Tea at Trianon: Joan of Arc (1948)

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Joan of Arc (1948) starring Ingrid Bergman is in my opinion the best and most historically accurate of all the films about the Maid of Lorraine. Ingrid Bergman was not a believer but as an accomplished actress she was able to project the radiant faith of Joan. In fact, Ingrid had great devotion to the saint and herself helped to finance the film. Directed by Victor Fleming and based upon the play by Maxwell Anderson, the movie captures the season of miracles which was Joan's life. Unfortunately, many key scenes were edited from the version usually shown on television. The complete, unedited version has been restored and was released on DVD in 2004. I am dying to see it. Here is an article w ith several stills from the film, including those from scenes which did not make the final cut.