Good movie but grossly overrated

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

It is little surprise that this recreation of the Elizabethan era is virtually forgotten when you remember that both Bette Davis and Flora Robson played Elzabeth a couple of years later.Athene Seyler was a good actress but she was not on the same level as her competitor's.Furthermore Matheson Lang does not compare with the leading men of Errol Flynn and Laurence Olivier.It is also clear that this film suffers from an inadequate budget and some truly awful model work.The action scenes are lamely directed.Compare this with what Korda was producing at this time,and this comes off a poor second.It is however interesting to see what other British producers were making.Apparently one of the few surviving films of director Arthur Woods.One of those credited for photography is future director Ronald Neame.The original running time was 111 minutes which was then cut down to 104minutes.This version runs for 95minutes and is slow moving so I pity those who had to sit through the full version.The Armada at the climax is just amateurish.