Henry VIII and His Six Wives
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DVD Cover Information
DVD: Region Code 0Format: NTSC
DVD Release Date: 2007-09-20
Studio: Synergy Ent
Movie Reviews of Henry VIII and His Six Wives
Movie Review: A Forgotten Classic
Summary: 5 Stars
It's true that the video quality of this film isn't good, but let's be thankful that we have it at all. This is, flatly, the definitive portrayal of Henry VIII. Although there have been excellent portrayals by other, better-known actors, I strongly doubt that anyone will ever surpass Keith Mitchell in this role. He captures every nuance of feeling from the king's sorrow at the loss of his first son to his rage and near-madness later in life, to his pitiful love for his teenage queen, Catherine Howard. I thought Henry's growing suspicions of Anne Boleyn as he turned against her were especially well done. I might add that throughout most of the film, Mitchell was working under heavy makeup. Although he was in his early 40s when he made this 1972 film, I saw him, from the front row, on stage in 1971 and I can testify that he looked much younger than 40. His early scenes with Catherine of Aragon show how the man really looked. His aging in the film works brilliantly; it's completely believable.
But enough of Mitchell: the rest of the film equals his excellent performance. I thought all of the wives were very well done, although Charlotte Rampling might have been a bit more Charlotte than Anne. Nevertheless, her portrayal conveyed very well the tensions in that marriage. I liked Donald Pleasance's choices for Cromwell. He used a hint of a working-class accent, setting Cromwell apart from the rest of the noble court, and comes across as unpleasantly underhanded and scheming. And of course, those of us who remember the two BBC series of Mitchell's Henry and Glenda Jackson's Elizabeth will always see Cranmer as Bernard Hepton.
Of course much of the events of Henry's life are telescoped into brief scenes, necessarily, in the film. You do have to know the history of Thomas More to glean what happens--it's very quick in the film. Ditto the Pilgrimage of Grace, the near-rebellion that Henry crushed. However, the film glosses these episodes over in preference to its title subject: the marriages. Because of that, viewers without much historical knowledge should be able to follow it very well.
The settings, costumes and especially the magnificent music absolutely convey the reality of the times. Really, this film does a better job of taking us back to the 15th century than most others in this genre that I've seen. It's quite different from the Six Wives BBC series, although of course Mitchell starred in both (and I think is even better in the film than the TV series.)
Let's hope that someday someone will digitally remaster this wonderful film. It deserves far more recognition than it gets. I'm so happy to find it!
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