Rating: PG
Length: 146 minutes

Widescreen 2.35:1 Color (Anamorphic)

ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 2.0

English, French

King Henry VIII is frustrated that he doesn't have a male heir and his current wife, Katherine, is too old to produce one. So, after becoming smitten with a cut young thing in his court, he looks for and finds a way to divorce Katherine (which not only upset the Catholic Church but many of his people) and to marry Anne. Anne doesn't want anything to do with him at first, but once she realized the power it entailed, she suddenly fell in love with him.

Geneviève Bujold is the glue that holds this movie together as Anne. Her ability to captivate the audience and to smoothly transform into the different emotions and scenes makes this movie fun to watch; as opposed to Richard Burton pretty much playing this role like he has every other role I’ve seen him play. The political maneuvering/strategies was entertaining and the supporting cast, some of which I'm sure you’ll recognize, was strong.

This movie is at least 30 minutes too long and Burton played Henry VII just like he played Mark Anthony in "Cleopatra" and Thomas Becket in "Becket"; no real emotion except for the occasional howl of pain or rant (even he claims to have hated his performance in this film and the film itself for that matter). I'll always be puzzled why he is held so high as an actor.

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Fans of time-period movies like this will certainly want to give this a try; just make sure you have plenty of time and are well caffeinated. See if you can spot Burton's future love interest in this film; Elizabeth Taylor has an uncredited role as a Cortesan (she's wearing a mask so it won't be easy).

Charles Jarrott   [Mary Queen of Scots]

Katharine Blake - Elizabeth Boleyn

Geneviève Bujold - Anne Boleyn

[Eye of the Beholder, Tightrope]

Richard Burton - King Henry VIII

[Alexander the Great, Becket, Cleopatra (1963), Desert Rats, The Spy Who Came In From the Cold, Where Eagles Dare]

John Colicos - Thomas Cromwell

[The Changeling]

Vernon Dobtcheff - Mendoza

[The Name of the Rose, The Scarlet and the Black, The Spy Who Loved Me]

Valerie Gearon - Mary Boleyn

Michael Hordern - Count Thomas Boleyn

[Alexander the Great, Shogun, Sink the Bismarck!, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Where Eagles Dare]

Peter Jeffrey - Duke of Norfolk

[The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Becket, The Odessa File]

Michael Johnson - George Boleyn

Esmond Knight - Kingston

[Sink the Bismarck!, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold]

T.P. McKenna - Norris

[The Scarlet and the Black]

Irene Papas - Queen Katherine of Aragon

[The Guns of Navarone, The Odyssey]

Anthony Quayle - Cardinal Wolsey

[The Eagle Has Landed, The Fall of the Roman Empire, The Guns of Navarone, Lawrence of Arabia]

Joseph O'Conor - Bishop Fisher

William Squire - Thomas More

[Where Eagles Dare]

Nora Swinburne - Lady Kingston