Henry VIII and His Six Wives (1972)

On his deathbed, King Henry VIII looks back over his eventful life and his six marriages.

Director:

Waris Hussein

Writer:

Ian Thorne

Stars:

Keith Michell, Donald Pleasence, Charlotte Rampling

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Keith Michell	...	Henry VIII
Donald Pleasence	...	Thomas Cromwell
Charlotte Rampling	...	Anne Boleyn
Jane Asher	...	Jane Seymour
Frances Cuka	...	Katherine of Aragon
Lynne Frederick	...	Catherine Howard
Jenny Bos	...	Anne of Cleves
Barbara Leigh-Hunt	...	Catherine Parr
Michael Gough	...	Norfolk
Brian Blessed	...	Suffolk
Michael Goodliffe	...	Thomas More
Bernard Hepton	...	Cranmer
Garfield Morgan	...	Cardiner
John Bryans	...	Wolsey
John Bennett	...	Wriothesley

Storyline

On his deathbed Tudor-king Henry VIII remembers his long reign and especially the crucial part his six marriages played in it, without producing the male heir he desired most to prevent civil wars for the succession as England suffered before his father's ascent. His first queen, Spanish princess Kathryn of Aragon, had one fatal flaw: her children died, except daughter Mary, so he pressed Rome for an annulment, and when that failed out went cardinal Wolsey as chief minister and Henry made himself head of the Church of England instead of the papacy and married Anne Boleyn. When she too failed to produce a male heir, just princess Elisabeth, he had her head roll for 'infidelity'. The third queen, gentle Jane Seymour, died giving birth to sickly prince Edward. For diplomatic reasons Henry married minor princes Anne of Cleves, whose utter lack of female charms causes another annulment and the fall of Thomas Cromwell, who recommended her. Fifth is the lovely Catherine Howard, cousin of ...

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Plot Keywords:

england | anne boleyn | king | king henry viii | catherine parr | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 March 1973 (Finland)

Also Known As:

As Seis Mulheres de Henrique Oitavo

Filming Locations:

Allington Castle, Maidstone, Kent, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Anglo-EMI, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film is an adaptation of the BBC drama serial The Six Wives of Henry VIII in which Donald Pleasence's daughter Angela Pleasence played Henry VIII's fifth wife Catherine Howard.

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Goofs

The part of the film covering Henry's marriage to Anne Boleyn features some brief stock/agency footage of a number of British castles. A modern boat's superstructure appears briefly in the lower right-hand corner of the shot featuring a castle on a headland.

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Quotes

Thomas Cromwell: Your Grace.
Henry VIII: Whom can a man trust in this world when there is nothing real in it?
[showing Cromwell a miniature portrait of Anne of Cleves]
Henry VIII: Is this a true likeness?
Thomas Cromwell: Yes, sire, I think.
Henry VIII: Where are the great pits in her face?
Thomas Cromwell: She has a queenly manner, I think, sire.
Henry VIII: I like her not!
[shoving and shaking Cromwell]
Henry VIII: She is nothing fair and I like her not!

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Connections

Version of The Tudors: The Definition of Love (2008)

User Reviews

A preview to whet the appetite

If you haven't time to immerse yourself in the mini-series, then this two hour, compact 'preview' will give you a neatly constructed overview of the virile King and his exploits as he seeks to secure his lineage by conceiving a successor to his throne.

Rather than condense aspects of the original mini-series (which essentially set aside one episode per wife, to put it crudely), this film version has been entirely remade. Only Michell reprises his title role, showcasing his intuitive interpretation of the rambunctious, though sometimes fragile majesty. Perhaps predictably, Charlotte Rampling's Anne Boleyn has the greatest exposure, though each of the wives acquit themselves well with the often limited dedicated screen time (the lovely Jane Asher playing the ill-fated Jane Seymour stands-out among the rest).

Aussie actor Michell is a more vulnerable King Henry VIII than other memorable incarnations produced by Charles Laughton or Robert Shaw, displaying a deep-seeded personality conflict that while not unique to the character, is played with a more sympathetic tone and gesture.

Hussein's ultra-light has its moments, although clearly it proves difficult to compress six marriages each with their own ulterior motives and intrigue into a mere two hour snapshot. For a preview, it's superb, though it's really no substitute for the mini-series time permitting.