Major Cast | |
---|---|
Paul Scofield | as Thomas More |
Wendy Hiller | as Alice |
Leo McKern | as Cromwell |
Robert Shaw | as Henry VIII |
Orson Welles | as Cardinal Wolsey |
Susannah York | as Margaret |
Nigel Davenport | as Duke of Norfolk |
John Hurt | as Richard Rich |
Corin Redgrave | as Roper |
Colin Blakely | as Matthew |
Cyril Luckham | as Archbishop Cranmer |
Jack Gwillim | as Chief Justice |
Thomas Heathcote | as Boatman |
Yootha Joyce | as Averil Machin |
Anthony Nicholls | as King's Representative |
John Nettleton | as Jailer |
Eira Heath | as Matthew's Wife |
Molly Urquhart | as Maid |
Paul Hardwick | as Courtier |
Michael Latimer | as Norfolk's Aide |
Philip Brack | as Captain of Guard |
Martin Boddey | as Governor of Tower |
Eric Mason | as Executioner |
Matt Zimmerman | as Messenger |
Vanessa Redgrave | as Anne Boleyn |
MPAA Rating: | G |
Production Company: | Highland Films |
Distributors (US): | * Columbia Pictures (theatrical) * National Broadcasting Company (TV) * RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (video/laserdisc) * Columbia TriStar Home Video (video/laserdisc/DVD) * Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (DVD) * Twilight Time (Blu-ray/video) |
Languages: | English | Latin | Spanish | French |
Release Date (US): | 12/14/1966 |
Running Time: | 120 minutes |
Domestic Box Office: | $28,350,000 |
Foreign Box Office: | ? |
Production Budget: | $2,000,000 (Est.) |
Catherine of Aragon, the current wife of England's King Henry VIII, is barren. England needs an heir to the throne — a male child who can succeed Henry; else the kingdom will dissolve into a stew of warring dukedoms. But most of England follows the Catholic faith led by the Pope in Rome, and so nominally does King Henry himself. He would fain put Catherine aside and choose a new bride who can bear him a son — but Catholicism decrees that marriages cannot be annulled.
Henry chooses the standard answer of power faced with moral constraints: he will disobey. Most of his officials have yielded to his will, thus maintaining their privileged positions. But Sir Thomas More is an obstacle; hewing to his faith, he will not support the annulment of his sovereign's marriage. For this reason he is stripped of his office, imprisoned in the Tower of London, and finally beheaded.1
There is much of pomp and circumstance in A Man for All Seasons. Its chief virtue, however, is not the spectacle it presents, but rather how it reflects the actual history while giving us sharp dialogue and acting that show us More's intense personal crisis.
The history is indeed portrayed quite accurately, down to More's interaction with Richard Rich, who as the Solicitor General is widely believed to have perjured himself in giving the testimony that sealed More's fate. Henry, too, is vividly portrayed as a mercurial ruler, angry and conciliatory by turns, who brooks no disagreement and gets very little.
The film stands as a classic of historical drama, made so by the often searing dialogue adapted from Robert Bolt's play as well as by excellent acting, costumes, cinematography — all the usual features of a quality film.
A Man for All Seasons is one of only four productions to win both the Best Play Tony (1962) and the Best Picture Oscar (1966). (The other three are My Fair Lady (1957/1964), The Sound of Music (1960/1965) and Amadeus (1981/1984).) It is also one of two Best Picture Oscar winners whose title begins with the word "A" (the other is A Beautiful Mind (2001).) It was selected by the Vatican in the "religion" category of its list of 45 "great films." Robert Shaw became the second actor to be nominated for an Oscar for playing Henry VIII, after Charles Laughton. Richard Burton was later nominated for playing the monarch too, making this the only role to give rise to three separate nominations.
My Rating:
10 out of 10
Capsule review: The elements are superbly mixed in this film. Seldom has accurate history been presented so compellingly.2
IMDB Rating: 7.7 | Raters: 31,547 |