User reviews

Alexander Korda's film about Henry VIII was a worthy Oscar winner - the first time a British film was so recognised. Seen now it is a dated piece of work but Charles Laughton has the heart and soul of the king down to perfection - grumbling, belching, ripping meat of the bones with his bare hands, leering at the women of his court, and - when the situation allows it - giving the part a fair amount of pathos.

Oddly, the film begins with the execution of Anne Boleyn (Merle Oberon). We don't see the first wife, Katherine of Aragon, at all. Wendy Barrie is Jane Seymour, the one true love of Henry's life - for her he changed his initialled monogram from an entwined H and A (for Anne) to H and J. Catherine Howard is played by Binnie Barnes - she's a bit too flighty for my liking and not an accurate reading of Catherine as history renders her. Robert Donat has a thankless part as Culpeper, who Catherine sets her sights on. And as Catherine Parr, the last Queen to Henry and the one to outlast him, Everley Gregg is amusing and touching.

The scene-stealer as usual though is the real-life Mrs Laughton, Elsa Lanchester, playing the plain, card-dealing, Anne of Cleves. She puts this part across with little effort, wheedling money from her new husband in lieu of the expected fruits of their wedding night. These scenes are a great source of comedy as the two pros play off each other.

'The Private Life of Henry VIII' is a good play, and just when you think you know how the part is going to go, it surprises you as all good acting should. Laughton would do other good work for Korda (including Rembrandt a few years later) but this is one of his best remembered roles for British cinema.

All the comments I have read about this movie have focussed on Charles Laughton and though he gives a performance that makes this film worth seeing on that basis alone, I was more struck by Elsa Lanchester and daresay that she even managed to usurp him in their scenes together. Her performance as Anne of Cleves is one that is memorably eccentric, as she plays her with a kind of flakey caginess that is funny, fascinating and original. She is also quite striking to watch and I am thankful that Bride of Frankenstein has given her a degree of cinematic immortality that might otherwise have been denied her. Returning to this film though, it is highly entertaining, though its abrupt mood shifts leave the viewer with an inconsistent impression about Henry VIII and his volatile personality, but, then again, perhaps that was the point: to show just how inconsistent a man he was in his thoughts and desires.

Just saw this film again on video. The film is dated now but Charles Laughton's performance still seems fresh. He's quite funny in the scene where he complains about "the lack of manners these days" as he gnaws on a whole chicken with his bare hands and tosses the bones behind him on the floor. And he's quite touching at times when be breaks down in front of everyone and cries. Laughton certainly deserved this Oscar for this role.

During his reign, Henry the Eighth had six wives. The first of these was Catherine of Aragon but her story is of no particular interest as she was a decent and respectable woman – so Henry only divorced her. However his next wife was a different matter altogether and we join the story on the day of Anne Boleyn is getting her neck ready for the executioner's block. Henry is a boisterous king who, no matter how bad his many marriage experiences, cannot seem to avoid getting married again; as he himself says, 'the things I do for England'!

When I taped this film I had never heard of it but before watching it was told that it was a great moneymaker of the time in the US. I wasn't sure if this was a very historic film or a fun film but the opening credit title made me realize it would be a sort of humorous historical piece – it is practically the sort of title card that appears before many Laurel & Hardy shorts! True to form the film takes liberties with history but does so to the benefit of the film, making it very funny and rather larger than life (not that hard a subject given Henry's life!) but not to the point where it is just a comedy – no, it is better written than that. Instead it manages to present this big boisterous life in a balanced way – when events are funny, they are funny but on the flipside it also lets us see that Henry is lonely, trapped by affairs of state and rather a big child at times. It is hard to describe but this film managed to run a gauntlet of emotions in a way that I was pretty impressed by. The very good writing has prevented it dating at all and it is just as enjoyable as it was then – in fact I can't think of a film that I have been more pleasantly surprised by for quite a while – how ironic that it is over 70 years old!

