The private life of Henry VIII

Synopsis

The private life of King Henry VIII through his successive marriages often fatal for his wives.

Technical sheet

• Original title: The Private Life of Henry VIII.
• French title: The private life of Henry VIII
• Director: Alexander Korda
• Scenario: Arthur Wimperis
• Dialogues: Lajos Biró and Arthur Wimperis
• Sets: Vincent Korda
• Costumes: John Armstrong
• Photography: Georges Périnal
• Sound: AW Watkins
• Music: Kurt Schröder
• Editing: Stephen Harrison
• Production: Alexander Korda and Ludovico Toeplitz
• Production Companies: London Film Productions / United Artists
• Distribution Company: United Artists
• Country of Origin: United Kingdom / United States
• Original language: English
• Format: Black and White – 35mm – 1.37: 1 – Mono Sound (Western Electric)
• Genre  : Biography , historical film
• Duration: 97 minutes
• Release dates:
  •  United Kingdom  : August 17 , 1933
  •  United States  : September 21 , 1933
  •  France  : September 29 , 1933

Distribution

• Charles Laughton  : King Henry VIII
• Robert Donat  : Thomas Culpeper
• Franklin Dyall  : Thomas Cromwell
• Miles Mander  : Thomas Wriothesley
• Laurence Hanray  : Archbishop Thomas Cranmer
• William Austin  : Duke of Cleves
• John Loder  : Thomas Peynell
• Claud Allister  : Cornell
• Gibb McLaughlin  : The French Executioner
• Sam Livesey  : The English hangman
• Merle Oberon  : Anne Boleyn
• Wendy Barrie  : Jeanne Seymour
• Elsa Lanchester (VF: Simone Dauvillier )  : Anne of Cleves
• Binnie Barnes  : Catherine Howard
• Everley Gregg  : Catherine Parr
• Lady Tree  : The nurse of King Henry VIII

Uncredited Actors

• Frederick Culley  : Duke of Norfolk
• Judy Kelly  : Lady Rochford
• John Turnbull  : Hans Holbein the Younger

Movie Song

• “What Shall I Do for Love”, lyrics and music by Henry VIII

Distinctions

Awards

• Oscar for Best Actor for Charles Laughton

Appointments

• Oscar 1933 for the best film

Production

After several versions of the script, the script, which was originally to be limited to the story of Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves , was developed to finally deal with five other wives of the king. Alexander Korda had difficulty finding funding because the plans for that time were not well seen, he was even advised to remove Henry from the title.
In the end, with the help of Richard Norton and Murray Silverstone , United Artists, who was looking for a new film to distribute, agreed to pay several thousand pounds. Later, while the film was filming, Korda still lacked the necessary funds and to save money, the sets were built cheaply, the same costumes were worn throughout the film, and the actors agreed to reduce their salary while waiting for the release of the film.
The film brought nearly 500 000  $ anything the United States, proving that a British production could compete with Hollywood ¹ .

Around the film

The film has been a huge success in France. In 1937 Christian-Jaque in his film Francis I played a slip to Fernandel who presented to Henry VIII called Laughton before recovering.

See also

External links

• (In) The private life of Henry VIII  [ archive ] on the Internet Movie Database
• (In) The private life of Henry VIII  [ archive ] on the website of the American Film Institute
• (In) The private life of Henry VIII  [ archive ] on the website of the British Film Institute

Notes and references