The Second Best Film About Henry VIII
I am sorry to say it, but A Man for all Seasons trumps this through Paul Scofield's acting.
shareI thought A Man For All Seasons was was a better film than this too but strictly speaking it isn't about Henry VIII, it's about Thomas Moore, and King Henry only plays a supporting role (he's only in 2 or 3 scenes as I recall). Robert Shaw's performance was very good but didn't make half the impression on me that Laughton's full lenght portrayl did.
shareLaughton is brilliant in this film. But another in the film deserves mention and close notice while watching it: Elsa Lanchester. I finally "got" "Bride of Frankenstein" when I read a quote from her saying that she played the Bride as "comedy". She does much the same in this film -- meaning that she is hilarious -- and clever. Henry comes to sleep with her, but she gets him into a poker game and beats his butt. Otherwise, she pretends not to understand English when it is convenient to her ends.
She is one of the most underrated of comedic actresses of all time. See her performance in, as example, "Witness for the Prosecution".
JNagarya - you are so right about Elsa Lanchester - she was hilarious in her role as Anne of Cleves. The scene in which she's making faces in her hand mirror is priceless. And not only does she beat the king at cards, she gets everything she wants (including her boyfriend) in her terms of immediate annulment.
Now I gotta see if "Witness for the Prosecution" is on Netflix!
Though I will say that for the 10 minutes or so that he is on screen Robert Shaw is absolutely perfect. Bolt's Henry is a man on the edge of a knife, and we see both the golden prince he was and the monster he is becoming, and Shaw conveys all that.
That said this film is the Henry by which all others must be judge, Henry has never been better, warts and all, portrayed, and no one has bettered Elsa's Anne of Cleves.
It is not our abilities that show who we truly are...it is our choices