Mary of Scotland

58.500

Talky melodrama. A few good scenes in the midst and the production gives you the feel that this could have been epic instead of dull

Simply too much talk and plot. The film never feels like it settles in, and the story continues to get more and more convoluted. The trial and execution sequences at the end were extremely well shot though, modifying similar scenes in Ford's earlier film, The Prisoner of Shark Island.

Mary of Scotland is a prestige production from RKO getting Katharine Hepburn to play the title role. And this looks majestic with large sets and fancy costumes all the way. But there was one problem. The script was so boring that director John Ford lost interest. The movie moves too slowly with yawning dialogue. But there are a lot of strong scenes in this 2 hour epic, and Hepburn looks fantastic in her role! She holds this together like glue and gets the most out of a poorly written script.