Outside of the script and direction, a massive reason that this film works is a great performance from Laughton. His Henry is fantastically lively and energetic without ever going completely OTT. He manages to deliver his funny lines with great timing and awareness but also delivers a real character who we can feel for – he conveys real hurt and loneliness with just looks at times, and his tearful breakdown is actually quite moving. He is given good support from many small roles who are given good parts – even the observers at the executions have great lines! The 39 Steps' Robert Donat gives good support in a straighter and less showy role and the various member of Henry's court are reliable. However the film belongs to Laughton and he runs it, realising the script's potential and then some.

Overall I came to this film not sure what to expect and I was very surprised by just how enjoyable and well rounded it was. Historians may be irritated by a rather generous interpretation of history but the basics are all there and the writer's touch has only really added colour and a sense of fun to the story. The script is packed with material that is funny and telling at different points and it is delivered with real confidence and ability by Laughton in a performance that dominates the film and is a major reason I enjoyed it as much as I did.

The reasons to watch this are A. Laughton's marvelous performance. He captures the bombast and lust for life of King Henry, and he also captures Henry raging against the dying of the light - his own aging - in a very poignant way. And he certainly looks like him. Then there is B. The fabulous cast, often before they are famous in America, such as Merle Oberon and Robert Donat, who wins the Best Actor award six years later as Mr. Chips.

As for the facts? I never expect dead on accuracy in historical dramas, BUT this one completely misses the mark. Catherine of Aragon, married to Henry for 18 years and the inability of Henry to obtain a divorce from her causing the founding of the Church of England, and she is given just a title card at the beginning, described as being "of no importance". The film picks up at the execution of Anne Boleyn (Oberon), Henry's second wife. Anne of Cleves, Henry's fourth wife with whom he probably never consummated his marriage because he found her ugly and ungraceful, is supposedly the centerpiece of his life! Now I realize this was done because she is played by Elsa Lanchester, and she and Laughton were married - and the two have marvelous chemistry and comic timing - but the film so misrepresents their relationship it is mind boggling.

And Katherine Howard, wife number five, was a 17 year old girl when Henry married her, not a grown woman sitting around for years waiting for Henry to dispose of wives until he got around to her.

What really puzzles me is that this film was made in Britain, so I'm surprised they played so fast and loose with the facts. It would be like making a film in America about George Washington in which Marie Antoinette was the great love of his life, and that her beheading brought on his decline and death. But then history is so poorly taught in this country perhaps the public would buy it.

Charles Laughton stars in "The Private Life of Henry VIII" from 1933, produced by Alexander Korda. Others in the cast include Robert Donat, Merle Oberon, Wendy Barrie, Elsa Lanchester, Everley Gregg, and Binnie Barnes.

In many parts, this is a humorous look at the eccentric Henry as he goes through his many marriages. However, the film starts with the execution of Anne Boleyn (Oberon). She's beautiful and very sympathetic in her role.

We see Henry eating, belching, throwing chicken bones, and generally being boisterous. Desperate for a son, he marries Jane Seymour next, and though she gives him a son, Seymour dies.

The best part of the film is the unconsummated marriage of Anne of Cleves and Henry. Rather than have sex, the two play cards, Anne taking him for quite a bit of money. She really didn't want to be married to him, and vice versa, so they agree to a divorce after about six months.

Binnie Barnes plays the ambitious Katherine Howard, who cheats on Henry with Thomas Culpepper (Donat), a member of the court

Finally, Henry comes up against a formidable opponent, his wife Katharine Parr (Gregg), who fusses over his diet.

Through it all, there's something lovable about Henry, where in real life, he was, shall we say, a difficult man, going against his Catholic faith so he could get rid of wives, and believing in the right of kings. Laughton plays Henry as a big, energetic baby, and he's fabulous. Yet he manages to have poignant moments as well.

Wonderful film - it really should have been called The Marriages of Henry VIII.

Apparently when Alexander Korda first came to England, he rode in a taxi in which the driver was singing "I'm Henry the eighth I am, I am." He mistakenly assumed that the population of this country were all great fans of that old Tudor king rather than just knowing a very popular music hall song of the time which was about someone called Henry who was a widow's eighth husband. Undaunted by the truth, he eventually received enough funding to make something surprisingly witty and still entertaining.

