The Nelson Affair

It's 1805. Adm. Lord Horatio Nelson (Peter Finch) has returned to England from fighting the Napoleonic Wars. He intends to rest for several months, not with his wife but with his mistress Lady Hamilton (Glenda Jackson). Meanwhile, his nephew George Matcham visits and gets entangled in the affair. Nelson is beloved but the Lady is not. Pressure mounts as the French and Spanish combined fleet heads towards England leading to the legendary Battle of Trafalgar.

Glenda Jackson seems to be overacting and the wild, drunken character doesn't feel like Lady Hamilton. Although she may be the only one trying to elevate the drama. Everybody else is rather bland. Only a few characters rise above a whimper. As for the climatic battle, they do what they can with the interior work and they don't explain the battle plan for the exterior work. It's old and the intensity is not at the highest. It shows when the people die in that old showy way. It's a costume drama.

Peter Finch gives a brilliant performance as Nelson in this colorful, superbly photographed film. Glenda Jackson gives a fine performance as Lady Hamilton, but Finch stands out in this film, as the central character of focus. Too bad it is not on video or disc 10/10.

It has been said that Glenda Jackson.was overacting. Emma Hamilton was crude and vulgar, that characteristic was captured greatly. Historically, she was a tramp and died in poverty after the death of Nelson. The character who played Harding said it best,

England needed a hero not a saint. He had said that Nelson was a great man by both was he did and what he was.

The battle did not show the details, however, Nelsons plans never were that complicated. His approach or "touch" was always to go right at them and break the line of battle and turn the fight into a melee. This tactic was no longer viable with the creation of the dreadnought, and long range guns. Had Nelson lived in 1917, his tactics would have spelled disaster for the British Navy: hence, the tactics were and are irrelevant to the story. The detail of preparation and conduct of a battle in the Victory in the age of sail is quite interesting.

This is an interesting and powerful story of an imperfect man being great. The current list of leaders and politicians are "perfect" men or women, but mediocre and incompetent. I would much rather have a Nelson, than a Biden, or a Lloyd Austin or Mark Milley.

Terence Rattigan adapted his own play "Bequest to the Nation" (also this film's alternate title) featuring young Dominic Guard as yet another go-between: this time observing the relationship between vulgar Lady Hamilton (who quotes others as labeling her "that Hamilton b*tch") and his uncle, Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson, who is unhappily married to Lady Nelson, the young man's confidante. Glenda Jackson is rather a hoot as the belching, saucy Lady Hamilton, though she criticized her own performance after seeing the completed picture (causing Rattigan to suggest she return her salary). The ticklish little asides between Jackson and Peter Finch are fun, though there's really no reason to be interested in these costumed monsters and guttersnipes. *1/2 from ****

The movie is an adaptation of a play on Nelson and Lady Hamilton, written by Terence Rattigan, surely on par with other Rattigan plays such as The Deep Blue Sea, The WInslow Boy and Separate Tables.