Fictional (probably) romance involving the Queen Elizabeth I (Bette Davis) and Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex (Errol Flynn) against the background of war and court intrigues. Famously, Davis was 30 years too young to be playing the aging Queen Bess and although she makes a game effort (shaving off some of her hair and eyebrows), her consent twitching and quavering (presumably an attempt to appear elderly) becomes distracting after a while (I initially assumed that the Queen had Parkinson's or some kind of palsy, but apparently not). The film is based on a play ('Elizabeth the Queen' by Maxwell Anderson), and is quite 'talky' with a very theatrical, stagy look (even the scenes in the Irish bogs look like they could have been done live in a theatre). Although clearly more at home playing a flamboyant hero, Flynn (who was the correct age) is pretty good as the conflicted Essex and the rest of the cast is fine. The sets and costumes are fabulous.