Because neither Korda nor Biro were not English, they weren't weighed down with the forelock tugging reverence and respect we English used to have for 'our betters' back then. They are therefore able to cheekily mock this particular king, whom in the patriotic 1930s unlike today was revered as one of our great and glorious monarchs. It seems quite strange for such a film from this period to completely abandon our inbred sense of deference towards royalty albeit in a very gentle way.

Who will this appeal to in the 21st century? Anyone interested not just in early talkies but in really well-made early talkies will appreciate this. Anyone with some knowledge about this period in history although it's obviously not trying to be a serious history film but rather a slightly pantomimic character study (the clue is in the title!) and as such it's pretty good. It cannot therefore be compared with Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall but maybe could be better compared with Ben Elton's Upstart Crow?

It's not all jokes and chicken eating though, there is of course quite a lot of death, betrayals and sorrow which Korda handles easily as well as his contemporaries in Hollywood. It's beautifully filmed, imaginatively directed and superbly acted. Charles Laughton is great as too is his real wife Elsa Lanchester as Henry's quirky failed fourth wife but future best. Merle Oberon also features in just the first few minutes as Anne Boleyn and is absolutely mesmerising. Even however in those very intense scenes leading up to her execution there's a chance for a bit of British gallows humour. And it's that switching from tragedy to comedy, that ever changing mood is what keeps this film so alive and refreshing.

Born in Hungary, Alexander Korda became a leading figure in British cinema. He would approach Hollywood in his production, casting, and vision of how movies should be made. And he was quite aware of what he was facing in his struggles. Britain's film industry was never as wealthy as it's American cousin (or it's German cousin, for that matter). But due to language it had inroads to the United States as well as the empire. If it could not meet Hollywood's (or Ufa's) best production values, it had a stable of actors that were hard to match. In fact, many of them ended up in Hollywood (much to Korda's disgust). This was not only those born in the British Isles like Olivier, Leigh, Laughton, but also those who were foreign born who ended up in British films as stars (like Veidt).

Korda also had European history and culture to play with, and in the 1930s would do a series of films that involved both. They centered on some historical or legendary character: Henry VIII, Don Juan, Catherine the Great, Rembrandt, the Roman Emperor Claudius. Laughton appeared in three of these, as Henry, Rembrandt, and Claudius. Douglas Fairbanks Sr. would be Don Juan and his son would be Catherine's husband Peter III of Russia. There were also "foreign" or "imperial" settings for some of these epics. Sabu became Kipling's Mowgli in "The Jungle Book". The Arabian Nights were the basis for "The Thief of Baghdad".

Henry VIII is really not filling in the entire monarch's life or reign. It barely notices wife #1 (Catherine of Aragon), who it considers dull. It begins with the conclusion of the second marriage with Anne Boleyne in 1536, and then jumps rapidly into the brief third marriage, the comedy of the fourth marriage in 1541, the deep tragedy of the fifth marriage in 1544, and the last marriage, wherein Henry seems to have married a nurse and a scold (not really historically correct). Laughton is superb as a man, seeming with everything, who can't (for one reason or another) find the happiness he seeks in a content home life. But the film does not delve into his policies, and it really does not get into the personality conflicts within Henry's character. He does act the bully and the gallant and the buffoon (such as when discoursing on fine table manners), but the parts (if analyzed) do not hold together as well as say Robert Shaw's sly and sinister monarch in "A Man For All Seasons", but Shaw is playing a younger man in a period of only six years, while Laughton is dealing with nearly twelve years as the same man fights to retain youth and yet ages badly due to ill-health. Laughton did deserve his Oscar, but Shaw needed two more films of Henry at later stages to fill in his first rate junior portrait.

Laughton did well with Henry, as Korda did by selecting Laughton. We are the richer for both of their visions.

Highly enjoyable British film from Alexander Korda, THE PRIVATE LIFE OF HENRY VIII gives CHARLES LAUGHTON the plum role of his career and he munches on all the scenery with artistic skill and great humor. Even though he has the spotlight, others around him make the film a highly enjoyable one to watch.

