A lavish documentary film of Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation in 1953.A lavish documentary film of Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation in 1953.A lavish documentary film of Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation in 1953.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 5 wins & 2 nominations total
King Charles III
- Self
- (as Prince Charles)
Louis Mountbatten
- Self
- (as Admiral the Earl Mountbatten of Burma)
Edward Windsor
- Self
- (as Duke of Kent)
Bernard Fitzalan-Howard 16th Duke of Norfolk
- Self
- (as The Earl Marshal of England)
Basil Brooke 1st Viscount Brookeborough
- Self
- (as The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland)
Godfrey Huggins
- Self
- (as The Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia)
Dudley Shelton Senanayake
- Self
- (as The Prime Minister of Ceylon)
Muhammad Ali Bogra
- Self
- (as The Prime Minister of Pakistan)
Jawaharlal Nehru
- Self
- (as The Prime Minister of India)
D.F. Malan
- Self
- (as The Prime Minister of South Africa)
Sidney George Holland
- Self
- (as The Prime Minister of New Zealand)
Robert Gordon Menzies
- Self
- (as The Prime Minister of Australia)
Louis Stephen Saint-Laurent
- Self
- (as The Prime Minister of Canada)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaSir Laurence Olivier prerecorded the narration in May 1953 since the coronation rituals were known prior to the actual event. This allowed the footage of the coronation to be released almost immediately after it was shot on 2 June 1953.
- Alternate versionsThough not present on home media releases, original film prints featured a grand instrumental of GOD SAVE THE QUEEN after the final fade out, followed by the bells of Westminster to exit the theatre to.
- ConnectionsFeatured in 84 Charing Cross Road (1987)
Featured review
A Queen in Crowned
It's hard to imagine anyone but Sir Laurence Olivier providing the commentary for this frankly spectacular documentary that presents in glorious technicolour the epitome of pageantry and circumstance that was the Coronation of Elizabeth II. Bedecked in all of it's golden finery, Westminster Abbey provides a fitting - and reasonably well lit - setting for this astonishingly comprehensive coverage of a ceremony that had never before been covered for television. The narration is, as you might expect, suitably theatrical but it's never fawning. The use of poetry and history effortlessly and potently mixed together by a man who does really appear to be as steeped in the event as those inside this ancient church. It's also quite impressive how rousing and emotional a choir can be when in full flow within a building with such almost perfect acoustics. There are long periods without commen. The images and music doing the heavy lifting before the new Sovereign heads back to Buckingham Palace, in the rain, to throngs of people cheering, and with a few of her senior officers less adept on an horse than they might have wished! . Watching this, you realise quite quickly that though it symbolises a new, post-war, age of optimism and colour; it also sends a signal that the days of empire are finished. There are way more "guests" here whom her father might have considered "subjects" - and the whole thing leaves you with a sense, however anachronistic, that this ain't broke, so doesn't need fixing. That these colour images exist in such a complete fashion is remarkable, and regardless of any political views that might exist about the rights and wrongs of moncarhy, this is as close to a photographic work of art as I've seen.
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- CinemaSerf
- Feb 7, 2024
Details
Box office
- Gross worldwide
- $7,373
- Runtime1 hour 22 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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