Lady Jane (1985) Trevor Nunn   Director Trevor Nunn's film sheds light on an interesting (and tragic) footnote in the history of the English crown. Lady Jane Grey, a mousey, young bookworm with no interest in courtly affairs, discovers to her horror that her parents have arranged to marry her to Guilford Dudley (son of the Duke of Northumberland). Initially resentful and at odds, Jane and Guilford soon warm to each other, but their bliss is short-lived when it is revealed that Edward VI has died and has named the 16-year-old Jane as his successor to the throne. Expected to comply as the pawn of Guilford's father, Jane's youthful idealism gets the better of her, and she attempts to alter radically class inequity to revive the nation's economy. With the defeat of Northumberland, however, Jane is scapegoated as an insurgent and imprisoned by the newly-crowned Queen Mary in the tower. Helena Bonham-Carter gives one of her earliestand bestperformances as Lady Jane, imbuing the character with sensitivity and vigour. Cary Elwes is equally effective as the young and idealistic Guilford. The supporting cast are also top-notch, especially Sir Michael Hordern and John Wood. Patrick Stewart turns in an especially memorable performance as Henry Grey, the Duke of Suffolk, Jane's stern and punitive father. Heart-wrenching and tragic, Lady Jane is a remarkable story of a young woman who attempted to bring light into a world of carnage and megalomania, and, in her small way, succeeded. —Paul Andrew MacLean

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