s (1966)

Director

• Fred Zinnemann
• Fred Zinneman

Starring

• Paul Scofield
• Wendy Hiller
• Leo McKern
• Robert Shaw
• Orson Welles

Last On

08:15-10:15 Sun 27th Dec 2015 120m
BBC2

Synopsis

In this Oscar-laden version of Robert Bolt's 1960 play, Paul Scofield stars as Sir Thomas More, who wins the moral argument but loses the more vital one, concerning custody of his head, to Henry VIII. Whereas Charles Laughton's Henry VIII (in the 1933 Alexander Korda film) made you think of Billy Bunter, Robert Shaw could not be more different. This Henry is younger, thinner, a man of formidable intelligence and political skill. Orson Welles literally fills the screen as Cardinal Wolsey; John Hurt (in his first major role) is eloquent in Parliament; and Leo McKern, Wendy Hiller, Susannah York and Vanessa Redgrave (as Anne Boleyn) complete the splendid cast. But it's Scofield's picture - his is an inspired performance of virtue with a dash of vanity. Note, too, the brilliant use of sets and locations - a clever fake of Hampton Court, Studley Priory Hotel in Oxfordshire as Scofield's home, a river on the Beaulieu Estate posing as the Thames - that belies the film's bargain-basement budget.