The Divine Lady (1928)






Lady Hamilton, beloved of Nelson, the great British admiral is one of the famous women of history, aside from being one of the immortal beauties. This special film, which ran to a million in costs, was built upon E. Barrington's recent novel of the lovely and questionable lady.

Although the screen version glosses over the famous Emma's indiscretions and does not tell exactly how the daughter of a cook became the most talked about woman in all Europe during the dying days of the eighteenth century and the first years of the nineteenth, it has genuine pictorial beauty.

And, while the star, Corinne Griffith, gives an unaging characterization of the famous woman, she lends great pictorial assistance. She is as lovely an Emma as Romney ever transferred to undying canvas.

The weakness of "The Divine Lady" is in its effort to tell history and its forgetfulness of the real Emma. The picture is too concerned with Lady Hamilton's efforts to help Admiral Nelson and to give assistance to his fleet. Then, too, the extended shots (many in skillful miniature) of the Battles of the Nile and of Trafalgar are repetitious. The two combats look exactly alike, which is unfortunate for the climax of the film.

Miss Griffith is a charming Lady Hamilton. The important roles of Nelson, Lord Hamilton and Grcville are handled by Victor Varconi, H. B. Warner and Ian Keith. The photography is gorgeous.

Photoplay December 1928



Vintage magazines

Photoplay , September 1928
Photoplay , October 1928
Photoplay , November 1928

Photoplay , December 1928
Photoplay , December 1928
Photoplay , December 1928

Photoplay , January 1929
Photoplay , May 1929
Photoplay , July 1929


Books with substantial mentioning of The Divine Lady

Robert K. Klepper
Silent Films, 1877-1996, A Critical Guide to 646 Movies
Jefferson, North Carolina and London, 1999

Jerry Vermilye
The Films of the Twenties
Secaucus, NJ, 1985