Bette Davis and Errol Flynn made The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex fascinatingly public, striking sparks in this lavish Technicolor tale of the ill-fated love between the aging Elizabeth I and the dashing Earl of Essex. Thoroughly unglamorous here – eyebrows and hairline shaved, face painted chalky white – double Academy AwardÒ winner Davis exudes such intelligence, energy and ardor that her romance with the decades-younger Essex (Flynn at the peak of his remarkable good looks and athletic verve) is completely believable. Based on Maxwell Anderson’s play Elizabeth the Queen and directed by Michael Curtiz, the film was nominated for five OscarsÒ (Best Art Direction, Color Cinematography, Scoring, Sound Recording and Special Effects).