also ends in tragedy. Not one to be single for long, the king picks German-born Anne of Cleves as his bride, but their union lasts only months before an annulment is granted, and King Henry continues his string of spouses.

Salome

In the reign of emperor Tiberius, Gallilean prophet John the Baptist preaches against King Herod and Queen Herodias. The latter wants John dead, but Herod fears to harm him due to a prophecy. Enter beautiful Princess Salome, Herod's long-absent stepdaughter. Herodias sees the king's dawning lust for Salome as her means of bending the king to her will. But Salome and her lover Claudius are (contrary to Scripture) nearing conversion to the new religion. And the famous climactic dance turns out to have unexpected implications...

The Truth About Mother Goose

We learn the true stories behind various nursery rhymes. Little Jack Horner: a servant to a city official was delivering a present to King Henry VIII, baked, as was the custom of the time, in a pie. The present was the deed to a valuable estate, which Horner stole. Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary: Mary Stuart brought "quite contrary" French style to the Scottish court. After a series of disastrous romances, she was jailed; the jailer's son, captivated by her, helped her escape. After a brief but disastrous attempted coup, she fled to England, where her sister, Queen Elizabeth, soon grew jealous and had her imprisoned. London Bridge: The bridge, finished in 1209, was soon lined by shops with luxury apartments upstairs, turning into a popular commercial and cultural zone. The Great Fire that broke out in 1666 spread to the bridge, but the houses were rebuilt. Over the ages, things decayed. In 1823, things finally got bad enough that the bridge was demolished and replaced.

Tudor Rose

The tragic story of Lady Jane Grey, the young queen who reigned in England for nine days before she was executed.

That Lady

In 1570, widowed Princess Ana de Mendoza becomes the love object of a deadly rivalry between her cousin Don Inigo, King Philip II of Spain and his secretary of state Antonio Perez.

Bertie and Elizabeth

The duke of York, nicknamed Bertie, was born as royal 'spare heir', younger brother to the prince of Wales, and thus expected to spend a relatively private life with his Scottish wife Elisabeth Bowes-Lyon and their daughters, in the shadow of their reigning father, George V, and next that of his elder brother who succeeded to the British throne as Edward VIII. However Edward decides to put his love for a divorced American, Wallis Simpson, above dynastic duty, and ends up abdicating the throne, which now falls to Bertie, who reigns as George VI.

Monarch

From double BAFTA nominated Writer and Director John Walsh. Monarch is part fact, part fiction and unfolds around one night when the injured ruler arrives at a manor house closed for the season.

Henry VII: Winter King

Historian Thomas Penn reveals the secrets of founder of Britain’s great Tudor Dynasty - and his amazing trajectory to power. Two weeks after landing on the shores Wales in 1485 with a small band of mercenaries, Henry of Richmond defeats the notorious Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth. He is crowned Henry VII and then begins a career of realpolitik, a charming exterior making a savage ambition. The War of the Roses, his wife Elizabeth of York, and the beginning of the Renaissance are all part of this incredible history, as are Henry’s obsessions with money and astonishing spy network.

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