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 (original screenplay)

Stars:

Keith Michell, Donald Pleasence, Charlotte Rampling

1 win.

Cast

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

libertine | anne boleyn | england | king henry viii | king | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 February 1973 (Netherlands)

Also Known As:

As Seis Mulheres de Henrique Oitavo

Filming Locations:

Hever Castle, Hever, Kent, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Anglo-EMI, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Star Keith Michell had previously portrayed King Henry VIII in the UK television series The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970).

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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: [Walks into the council chamber] You were in a great hurry gentlemen to begin without me"
Norfolk: [as Cromwell is about to take his seat at the council table] Cromwell, do not sit there. There is no place for you, traitors do not sit with gentlemen.
Thomas Cromwell: [mumbles] I'm no traitor.
[flings down his cap in rage and screams in a loud voice]
Thomas Cromwell: Upon your conscience, am I a traitor?
[tries to run out of the chamber but the guards seize him]
Thomas Cromwell: Let me speak to the King!
Norfolk: [...]

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Connections

Version of The Tudors: Moment of Nostalgia (2010)

User Reviews

A very regal achievment

I saw this movie for the first time very recently, and was quite impressed. Henry the 8th and his six wives has a faultless cast, in particular Keith Mitchell, Jane Asher, Charlotte Rampling, Lynn Fredrick and Donald Plescence. We open on King Henry the 8th's death bed, and wittness him remeniscing about his various marriages, from Katherine of Aragon to Katherine Parr.

Keith Mitchell does a splendid job as the man himself, as he does not portray the king as some brutal tyrant, but as a lonely old man just looking for love and an heir.

Although it is not as good as the B.B.C'S Henry the 8th and his six wives (which also stars Keith Mitchell) it is a wonderful film, well worth a look, not least because it stars Jane Asher Charlotte Rampling and the late Lynn Fredrick as well as the wonderfull Donald Plescence.