Top 10 Performances of Royals That Were Short But Iconic

MsMojo

These performances were short yet iconic and all-around royal. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the best portrayals of historic royalty that were in a movie for a good time but not for a long time.

Transcript

00:00 "You, you!"

00:01 "It's your majesty the first time. After that, it's man. As in ham."

00:05 Welcome to Miss Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the best portrayals of

00:09 historic royalty that were in a movie for a good time, but not a long time.

00:14 "Awesome! Wow! Do you have a clue what happens now?"

00:20 Number 10, Jeanette Charles as Elizabeth II, the naked gun from The Files of Police Squad.

00:26 "Ladies and gentlemen, please rise and give a hearty Los Angeles welcome to Her Majesty

00:30 Queen Elizabeth II."

00:32 Playing the living queen of your actual country could be daunting for some,

00:36 and while British actress Jeanette Charles made her living at it, she took care to be respectful.

00:41 Her best appearance as Queen Elizabeth II may be in the zany first instalment

00:46 in the Naked Gun trilogy of films.

00:55 Leslie Nilsen's Lieutenant Frank Drebin is assigned to prevent the Queen's assassination

01:00 during a baseball game. Charles barely speaks a word, but watching her in character as the Queen,

01:06 trying to maintain her regalness as she participates in American pastimes like

01:11 hot dogs and the Wave is comedy gold.

01:13 "How about that Queen, ladies and gentlemen? Let's have a nice round of applause."

01:17 "Well, we're ready for the start of today's ball game."

01:20 Number 9. Elsa Lanchester as Anne of Cleves, The Private Life of Henry VIII.

01:25 "Ah, what am I, what am I gonna do with you?"

01:28 "Chop my head?"

01:29 "Probably."

01:30 "You're damned."

01:30 "Why not?"

01:31 "Because in Europe I will make such a scandal as you never heard."

01:34 The short marriage between the notorious King Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves, a German noble,

01:40 occupies a brief but memorable section of this historical comedy from the early 30s.

01:45 Though it's a myth that Henry made the characteristically tactful declaration

01:49 that she looked like a horse, the marriage still didn't last long.

01:53 Playing opposite her real-life husband, Charles Lawton, Elsa Lanchester got to play an Anne who

01:58 was determined to wriggle out of her marriage to the famously vengeful King.

02:03 "What can be done? Nothing."

02:05 "How like a man, to be dead before he is killed. That is always a fear."

02:12 She plays herself off as ugly, clumsy, and so shrill that he will have no choice but to

02:17 divorce her. It's so satisfying to watch Anne beat Henry at his own game.

02:22 "Is this a bargain?"

02:23 "Yeah."

02:24 "Confess that you cheated, you go back to Germany."

02:29 "Back to Germany? I cheated."

02:32 8. Patrick Stewart as Richard I

02:35 Robin Hood, Men in Tights

02:37 "I now pronounce you man and..."

02:40 "I am Jack."

02:40 "Who asked?"

02:43 After the standard buffoonery and ludicrous musical numbers of Mel Brooks' Robin Hood parody,

02:48 who better than Sir Patrick Stewart to play the King known as the Lionheart?

02:53 Playing King Richard I, the absent King, who's off fighting the Crusades while his corrupt brother,

02:59 John, runs his kingdom into the ground, Stewart is both believable and hilarious.

03:05 Even Brooks' most juvenile puns sound kingly coming out of his mouth.

03:09 "You have surrounded your given name with a foul stench.

03:14 From this day forth, all the toilets in this kingdom shall be known as...John's."

03:23 In just a few minutes of screen time, Stewart provides the climax with gravitas,

03:27 wit, and deadpan humour. It's obvious he's having a great time doing it too.

03:33 "It's good to be the king."

03:34 "No, you may marry them."

03:41 Number 7, Edward Norton as Baldwin IV, Kingdom of Heaven

03:45 "When I was 16, I won a great victory. I felt in that moment I would live to be 100.

03:51 Now I know I shall not see 30."

03:55 Director Ridley Scott's fictionalising of the Crusades is a forgotten epic,

03:59 but actor Edward Norton's supporting performance as the masked leper, King Baldwin IV,

04:05 was praised by many. The King of Jerusalem is doomed by his affliction,

04:10 and Norton plays him as a man who has accepted that life, war, and politics are part of a greater plan.

04:16 "Remember that howsoever you are played, or by whom, your soul is in your keeping alone."

04:21 He speaks with gentle authority, and even acting through an unmoving mask,

04:26 Norton commands in the role. Serving as mentor figure to the Crusader Balian,

04:31 his scenes are short but provide a moral centre to the action that follows.

04:36 "All are welcome in Jerusalem, not only because it's expedient, but because it is right.

04:41 Protect the helpless, and then maybe one day, when I am helpless, you will come and protect me."

04:50 Number 6, Kathy Burke as Mary I, Elizabeth

04:54 "It is your death warrant. All I need do is sign it.

04:56 Mary, if you sign that paper, you will be murdering your own sister."

05:04 The Queen Mary of history is known for her heavy reliance on execution.

05:08 She earned the nickname "Bloody Mary" after all.

05:11 As played by comedian Kathy Burke in the 1998 movie about Mary's younger sister,

05:16 the eventual Queen Elizabeth, she is a paranoid and vengeful presence.

05:20 "Why will you not confess your crimes against me?"

05:23 "Because, your majesty, I have committed none."

05:27 "You speak with such sincerity. I see you are still a consummate actress."

05:35 She taunts her Protestant sister with a death warrant, and volleys back and forth between

05:40 genuine care and resolve that England will remain a Catholic nation after her death.

05:45 Though she dies, as her real-life counterpart does, so that her sister does become Queen,

05:50 her presence in Elizabeth's life is proof that a Queen can trust no one, not even family.

