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THE PRIVATE LIFE OF HENRY VIII.
Production: London Films. Direction: Alexander Kor da. Story and Dialogue: Lajos Biro and Arthur Wimperis. Photography: Georges Perinal. Art Direction: Vincent Korda. With Charles Laughton, Robert Donat, Lady Tree, Binnie Barnes, Elsa Lanchester, Merle Oberon, Franklin Dyall, Wendy Barrie. Distribution: United Artists.
The title is important. When it is not the aim of the film to give an impression of England during the momentous years of the Reformation we cannot find fault with it for not having done so. This is the private life of Henry VIII. It would have been a greater and possibly more memorable achievement had the film attempted to convey England's growing greatness during the Tudor period; but national epics, despite Cavalcade, are not always the most profitable box-office propositions, and the lesser and safer task of popular entertainment was preferred. While we may regret the choice in the face of so great an opportunity, we must recognise the film's unqualified success within the limits of its title.
Having elected to entertain rather than to inspire, London Films did not consequently reject sincerity or ignore historical fact. True there are anachronisms and irreverencies which those who like to play the game of catch-as-catch-can will discover; but these are incidentals and do not affect the convincing historical atmosphere of the film. Never do we think of Henry and his Court as mere characters in a charade; and pointed references, among others, to the King's foresight in building a huge fleet for England which was later to triumph over the Armada, and the threat of his revenge on Cromwell following his first meeting with the unattractive Anne of Cleves, keep the historical sense keen. The film is composed chiefly of episodes describing the wooing, wedding, and dismissal of Henry's wives, though it omits Katherine of Aragon whose influence on Henry's life is brushed aside in a sub-title, and it only hints at the important part played by Anne Boleyn. Jane Seymour of whose ignorance Henry is agreeably tolerant ; Anne of Cleves wrhose dowdy, gawky person he acutely dislikes, though he comes later to respect her intelligence; and Katheryn Howard whose youthful beauty attracts him until her deception is proved, are more generously described; and the film concludes with Henry, incredibly transformed from vigorous manhood to senility in a few years, submitting complacently to the nagging and cosseting of Katherine Parr. One of the finest and most revealing moments in the film is his reception of the news of Jane Seymour's death after the birth of Edward VI.
Not surprisingly the film is made memorable by Charles Laughton's
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