Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
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42% of critics liked it
(12 reviews) -
82% of users liked it
(3,168 ratings)
Anne of the Thousand Days is the belated film adaptation of Maxwell Anderson's 1948 stage play. The story concentrates on the romance between Britain's King Henry VIII (Richard Burton) and his ill-fated second wife Anne Boleyn (Genevieve Bujold). After holding out for marriage rather than an… More Anne of the Thousand Days is the belated film adaptation of Maxwell Anderson's 1948 stage play. The story concentrates on the romance between Britain's King Henry VIII (Richard Burton) and his ill-fated second wife Anne Boleyn (Genevieve Bujold). After holding out for marriage rather than an illegitimate union, Anne marries Henry after he sheds himself of Katherine of Aragon -- causing a rift between the Crown and the Church in the process. Anne's inability to produce a male heir leads Henry to look about for other suitable mates. Henry's sinister right-hand man Cromwell (John Colicos) arranges for Anne to be condemned on a charge of adultery. She is beheaded, while Henry disconsolately sits in Windsor Castle, regretting this callous example of political expediency. Richard Burton is ideally cast in Anne of the Thousand Days, but it is Genevieve Bujold who delivers the best, most complex performance in the film. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Charles Jarrott
- Written By
- Maxwell Anderson, Bridget Boland
- Genres
- Drama, Classics
PG,
- In Theaters
- Dec 18, 1969 Wide
- Studio
- Universal Pictures
Critic Reviews
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, TIME Magazine
It is a story fit for the second Elizabeth, though it has perhaps one minor fault: the first two hours.
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Variety Staff, Variety
Anne of the Thousand Days is a stunning-acted, sumptuous, grand-scale widescreen drama of the royal bed chamber and political intrigues that created the Church of England.
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Tom Milne, Time Out
Interminable plod through the story of Henry the Eighth and Anne Boleyn.
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Vincent Canby, New York Times
One of those almost unbearably classy movies, like A Man for All Seasons and Becket, that have a way of elevating the reputations of moviemakers without doing much for the art.
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Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
It's about what you'd expect -- slow, dry, fleetingly intelligent.
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Cast
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Richard Burton
as Henry VIII
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Geneviève Bujold
as Anne Boleyn
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Irene Papas
as Katharine of Aragon
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Anthony Quayle
as Cardinal Wolsey
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John Colicos
as Thomas Cromwell
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Michael Hordern
as Thomas Boleyn
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Katherine Blake
as Elizabeth Boleyn
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Peter Jeffrey
as Norfolk
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Joseph O'Conor
as Fisher
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William Squire
as Thomas More
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Valeiie Gearon
as Mary Boleyn
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Vernon Dobtcheff
as Mendoza
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Gary Bond
as Mark Smeaton
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Terence Wilton
as Lord Harry Percy
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Denis Quilley
as Weston
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Esmond Knight
as Kingston
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T.P. McKenna
as Norris
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Michael Johnson
as George Boleyn
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Marne Maitland
as Compeggio
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Nora Swinburne
as Lady Kingston
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June C. Ellis
as Bess
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Cyril Luckham
as Prior Houghton
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Brook Williams
as Brereton
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Lesley Paterson
as Jane Seymour
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Kynaston Reeves
as Willoughby
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Amanda Jane Smythe
as Baby Elizabeth
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Nicola Pagett
as Princess Mary
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Kate Burton
as Serving Maid
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Liza Todd Burton
as Beggar Maid
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Elizabeth Taylor
as Courtesan
- Katharine Blake
