Frank Lloyd both produced and directed
The Divine Lady
, a Hollywood slant on the 19th century romance of Lord Horatio Nelson and Lady Emma Hamilton. American film star Corinne Griffith, decked out in a blonde wig, is decorative but otherwise unconvincing as Lady Emma, while Hungarian-born Victor Varconi brings an inappropriate continental air to the veddy British Lord Nelson. Both stars found themselves playing second fiddle to Marie Dressler, mugging to her heart's content as Lady Emma's ambitious mother. The scandal surrounding the leading characters' illicit affair is secondary to the film's exciting reconstructions of Nelson's celebrated sea battles. Technically a silent,
Divine Lady
was released with a Vitaphone musical score and sound effects. Lost in the shuffle during the switch over to talkies in 1929,
is forgotten today, totally eclipsed by the immensely successful 1941 film
Lady Hamilton
, starring Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh.