Bertie and Elizabeth (2002)
Actors:
Oliver Ford Davies (actor),
Robert Hardy (actor),
Jeremy Child (actor),
David Ryall (actor),
Rebecca Eaton (producer),
Dave Evans (miscellaneous crew),
Eileen Atkins (actress),
Alan Bates (actor),
Paul Brooke (actor),
Corin Redgrave (actor),
Geoffrey Beevers (actor),
James Wilby (actor),
Simon Day (actor),
Peter Eyre (actor),
Terence Harvey (actor),
Plot: 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. Now he expects to be, as constitutional monarch, little more then a figure head, but again faith has more in store for him: Nazi Germany proves such a formidable war challenger to the British Empire that the nearly desperate nation looks to its royal couple as comforting symbol of the unbroken spirit, a part they play with great success, while hosting chased monarchs and governments from continental Europe. After victory, life returns to normal, but pulmonary disease soon ends George's, leaving the throne to his still young firstborn, queen Elisabeth II.
Keywords: 1920s, 1930s, abdication, archbishop-of-canterbury, attack-on-pearl-harbor, bagpipes, british-royal-family, british-royalty, character-name-in-title, cigarette-smoking
Genres:
Drama,
Quotes:
Lady Mabel Airlie: Surely, she'd be the first commoner to marry into the royal family since, umm...::Queen Mary: Anne Boleyn::Lady Mabel Airlie: Well, that didn't work out, did it?::Queen Mary: Well, my understanding is that until he had her beheaded, the whole thing was a resounding success.
King George V: I have no pretensions of being able to run anything. But I do know a few fellows who can. I'm a very ordinary sort of chap... as are you, David. The difference between us is that you seem to be unaware of this very important fact.