That Lady

For the hit song by The Isley Brothers, see That Lady, Pt. 1 & 2.

That Lady is a 1955 British-Spanish historical romantic drama film directed by Terence Young and produced by Sy Bartlett and Ray Kinnoch. It stars Olivia de Havilland, Gilbert Roland, and Paul Scofield. It was written by Bartlett based on the 1946 historical novel by Kate O'Brien, which was published in North America under the title For One Sweet Grape.^[3][4]

That Lady
1955 Theatrical poster
Directed by	Terence Young
Written by	Sy Bartlett Based on the novel by Kate O'Brien
Produced by	Sy Bartlett
Starring	Olivia de Havilland Paul Scofield Gilbert Roland Françoise Rosay
Cinematography	Robert Krasker
Edited by	Raymond Poulton
Music by	John Addison
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	11 May 1955 (1955-05-11)[1]
Running time	100 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom Spain
Language	English
Budget	$1 million[2]

Plot

The film is the story of Ana de Mendoza, a swashbuckling, sword-toting princess. She lost an eye in a duel defending the honour of her king Philip II of Spain, (played by Paul Scofield in his film debut, who earned a BAFTA award for best newcomer).^[5][6] Philip later jilted Ana to marry Mary I, the Queen of England, marrying her off to an aging noble, who died, leaving her a widow. Subsequently, he asks Ana de Mendoza to assist him in tutoring commoner Antonio Perez as his first secretary, but when they fall in love his popularity starts to drop, helped along by Philip II's jealous minister Mateo Vasquez.

Cast

• Olivia de Havilland as Ana de Mendoza
• Gilbert Roland as Antonio Perez
• Paul Scofield as King Philip II of Spain
• Françoise Rosay as Bernardine
• Dennis Price as Mateo Vasquez
• Anthony Dawson as Don Inigo
• Robert Harris as Cardinal
• Peter Illing as Diego
• José Nieto as Don Juan de Escobedo
• Christopher Lee as Captain
• Ángel Peralta as Rejoneador
• Fernando Sancho as Diego
• Andy Shine as Little Fernando

Production

Shot in England and on location in Spain, the film features Cinemascope footage of the Spanish countryside and renaissance castles. That Lady was an early directorial effort by Terence Young, who went on to direct three James Bond films: Dr. No, From Russia With Love, and Thunderball.^[7] Christopher Lee appears in a minor role as the Captain of the Guard.^[8]

Director Terence Young had tried to interest Greta Garbo in starring in this film, without success. Vivien Leigh was interested, but due to her declining health and tuberculosis, it was impossible to insure her. Olivia de Havilland was the third choice for the film.^[9]

Much of the film was shot on location in Segovia, Spain.^[9]

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "That Lady not only lacks imagination, but remains tied to its literary origins all through, and sustains a remarkable amount of purposelessness and indecision; from the long early scene between Ana and the King (in which the dialogue is no more than an exchange of chunks of complicated plot detail) a pedestrian narrative note is struck, and a commentator has even to intervene from time to time to explain what exactly is or has been going on. The slowness seems exaggerated by Olivia de Havilland's performance; as the long-suffering Ana, she acts with changeless emphasis in a self-approving vacuum. The rest of the cast is markedly ill at ease, with the exception of Paul Scofield – who, as the film progresses, creates a believable physical image out of the trite situations. The magnificence of the Escorial and other Spanish locations provides impressive but sometimes over-emphatic backgrounds to this lifeless film. Somehow, somewhere, one feels, something went very wrong."^[10]

Other adaptations of the same novel

The novel was also produced as a play in 1949, starring Katharine Cornell as Ana, Henry Daniell as Philip II, and Torin Thatcher as Antonio.^[11]