Queen Elizabeth

Les Amours de la reine Élisabeth (The Loves of Queen Elizabeth), Les Amours d'Elisabeth, Reine d'Angleterre (The Loves of Elizabeth, Queen of England) or La reine Élisabeth (Queen Elizabeth) is a 1912 feature 4-reel French silent film based on the love affair between Elizabeth I of England and the Earl of Essex. It was condensed from a play of the same name and directed by Louis Mercanton and Henri Desfontaines. It was shot in Paris and starred Sarah Bernhardt as Elizabeth and Lou Tellegen as Essex. Bernhardt by then was 68 and said of the film "This is my last chance at immortality". She and Tellegen were already romantically involved, and this was their second film together. Its production company, L’Histrionic Film, was forced into liquidation by Pathé Frères during the film's production, but it was completed with funds from Adolph Zukor. Zukor also brought it to New York City, where it premiered at the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway. The film’s US release (on State Rights basis, on 12 July 1912) was the first release from the Famous Players Film Company. Its success convinced other American companies that feature films were commercially viable. Famous Players, which advertised "Famous Players in Famous Plays", later became Famous Players-Lasky, and then Paramount Pictures. Queen Elizabeth had one of the earliest dedicated film scores, composed by Joseph Carl Breil specifically for the production. Four years earlier, Bernhardt’s first film The Assassination of the Duke of Guise (1908), also featured an original film score, one composed by Camille Saint-Saëns.