''The Bad Lord Byron'' is a 1949 British
historical drama
A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romance film, romances, adventure f ...
film about the life of
Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...
. It was directed by
David MacDonald and starred
Dennis Price
Dennistoun Franklyn John Rose Price (23 June 1915 – 6 October 1973) was an English actor, best remembered for his role as Louis Mazzini in the film ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (1949) and for his portrayal of the omnicompetent valet Jeeves ...
as Byron with
Mai Zetterling
Mai Elisabeth Zetterling (; 24 May 1925 – 17 March 1994) was a Swedish film director, novelist and actor.
Early life
Zetterling was born in Västerås, Sweden to a working class family. She started her career as an actor at the age of 17 at D ...
,
Linden Travers
Florence Lindon-Travers, known professionally as Linden Travers (27 May 1913 – 23 October 2001Ronald Bergan ), was a British actress.
Life and career
Travers was born in Houghton-le-Spring, County Durham, the daughter of Florence (née ...
and
Joan Greenwood
Joan Mary Waller Greenwood (4 March 1921 – 28 February 1987) was an English actress. Her husky voice, coupled with her slow, precise elocution, was her trademark. She played Sibella in the 1949 film ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'', and also app ...
.
Plot
The film sees life from the perspective of Lord Byron, seriously wounded in Greece where he is fighting for
Greek independence
The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...
. From his deathbed, Byron remembers his life and many loves, imagining that he's pleading his case before a celestial court.
The first witness called is
Lady Caroline Lamb
Lady Caroline Lamb (née Ponsonby; 13 November 1785 – 25 January 1828) was an Anglo-Irish aristocrat and novelist, best known for ''Glenarvon'', a Gothic novel. In 1812 she had an affair with Lord Byron, whom she described as "mad, bad, and ...
who recalls their relationship. She met Byron after a ball and they began an affair. He writes the poem ''
She Walks in Beauty
"She Walks in Beauty" is a short lyrical poem in iambic tetrameter written in 1814 by Lord Byron, and is one of his most famous works.
It is said to have been inspired by an event in Byron's life. On 11 June 1814, Byron attended a party in Lon ...
'' about another woman, causing Lady Caroline to stab herself with a broken glass. He breaks things off and Lady Caroline is sent to Ireland.
The next witness is
Annabella Milbanke
Anne Isabella Noel Byron, 11th Baroness Wentworth and Baroness Byron (''née'' Milbanke; 17 May 1792 – 16 May 1860), nicknamed Annabella and commonly known as Lady Byron, was wife of poet George Gordon Byron, more commonly known as Lord Byro ...
who talks about her romance and marriage to Byron, including the birth of their child.
The third witness is
Augusta Leigh
Augusta Maria Leigh (''née'' Byron; 26 January 1783 – 12 October 1851) was the only daughter of John "Mad Jack" Byron, the poet Lord Byron's father, by his first wife, Amelia, née Darcy (Lady Conyers in her own right and the divorced wife ...
, with whom Annabelle thought Byron was having an affair, although Augusta denies it.
John Hobhouse, 1st Baron Broughton
John Cam Hobhouse, 1st Baron Broughton, (27 June 1786 – 3 June 1869), known as Sir John Hobhouse, Bt, from 1831 to 1851, was an English politician and diarist.
Early life
Born at Redland near Bristol, Broughton was the eldest son of Sir ...
is the fourth witness. He talks about Byron's political career and how he became famous overnight through his poetry and meeting
Teresa, Contessa Guiccioli
Teresa, Contessa Guiccioli (1800–1873) was the married lover of Lord Byron while he was living in Ravenna and writing the first five cantos of ''Don Juan''. She wrote the biographical account ''Lord Byron's Life in Italy''.
On 19 January 1 ...
.
Teresa is the fifth witness. She talks of their love affair while she was married and his involvement in the
Carbonari
The Carbonari () was an informal network of secret revolutionary societies active in Italy from about 1800 to 1831. The Italian Carbonari may have further influenced other revolutionary groups in France, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Uruguay and Ru ...
in Italy. Byron leaves her to go fight for Greek independence. The celestial judge (played by Dennis Price) tells the viewer it is up to them to decide whether Byron was good or bad.
Cast
Production
Development
The film was announced in 1945 by
Two Cities with
Eric Portman
Eric Harold Portman (13 July 1901 – 7 December 1969) was an English stage and film actor. He is probably best remembered for his roles in several films for Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger during the 1940s.
Early life
Born in Halifax, ...
to play the title role (Portman had played Byron on stage).
