I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

After 40 minutes of this film, I still had no idea what was going on. The story is complicated, confusing, slow-paced, uninteresting and full of talking. This is a true story that has had all the interest taken out of it. No wonder the film is forgotten - it's just not at all engaging. This is a terrible shame, especially as the story deals with the ancestors of the current royal family at the time when their ancestry was about to switch to the German lineage. I feel the film-makers have done a huge dis-service to what should have been a fascinating story. What we get is a slow snorefest of no interest with cast members delivering their dialogue in a very deliberately slow-paced manner. The worst offender is Joan Greenwood as Sophie Dorothea. She is terrible. All her dialogue is overdone in a slow, deliberate manner that is totally inappropriate and spoken for dramatic effect without any realism. The film is basically about a doomed love affair. That's how I'd describe it. However, it should be about so much more given the subject matter and significance to the English monarchy. I must tip my hat to fellow reviewer "theowinthrop" who explains the situation perfectly in his review. I suggest you read that for all the interest and knowledge surrounding this topic and forget about this film. You have been warned!

Amazing, amazing film that, sadly, virtually no one knows about. This Ealing historical romance, filmed in muted Technicolour tones, is just stunning. If you are one of the "Stewart Granger was a smarmy bastard who can't act" club, you obviously haven't seen this film. Granger and Joan Greenwood play the doomed lovers of the title to perfection. Flora Robson should have been nominated, and won, the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her excellent performance. This film contains many visual delights, not least a five minute montage where Greenwood tries to make her way through a masked crowd of revelers to meet her lover. It's an exhilarating, tense sequence that culminates in a passionate kiss. Truly one of the overlooked treasures of the 20th century. This is a big statement, but the film should be as well known and widely seen as other great British films of it's vintage, such as Lean's Great Expectations and Reed's Odd Man Out. Seek this one out at every opportunity! 10/10 +++++

Saraband for Dead Lovers tells the tragic story of Princess Sophia Dorothea of Celle who married Prince George Louis of Hanover most unhappily. Her's is one of the saddest stories concerning royalty ever.This may have been Joan Greenwood's finest performance on screen. She's really the only decent person in this entire cast. For reasons of politics, she's rushed into a marriage with George Louis and has two children by him, a boy and girl. At the time this is all taking place in the 1680s, there's no reason to suspect that these kids will be nothing more than the Electoral Princes of Hanover in the Holy Roman Empire.But through their grandmother, played here by the indomitable French actress Francoise Rosay, they are descended from James I, the first king of the United Kingdoms of Scotland and England. She never lets them forget that for a moment. Actually in fact a whole lot of people in 1689 would have to clear out of the way for Peter to become King of Great Britain. But over the next two decades, that's exactly what did happen. One thing the Hanover clan had going for them, they were firm Protestants and at that point there were too many people in Great Britain who had a vested interest in an unquestioned Protestant succession. It was the Hanoverian ace in the hole.But before all these events occur Joan Greenwood falls head over heels for the dashing Swedish Count Philip of Konigsmarck as played by Stewart Granger. Granger probably plays Konigsmarck a lot better than he actually was, which was a military man who was not above a little bedroom politics to get what he wanted. Before becoming involved with the younger and more attractive Greenwood, Granger was providing a little nookie on the side to Flora Robson. Robson was the old mistress of the Duke Ernest Augustus played here by Frederick Valk, but the old girl wanted something a little livelier which Granger provided for a few favorable mentions. As in real life Granger moved away when he found something better and Flora reacted with the fury of a woman scorned.Some of you might recognize a bit of Anna Karennina in this story and I wouldn't be surprised if Count Tolstoy took this story as inspiration when he wrote his epic classic.Peter Bull and Joan Greenwood are the direct ancestors of the present monarch of the United Kingdom and her family. In 1715 Peter Bull became George I of Great Britain and distinguished himself by never learning to speak one drop of English. In fact all he saw Great Britain as was a cash cow to finance various continental Hanoverian ventures. But the little boy in this film grew up to be George II and so on and so on until Elizabeth II.For what happens to lovers Granger and Greenwood you have to watch the film for. It's a story that the royals aren't exactly proud of.

This is one of the most beautifully made Technicolor melodramas of the 1940's which loses nothing in maintaining historical accuracy. Look out for simply stunning performances from Peter Bull as the heir presumptive to the British throne and, above all, Flora Robson as Countess Platen. Stewart Granger (Konigsmark) is in top form and Francoise Rosay as the Electress Sophia is unforgettable. Dialogue is razor sharp throughout, the costumes are splendidly authentic and the sets are magnificent. The only area of weakness is Joan Greenwood's Sophie Dorothea, but she is supposed to be playing a tragic victim and maybe that's why critics wrote her off as a wet lettuce. It is much to be regretted that Saraband is not more widely available.