In 1824 Lord Byron lies dying of a fever at Missolonghi in Greece. In his delirium he imagines himself being tried by a celestial court which will decide his destiny in the afterlife. Apart from his close friend John Hobhouse, the witnesses called before the court are the women in his life- his estranged wife Annabella, his lovers Lady Caroline Lamb and Teresa Guiccioli and Augusta Leigh. In reality Augusta was Byron's half-sister, but here she is referred to as his cousin.
The life of Byron would seem like a natural subject for a biopic. Apart from his status as one of Britain's greatest poets, he was also a noted libertine and seducer, a political activist and a man of action who fought for Greek independence and supported the cause of the Carbonari, the revolutionary Italian secret society. 1949, however, was not the best year in which to make a biography of such a man. Byron's private life- some aspects of which still seem shocking even today- had left him with a bad reputation, and this meant that in the moral climate of the forties a film about him was bound to be problematic. Nottingham City Council, for example, refused permission for filming to take place at Byron's actual home, Newstead Abbey near the city.
The most problematic aspect of Byron's reputation was the allegation that he had an incestuous relationship with Augusta and that he was even the father of her daughter Medora. This was the reason why she had to be made his cousin rather than his sister and why she insists that their relationship was a platonic friendship without physical intimacy. This attempt to sanitise history, however, was not enough to satisfy the American censors, who felt that any film about Byron, even a sanitised one, was not fit to be shown in the United States, and promptly banned it. There were also rumours that Byron was bisexual and had sexual relations with men; needless to say you will not find any mention of these in the film.
Great attention was paid to recreating the costumes and interiors of the period (something which was not always the case with British historical dramas of the forties), and the original intention was to make the film in colour to show these off to full effect. Unfortunately, all the studio's colour cameras were being used to film "The Blue Lagoon", so it ended up being shot in black-and-white, which greatly reduces its visual attractiveness.
Byron was famously described by Lady Caroline as "mad, bad and dangerous to know", a description repeated in the film, but it does not really fit Dennis Price's milk-and-water Byron, disappointingly sane and about as dangerous to know as a kitten. Price had the good looks to convey something of Byron's charisma, but never really achieves it, making the film's hero appear as, at most, a well-bred, well-mannered drawing-room revolutionary. The best of the supporting cast is Joan Greenwood as Lady Caroline; the rest are unremarkable, with Mai Zetterling's weak, simpering Teresa being particularly disappointing. The idea of a heavenly court appears to have been borrowed from The Archers' "A Matter of Life and Death" made a few years earlier, but that was a much better film which made much better use of the idea. There is a great film to be made on the life of Lord Byron. This is not it. 4/10
A goof. It is stated in the film that Byron died aged 37. In fact, he died aged 36.
The life of Byron would seem like a natural subject for a biopic. Apart from his status as one of Britain's greatest poets, he was also a noted libertine and seducer, a political activist and a man of action who fought for Greek independence and supported the cause of the Carbonari, the revolutionary Italian secret society. 1949, however, was not the best year in which to make a biography of such a man. Byron's private life- some aspects of which still seem shocking even today- had left him with a bad reputation, and this meant that in the moral climate of the forties a film about him was bound to be problematic. Nottingham City Council, for example, refused permission for filming to take place at Byron's actual home, Newstead Abbey near the city.
The most problematic aspect of Byron's reputation was the allegation that he had an incestuous relationship with Augusta and that he was even the father of her daughter Medora. This was the reason why she had to be made his cousin rather than his sister and why she insists that their relationship was a platonic friendship without physical intimacy. This attempt to sanitise history, however, was not enough to satisfy the American censors, who felt that any film about Byron, even a sanitised one, was not fit to be shown in the United States, and promptly banned it. There were also rumours that Byron was bisexual and had sexual relations with men; needless to say you will not find any mention of these in the film.
Great attention was paid to recreating the costumes and interiors of the period (something which was not always the case with British historical dramas of the forties), and the original intention was to make the film in colour to show these off to full effect. Unfortunately, all the studio's colour cameras were being used to film "The Blue Lagoon", so it ended up being shot in black-and-white, which greatly reduces its visual attractiveness.
Byron was famously described by Lady Caroline as "mad, bad and dangerous to know", a description repeated in the film, but it does not really fit Dennis Price's milk-and-water Byron, disappointingly sane and about as dangerous to know as a kitten. Price had the good looks to convey something of Byron's charisma, but never really achieves it, making the film's hero appear as, at most, a well-bred, well-mannered drawing-room revolutionary. The best of the supporting cast is Joan Greenwood as Lady Caroline; the rest are unremarkable, with Mai Zetterling's weak, simpering Teresa being particularly disappointing. The idea of a heavenly court appears to have been borrowed from The Archers' "A Matter of Life and Death" made a few years earlier, but that was a much better film which made much better use of the idea. There is a great film to be made on the life of Lord Byron. This is not it. 4/10
A goof. It is stated in the film that Byron died aged 37. In fact, he died aged 36.