That Lady

That Lady is a 1955 British-Spanish historical romantic drama film directed by Terence Young and produced by Sy Bartlett and Ray Kinnoch.

She lost an eye in a duel defending the honour of her king Philip II of Spain, (played by Paul Scofield in his film debut, who earned a BAFTA award for best newcomer).

Subsequently, he asks Ana de Mendoza to assist him in tutoring commoner Antonio Perez as his first secretary, but when they fall in love his popularity starts to drop, helped along by Philip II's jealous minister Mateo Vasquez.

[9] The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "That Lady not only lacks imagination, but remains tied to its literary origins all through, and sustains a remarkable amount of purposelessness and indecision; from the long early scene between Ana and the King (in which the dialogue is no more than an exchange of chunks of complicated plot detail) a pedestrian narrative note is struck, and a commentator has even to intervene from time to time to explain what exactly is or has been going on.

The rest of the cast is markedly ill at ease, with the exception of Paul Scofield – who, as the film progresses, creates a believable physical image out of the trite situations.