La vie privée d'Henry VIII

Just saw this film again on video. The film is dated now but Charles Laughton's performance still seems fresh. He's quite funny in the scene where he complains about "the lack of manners these days" as he gnaws on a whole chicken with his bare hands and tosses the bones behind him on the floor. And he's quite touching at times when be breaks down in front of everyone and cries. Laughton certainly deserved this Oscar for this role.

At different ages, I saw this lovely film. The joy and enthusiasm was the same. The roots of them - different.

The humor, like the performances, like the precious gift of Charles Laughton are, obvious, significant virtues in case of this beautiful film.

But, after an age, you remark its...realism. Sure, many adaptations of life and reign of this Tudor but Alexander Korda proposes a very accurate, in its essence, portrait of Henry VIII. His childish behavior, his politicale vision after an age, the marriages in simple terms, the need of affection and the romances back him, the friendship with Anne of Cleves and the fall of his life. And, sure, again, the admirable Charles Laughton. So, just lovely.

Charles Laughton stars in "The Private Life of Henry VIII" from 1933, produced by Alexander Korda. Others in the cast include Robert Donat, Merle Oberon, Wendy Barrie, Elsa Lanchester, Everley Gregg, and Binnie Barnes.

In many parts, this is a humorous look at the eccentric Henry as he goes through his many marriages. However, the film starts with the execution of Anne Boleyn (Oberon). She's beautiful and very sympathetic in her role.

We see Henry eating, belching, throwing chicken bones, and generally being boisterous. Desperate for a son, he marries Jane Seymour next, and though she gives him a son, Seymour dies.

The best part of the film is the unconsummated marriage of Anne of Cleves and Henry. Rather than have sex, the two play cards, Anne taking him for quite a bit of money. She really didn't want to be married to him, and vice versa, so they agree to a divorce after about six months.

Binnie Barnes plays the ambitious Katherine Howard, who cheats on Henry with Thomas Culpepper (Donat), a member of the court

Finally, Henry comes up against a formidable opponent, his wife Katharine Parr (Gregg), who fusses over his diet.

Through it all, there's something lovable about Henry, where in real life, he was, shall we say, a difficult man, going against his Catholic faith so he could get rid of wives, and believing in the right of kings. Laughton plays Henry as a big, energetic baby, and he's fabulous. Yet he manages to have poignant moments as well.

Wonderful film - it really should have been called The Marriages of Henry VIII.

Highly enjoyable British film from Alexander Korda, THE PRIVATE LIFE OF HENRY VIII gives CHARLES LAUGHTON the plum role of his career and he munches on all the scenery with artistic skill and great humor. Even though he has the spotlight, others around him make the film a highly enjoyable one to watch.

ROBERT DONAT is handsome and sensitive as Culpepper, a favorite of the Court who has the misfortune to love one of Henry's wives (BINNIE BARNES).

MERLE OBERON has a brief role as Ann Boleyn in a sensitive scene where she worries about meeting the executioner's ax. Oberon would later marry Korda and this was a showy but brief role that gave her career a good start.

ELSA LANCHESTER provides a lot of chuckles as Anne of Cleves, the woman whose portrait fascinates Henry--until he meets her. Her facial displays are deliberately meant to provoke him--that and her ungainly movements--and she and Laughton play their scenes together with great finesse.

TCM is showing a good print of the film which makes it all the more enjoyable, because the sets and costumes are quite opulent and photographed skillfully. The pace is brisk, the humor is ever present, the story never loses interest and Laughton--even at his hammiest--is superb as the king who tried to find happiness but found out that it eluded him at every turn.

The reasons to watch this are A. Laughton's marvelous performance. He captures the bombast and lust for life of King Henry, and he also captures Henry raging against the dying of the light - his own aging - in a very poignant way. And he certainly looks like him. Then there is B. The fabulous cast, often before they are famous in America, such as Merle Oberon and Robert Donat, who wins the Best Actor award six years later as Mr. Chips.

As for the facts? I never expect dead on accuracy in historical dramas, BUT this one completely misses the mark. Catherine of Aragon, married to Henry for 18 years and the inability of Henry to obtain a divorce from her causing the founding of the Church of England, and she is given just a title card at the beginning, described as being "of no importance". The film picks up at the execution of Anne Boleyn (Oberon), Henry's second wife. Anne of Cleves, Henry's fourth wife with whom he probably never consummated his marriage because he found her ugly and ungraceful, is supposedly the centerpiece of his life! Now I realize this was done because she is played by Elsa Lanchester, and she and Laughton were married - and the two have marvelous chemistry and comic timing - but the film so misrepresents their relationship it is mind boggling.

And Katherine Howard, wife number five, was a 17 year old girl when Henry married her, not a grown woman sitting around for years waiting for Henry to dispose of wives until he got around to her.

What really puzzles me is that this film was made in Britain, so I'm surprised they played so fast and loose with the facts. It would be like making a film in America about George Washington in which Marie Antoinette was the great love of his life, and that her beheading brought on his decline and death. But then history is so poorly taught in this country perhaps the public would buy it.