05:57 "I promise to act as my conscience dictates."

06:04 "You do not think to be Queen at all?"

06:09 Number 5, Jonathan Groff as George III, Hamilton

06:13 "You'll be back, time will tell. You'll remember that I served you well."

06:20 The performer playing King George III has arguably the best gig.

06:24 You get three hilarious songs, and then you get to chill backstage until bows.

06:28 Played by Jonathan Groff in the original Broadway cast and in the 2020 filmed version

06:33 of the stage show, King George is a cruel ruler who loves to be bad.

06:37 "And when push comes to shove, I will send a fully armed battalion to remind you of my love."

06:47 Giddy with excitement at the thought of his former colonists tearing each other apart,

06:56 it makes the real man's legacy of colonial rule seem appropriately petty.

07:01 He acts more like a 13-year-old who likes to hold magnifying glasses to ants than a true monarch.

07:07 "When your people say they hate you, don't come crawling back to me."

07:14 Number 4, John Gilgud as Louis VII, Beckett

07:19 "Your Majesty, the English ambassador's extraordinary insist that I convey their compliments."

07:24 "They've already done that. I'll see them when I'm ready."

07:28 In just over eight minutes of screen time, British acting legend John Gilgud won acclaim

07:33 and even an Oscar nomination for his role as the French King Louis VII.

07:38 After royally shafting his friend, the King of England, upstart Bishop Thomas Beckett,

07:43 seeks the help of the French. Enter the ornately dressed,

07:47 smug and deliciously petty King Louis.

07:50 "My dear man, crowned heads are free to play the little game of courtesy,

07:54 but nations owe one another none."

07:56 Disarmingly polite and straightforward, the French King is a dapper strategist.

08:01 He seems friendly enough, but his cheerful demeanour makes his massive influence

08:05 and love of shady social power plays just that more threatening.

08:09 He almost dares everyone in the room to question his behaviour, knowing full well they can't.

08:15 "Gentlemen, we have listened most attentively to your sovereign's gracious request,

08:19 and we shall shortly be drafting a formal reply to it."

08:22 Number 3, Helena Bonham Carter as the Queen Mother, The King's Speech

08:27 "Forgive me, your-" "Royal Highness."

08:29 "Royal Highness." "His donson was used during the Great War,

08:32 when the Navy didn't want the enemy to know he was a ward."

08:35 "Am I considered the enemy?" "You will be, if you remain unobliging."

08:40 Much of the drama in this Oscar-winning period piece is between the King and his speech therapist,

08:44 but their entire relationship is put into motion by the Queen.

08:48 As the nonplussed but loving Queen consort to the unexpected King George VI,

08:53 Helena Bonham Carter left a huge impression.

08:56 "I'm told your husband calls my husband Bertie, and my husband calls your husband Lionel.

09:02 I trust you won't call me Liz."

09:04 Her Queen Elizabeth is proper when need be,

09:07 but her effortless humour pokes fun at the pretension of royal conventions.

09:11 The way she never seems angry at the King, just a little annoyed, is so funny and so adorable.

09:18 She knows how serious her husband's speech issues are, but she never lets herself be too serious.

09:23 "And up comes Her Royal Highness, and slowly exhale, and down comes Her Royal Highness."

09:30 "You alright Bertie?" "Yes."

09:32 "Actually quite good fun."

09:33 Number 2. Robert Shaw as Henry VIII, a man for all seasons.

09:38 "I'll leave you out of it, that you are my Chancellor.

09:42 I don't take it kindly, and I'll have no opposition."

09:47 This Best Picture Oscar winner follows the Lord Chancellor,

09:50 who paid dearly for his principles when the infamous King Henry VIII asked him to renounce

09:55 his faith. Known for playing roughnecks and sociopaths, Robert Shaw was not the

10:00 standard Henry VIII. That's what made him all the more terrifying to watch.

10:04 "See? See how you've maddened me? I hardly know myself."

10:12 Vollying between admiring the natural beauty of his kingdom,

10:15 and berating any subject who did not do his bidding, Henry is a volatile force.

10:20 Despite the King's overarching influence over the story,

10:24 the film's focus is on Moore's faith and politics.

10:27 It's hard to ignore Shaw's presence though. It looms large.

10:31 "Oh lass, as I think of it, I see so clearly that I cannot come with your grace,

10:35 that my endeavor is not to think of it at all."

10:37 "Then you haven't thought enough!"

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10:54 1. Judi Dench as Elizabeth I - Shakespeare in Love

11:00 "What do you love so much?" "Your Majesty."

11:04 "Speak up girl, I know who I am."

11:05 Though it's not the shortest Oscar-winning performance on record,

11:08 Dame Judi Dench stole the show in just over five minutes as Queen Elizabeth I.

11:14 The Queen acts as a sort of sage character, appearing in only a few scenes.

11:18 Her more impressive one comes at the end.

11:21 "Mr. Tilney!"

11:22 "Have a care with my name, you will wear it out."

11:32 Suspecting rightly that the theatre artists behind Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

11:37 have broken the rule forbidding women on stage,

11:39 the authorities are about to arrest those responsible, until the Queen intervenes,

11:44 saving everyone's reputation, the show, and Shakespeare's career.

11:49 With tongue-in-cheek humour and an air of sarcasm you might not expect from a Queen,

11:54 she is one of the crown jewels of the movie.

11:56 "Nature and truth are the very enemies of play acting. I'll wager my fortune."

12:00 "I thought you were here because you had none."

12:02 Which of these royal performances left the biggest impact on you? Let us know in the comments.

12:09 "It is a custom and my royal right. Hold this father."

12:13 "Rabbi."

12:15 "Whatever."

12:16 Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms Mojo.

12:20 And be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.

12:24 [Music]

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