The Private Life of Henry VIII
| The Private Life of Henry VIII | |
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| Directed by | Alexander Korda |
| Produced by | Alexander Korda Ludvico Toeplitz |
| Written by |
Lajos Bíró Arthur Wimperis |
| Starring |
Charles Laughton Binnie Barnes Robert Donat |
| Music by | Kurt Schröder |
| Cinematography | Georges Périnal |
| Edited by | Stephen Harrison |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | United Artists |
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Release date
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Running time
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97 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £65,000 |
| Box office | £750,000 |
The Private Life of Henry VIII is a 1933 British film, directed and co-produced by Alexander Korda and starring Charles Laughton, Robert Donat, Merle Oberon and Elsa Lanchester. The film focuses on the marriages of King Henry VIII of England. It was written by Lajos Bíró and Arthur Wimperis for London Film Productions, Korda's production company. The film was a major international success, establishing Korda as a leading filmmaker and Laughton as a box office star.
The film begins 20 years into King Henry's reign. In May 1536, in the immediate aftermath of the execution of his second wife, Anne Boleyn (Merle Oberon), King Henry VIII (Charles Laughton) marries Jane Seymour (Wendy Barrie), who dies in childbirth eighteen months later. He then weds a German princess, Anne of Cleves (played by Laughton's real-life wife Elsa Lanchester). This marriage ends in divorce when Anne deliberately makes herself unattractive so she can be free to marry her sweetheart. (In an imaginative and high-spirited scene, Anne "wins her freedom" from Henry in a game of cards on their wedding night). After this divorce, Henry marries the beautiful and ambitious Lady Katherine Howard (Binnie Barnes). She has rejected love all her life in favour of ambition, but after her marriage, she finally falls in love with Henry's handsome courtier Thomas Culpeper (Robert Donat) who has attempted to woo her in the past. Their liaison is discovered by Henry's court and the two are executed. The weak and ageing Henry consoles himself with a final marriage to Catherine Parr (Everley Gregg) who proves domineering. In the final scene, while Parr is no longer in the room, the king breaks the fourth wall, saying "Six wives, and the best of them's the worst."
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