ROBERT DONAT is handsome and sensitive as Culpepper, a favorite of the Court who has the misfortune to love one of Henry's wives (BINNIE BARNES).

MERLE OBERON has a brief role as Ann Boleyn in a sensitive scene where she worries about meeting the executioner's ax. Oberon would later marry Korda and this was a showy but brief role that gave her career a good start.

ELSA LANCHESTER provides a lot of chuckles as Anne of Cleves, the woman whose portrait fascinates Henry--until he meets her. Her facial displays are deliberately meant to provoke him--that and her ungainly movements--and she and Laughton play their scenes together with great finesse.

TCM is showing a good print of the film which makes it all the more enjoyable, because the sets and costumes are quite opulent and photographed skillfully. The pace is brisk, the humor is ever present, the story never loses interest and Laughton--even at his hammiest--is superb as the king who tried to find happiness but found out that it eluded him at every turn.

Charles Laughton is quite simply one of the best actors to ever grace the earth. EVER. He proves his range once again as he portrays Henry VIII. Now, I've never seen Henry VIII, but I swore I was looking at him. To me, Laughton is that convincing. Compare this confident, powerful character to his 'Ruggles', in "Ruggles of Red Gap". A total wimp. A complete 180. Then there's Capt. Bligh. From sissy to nasty. The freaks: Quasimodo, Dr. Moreau, Nero, et.al. To say this man can play any sort of role is putting it mildly. Name one other actor with more range. I personally can't.

Love and absolute power are two things that bring out the worst in people. For most of history, men enjoyed the better of the bargain, and King Henry VIII of England was perhaps the most representative example of that. Between his many dalliances he had six wives, a cast of very different women who spoke to his love of variety if not constancy.

"The Private Life Of Henry VIII" is a merry recounting of five of those marriages, with a passing nod in the opening titles to first wife Catherine of Aragon: "Her story is of no particular interest. She was a respectable woman." It's a funny line that sets up what will be the film's cheerfully cynical tone.

Director Alexander Korda and his writers Lajos Biro and Arthur Wimperis made several brave choices, like the episodic structure of the story as it focuses on each wife in turn, and how it concentrates most on the last four rather than the second and most famous of Henry's wives, Anne Boleyn, played by Merle Oberon for what only amounts to a cameo as she awaits her execution. By doing this they acknowledge Henry VIII's cruelty without giving us the kind of details that would make us not like him, even as he is played by Charles Laughton.

Laughton is the best thing in the movie, winning an Oscar for a performance undimmed by time. He struts wide-legged from scene to scene, playing up his character's vanity and vulgarity and finding an emotional core that draws us to like him despite his legendary faults. When we first see him, after a few minutes of exposition around his court, he has caught one of his ladies-in-waiting, Katherine Howard, making comment about how unfair this whole Boleyn business is. Why if he were not a king, she would call him...

"What would you call me?" Henry demands as he appears from the shadows of the doorway.

Katherine trembles, and manages to blurt: "Why, I would call you...a man!"

A big laugh from the big man. "So I am, and glad of it. And you may be glad of it too, one day."

As played by the lovely Binnie Barnes, Katherine Howard gets the lion's share of attention among the wives, as we first see her as a court lady who soon becomes ambitious for Henry's attentions even as one of Henry's knights, Thomas Culpeper, pleads for her love. She gets Henry eventually, lives to regret it, then doesn't, in a nice story arc Barnes carries off well with her beauty and charm, well enough to not make us wonder about her sudden turnabout in character from the sensible, decent woman we see in the beginning. About the only negative of her performance, and of the film, is her scenes with Culpeper slow down the story and take too much time away from Henry.

Elsa Lanchester, Laughton's real-life wife, makes a strong impression as the least romantic of Henry's partners, a German duchess he marries for politics but comes to grief when he gets a load of her face. Lanchester actually is lovely, but Anne figures her only way to avoid Henry's attentions is to push out her jaw and act dense when he talks about what her wifely duties entail. She and Laughton have a wonderful comic chemistry as they spend their wedding night playing cards; and its especially fun to watch Laughton as his character gets some of his own back for all his serial marrying.

