Lady Caroline Lamb (film)


Lady Caroline Lamb is a 1972 British epic romantic drama film based on the life of Lady Caroline Lamb, lover of Lord Byron and wife of William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne. The only film written and directed by Robert Bolt, it starred his wife, Sarah Miles, as Lady Caroline, Jon Finch, Richard Chamberlain, Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, John Mills, Margaret Leighton and Michael Wilding.

Plot Synopsis

The film describes the life of Lady Caroline Lamb after she marries William Lamb. Later she meets and falls in love with Lord Byron
, but when he deserts her for a younger woman Miss Millbanke, she descends into madness. At the end of the film she dies from a broken heart.

Cast

The film was the directorial debut of screenwriter Robert Bolt and starred his wife Sarah Miles in the title role. Bolt did not direct another film. The film is also notable because it is the last film in which Michael Wilding appeared, in a cameo with his last wife, Margaret Leighton, who played Lady Melbourne. The film score was composed by Richard Rodney Bennett, who later based a concert work, Elegy for Lady Caroline Lamb for viola and orchestra, on some of the material.

Reception

Praise came for Laurence Olivier's cameo as the Duke of Wellington, with Philip French of The Times writing that "... Olivier's brief appearance as the Duke of Wellington is a beautifully witty and rounded characterisation that is worth the price of the admission in itself".
The film was one of the most popular movies of 1973 at the British box office. It was nominated for three BAFTA awards.