89 Days of Oscar Nominees – #39 – Anne of The Thousand Days (1969)

In my attempt to have a more prolific repertoire of Oscar Nominated Films, I have taken it upon myself to watch 89 new Best Picture Nominees that I’ve never seen before between 1 Dec 2016 and The 89th Annual Oscars on 26 Feb 2017.

Here is my 39th review of the 89 chosen Films…

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“But Elizabeth is yours. Watch her as she grows; she’s yours. She’s a Tudor! Get yourself a son off of that sweet, pale girl if you can – and hope that he will live! But Elizabeth shall reign after you! Yes, Elizabeth – child of Anne the Whore and Henry the Blood-Stained Lecher – shall be Queen! And remember this: Elizabeth shall be a greater queen than any king of yours! She shall rule a greater England than you could ever have built! Yes – MY Elizabeth SHALL BE QUEEN! And my blood will have been well spent! ” – Anne

Number of Times Seen – 1 (7 Jan 2017)

Brief Synopsis – The story of Henry VIII’s love for and marriage to Anne Boleyn after he divorces his first wife Katherine of Aragon.

My Take on it – This is yet another film that I knew nothing about before seeing it.

I had always heard stories about the history of the Kings of England and the tales of Henry VIII were always some of the best because of the way that he was married 6 times and blamed all of his wives for being unable to give him a son.

This film does a great job telling us the story of how Henry chose to break from the Church in order to divorce his wife and marry a woman he fell in love with with whom he believed he could have a male heir to the thrown.

The dialogue of this movie is superbly written and quite engaging almost the whole way through.

It should be noted that the dialogue is actually quite risque for the 1960’s and I can understand how it took so long to get this film made because of it.

Richard Burton and Genevieve Bujold are both great here as the leads and we can believe their performances.

The one fault that I had with the film was the fact that there were a few parts that felt like they dragged a bit and had they made it a bit shorter, it might have flowed better and not felt overly long.

Bottom Line – Burton and Bujold are great here as the King and future Queen.  We can really believe their characters.  The dialogue is great and in some ways quite risque for its time.  The movie is a bit overlong and might have been helped if it has been cut down a bit.  Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Elizabeth Taylor was present at the shooting of the final Tower of London scene, out of fear that her husband, Richard Burton, and his co-star Geneviève Bujold, were having an affair. Before she began filming the scene, a furious Bujold told the director, “I’m going to give that bitch an acting lesson she’ll never forget!” (From IMDB)

Rating – Globe Worthy

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