Stewart Granger
Stewart Granger (born James Lablache Stewart; 6 May 1913 – 16 August 1993) was a British film actor, mainly associated with heroic and romantic leading roles. He was a popular leading man from the 1940s to the early 1960s, rising to fame thr ...
was mentioned as another possibility. The film was to be written, produced and directed by
Terence Young Terence or Terry Young may refer to:
*Terence Young (director) (1915–1994), British film director
* Terence Young (politician) (born 1952), Canadian Conservative Party politician
* Terence Young (writer), Canadian writer
* Terry Young (American p ...
based on the books by
Peter Quennell
Sir Peter Courtney Quennell (9 March 1905 – 27 October 1993) was an English biographer, literary historian, editor, essayist, poet, and critic. He wrote extensively on social history.
Life
Born in Bickley, Kent, the son of architect C. H ...
, ''The Years of Fame'' and ''Byron in Italy''.
The project was not made but was re-activated when
Sydney Box
Frank Sydney Box (29 April 1907 – 25 May 1983) was a British film producer and screenwriter, and brother of British film producer Betty Box. In 1940, he founded the documentary film company Verity Films with Jay Lewis.
He produced and co-wro ...
took over
Gainsborough Studios
Gainsborough Pictures was a British film studio based on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in the former Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, north London. Gainsborough Studios was active between 1924 and 1951. The com ...
in 1946. Box had been considering a film based on
Percy Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 17928 July 1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame during his lifetime, but recognition of his achie ...
but was also enthusiastic about making one on Byron, who Box greatly admired. He assigned the project to producer
Aubrey Baring
Aubrey Baring (1912-1985) was a British film producer. For a number of years he was in
partnership with Maxwell Setton. They made movies for a newly organised Mayflower Productions, releasing through Rank.
Select filmography
*'' Snowbound'' (19 ...
and director David MacDonald. They greatly reduced Young's script by a half but Box was still dissatisfied with it.
Working with Gainsborough script adviser Paul Holt, Box reconfigured the film to consist of a series of flashbacks about episodes in Byron's life. Box ultimately decided this approach was too derivative of ''
Citizen Kane
''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American drama film produced by, directed by, and starring Orson Welles. He also co-wrote the screenplay with Herman J. Mankiewicz. The picture was Welles' first feature film. ''Citizen Kane'' is frequently cited ...
'' and made Byron's presence in the film too insubstantial. He then decided to focus the script on Byron's relationship with
Teresa Guiccioli but changed his mind with
Mai Zetterling
Mai Elisabeth Zetterling (; 24 May 1925 – 17 March 1994) was a Swedish film director, novelist and actor.
Early life
Zetterling was born in Västerås, Sweden to a working class family. She started her career as an actor at the age of 17 at D ...
who was playing that part was not available.
Shooting
The lead role was given to Dennis Price, who said during shooting he felt Portman should play the role.
Location filming began in Italy in October 1947. They returned in December. It was followed by shooting in Shepherd's Bush studio. Filming was done by April.
A Nottingham City librarian refused permission for the filmmakers to shoot at
Newstead Abbey
Newstead Abbey, in Nottinghamshire, England, was formerly an Augustinian priory. Converted to a domestic home following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, it is now best known as the ancestral home of Lord Byron.
Monastic foundation
The prior ...
because of Byron's reputation. Sydney Box called it "an example of bureaucracy at its worst."
Great effort and much money was spent to ensure the film was as historically accurate as possible in terms of sets and costumes. It was not shot in colour as to do so would have increased its budget by a third, and also as colour cameras were being used on the film ''
The Blue Lagoon''.
A huge set was built at Shepherds Bush. Filming took eleven weeks.
Before the film was released, the US announced they would not allow the film to be screened there because of the relationship between Byron and his half-sister, even though it was not featured in the film.
Sydney Box later heard a radio play about Byron, ''The Trial of Lord Byron'' by Laurence Kitchin which he thought would tie up some loose ends of the film. It consisted of Byron being hauled before a celestial court and forced to justify his actions. Box bought the rights to the radio play and had David MacDonald shoot 22 minutes of retakes in two days.
Reception
Critical
The movie received bad reviews. Dennis Price later said "One day I hope to have enough money to make another Byron film — the real story. And if I could get hold of all the scenes we shot and which never appeared in the film, two-thirds of the job would be done."
A critic for ''
Time Out'' has written of the film:
Box-office
The film was a box-office disaster. By the end of its theatrical first-run release, in 1953, it had earned £75,000, recording a loss of £179,200.
Book
Sydney Box and Vivian Cox wrote a book on the making of the film which was published in 1949.
References
External links
*
''Bad Lord Byron''at
TCMDB
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of Atl ...
Review of filmat ''Variety''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bad Lord Byron, The
1949 films
1940s historical drama films
1940s biographical drama films
British biographical drama films
British historical drama films
Films set in the 19th century
British black-and-white films
Films set in London
Films set in Greece
Films directed by David MacDonald (director)
Biographical films about poets
1949 drama films
1940s English-language films
1940s British films