"If you want to be happy...marry a stupid woman!" Henry tells Culpeper at one point. That's not exactly true; stupid women can break your heart, too. True marital happiness may in fact be a fallacy, but at least "The Private Life Of Henry VIII" makes such failure fun.

Charles Laughton won an oscar for playing Henry VIII and the movie stars out with the beheading of his second wife. His third wife dies during childbirth and his fourth wife, played by Elsa Lancaster, saves her own skin by agreeing to divorce him. His fifth wife is also beheaded for cheating on him with Robert Donat, and it doesn't show what happens to his sixth wife. They don't even mention his first wife expect at the start where they say they were divorced. Charles Laughton also played Henry VIII 20 years later in Young Bess but he wasn't the main star there, Jean Simmons was. Charles Laughton is great as the king and so is Elsa Lancaster, his fourth wife. I don't know how accurate this film is but i don't care.

At different ages, I saw this lovely film. The joy and enthusiasm was the same. The roots of them - different.

The humor, like the performances, like the precious gift of Charles Laughton are, obvious, significant virtues in case of this beautiful film.

But, after an age, you remark its...realism. Sure, many adaptations of life and reign of this Tudor but Alexander Korda proposes a very accurate, in its essence, portrait of Henry VIII. His childish behavior, his politicale vision after an age, the marriages in simple terms, the need of affection and the romances back him, the friendship with Anne of Cleves and the fall of his life. And, sure, again, the admirable Charles Laughton. So, just lovely.

Henry VIII (Charles Laughton) is on to his second wife, Anne Boleyn. His first one gets executed. He has four more to go.

Charles Laughton is playing the role as an overweight, vain, lecherous, buffoon with an outsized appetite for all personal consumption. Some say Laughton pioneered this portrayal of Henry VII which got him an acting Oscar. The movie was also nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. For modern consumption, this character is a little overly broad. There is a forceful power to the King that is somewhat missing until the last act. He is a little too much of a fool in the play. People should fear him and they seem to be that for a moment. This movie is missing that side. On the other hand, it can't be denied that Laughton has masterfully created a character.

Rollicking historical bio-pic of the notorious love-life of Britain's most married monarch in this early talkie directed by the celebrated Alexander Korda and featuring a bravura performance by the young Charles Laughton.

Of course, condensing six marriages into one 97 minute movie (a famous BBC series of the early 70's allocated one hour to each wife!), means that cuts are made, for instance Katherine Of Aragon (his divorce of whom saw Henry excommunicated by the Pope and effectively make England a Protestant country, in other words, no insignificant event), is sidestepped completely and we only see Anne Boleyn, possibly the most interesting and charismatic of the wives as she readies herself for her beheading. So really we only get four and a half wives for the price of six but to be fair the film is pretty much all about Henry, as the title makes clear.

Laughton is terrific in the title role even if one may smile now of the casting at the time which saddled the homosexual actor with six women (not to mention the more than occasional mistress), all of whose prime purpose was to beget a male heir to Henry's throne. The movie also gets across well the excesses of Henry's court as well as the sycophancy which inevitably accompanied this despot with at different stages his songwriting and wrestling prowess lauded to the heavens.

There's a relatively minor sub-plot with Robert Donat's Thomas Culpepper's relationship with the over-ambitious Kathaerine Parr which is later exposed by an army of witnesses leading to their immediate demise, but you sense the director's sympathies are with Henry in any case.

There's much ribald humour, quite racy for the time, in the utterings of the hoi-polloi at the queens' executions and amongst the King's serving staff, while the encounter with the exceeding ugly Anne Of Cleves is played for laughs pretty much from the start. The direction is fast moving and while telescoping a lot of history into its short running time, does so with wit and flair - like when the second and third queens say to camera "What a lovely day", for one, her last and the other, first words as a monarch, or the elevated shot of a solitary Hanry when his beloved Kate (Parr) gets the chop for her adultery with Donat.

Bowdlerised history it may well be but this is great fun and can teach all manner of succeeding stodgy and static historical recreations, both big and small-screen, a thing or six about delivering fine entertainment.

In watching The Private Life of Henry VIII it's good to remember that we are talking about his private life. The reasons of state and the impact all the marriages had on Tudor foreign and domestic politics is not dealt with her at all. For a balanced treatment of that I would highly recommend watching the BBC mini-series with Keith Michell.

In fact it was all politics and religion and the mix of the two that was involved in Henry VIII's first marriage and the divorce. That was what led to the English break away from the Roman Catholic Church and the founding of the Anglican church. In this film Catherine of Aragon, wife number one, is dismissed as "a good woman."

The film begins with the execution of Number 2, Anne Boleyn, who failed in her duty to provide a male royal heir. Number 3, Jane Seymour did so at the cost of her own life when she died in childbirth. Both Merle Oberon and Wendy Barrie who played both of these women respectively make brief, but lasting impressions.

Wife Number 4 is Anne of Cleves and were not sure exactly why Henry VIII found her so unappealing. Reportedly the portrait sent to the English court of her before the marriage was brokered was shall we say, exaggerated advertisement. This vacuum of knowledge gives Elsa Lanchester a great opportunity for some scatterbrained comedy that she so excelled at. It comes as a comic interlude in an otherwise grim film. The things Henry does for England.

Wife Number 5 is Catherine Howard, reputedly a young girl with some nymphomaniac tendencies. Binnie Barnes as Catherine Howard is a good deal more virtuous, but just as ambitious as the real Catherine. In truth Thomas Culpepper played by Robert Donat was only one of a series of lovers with whom she cheated with. And doing that to the King had only one remedy.

Charles Laughton one an Oscar for this performance and set a standard for playing Henry VIII. Some of the others that followed and all of them doing it well are Montagu Love, Richard Burton, Robert Shaw, James Robertson Justice and Keith Michell. Yet Laughton's is the performance all others are measured by.

Robert Donat got his first real notice playing Thomas Culpepper and of course went on to a great, but limited career because of his chronic asthma. Some of the cerebral qualities that went into all of his lead roles are definitely found in Culpepper.

But despite Donat and the wives the film is Laughton's. Laughton was only 34 when this film was made about a decade at least younger than the real Henry VIII. And folks did age faster in Henry's time than in Laughton's. I've always thought that the key to Henry VIII was the fact he wanted to stay young forever. He wouldn't accept growing old as a fact of life that even monarchs aren't immune from.

We should remember the film is about his private life and it is Laughton's portrayal of the private Henry that has made this film a classic.

The private life of Henry VIII by Alexander Korda displays a pretty good British cast as Charles Laughton, Merle Oberon , Elsa Lanchaster , Binnie Barnes and Robert Donat . King Henry VIII marries five more times after his divorce from his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Desperate for a male heir, Henry married then tossed aside a succession of wives . This movie tells the story of King Henry VIII (Charles Laughton) and the last five of his six wives . Sexual intrigue and twisted rivalry were the hallmarks of Henry's reign. Set in luxurious interiors , it begins just before the death of his second wife Anne Boleyn (Wendy Barrie) , subsequently he married Anne of Cleves (Elsa Lanchester , Laughton real wife ) , Katherine Howard (Binnie Barnes) and ends just after his sixth wedding to Catherine or Katherine Parr (Everley Gregg). He gave his wives a pain in the neck . And did his necking with an axe. Henry, the Eighth Wonder of the World! And this picture...the wonder of all time¡ Every woman got in the neck .A story of a gay king who had six queens .

Acceptable retelling about the famous king and his wives: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn , Jane Seymour , Anna De Cleves , Catherine Howard and Catherina Parr. Passable but not great rendition based on the life and loves of the famous and lecherous king Henry VIII and set most entirely within the royal castle . A tour de force for Charles Laughton as the robust 16th century ruthless king who loved and killed wives . In 1526 Henry tosses aside his current wife the Spanish Catherine of Aragon . Firstly , Catherine married Arthur , Henry VIII older brother, but Arthur died 6 months later , and Catherine then married Henry . As Henry falls for the young and devastatingly beautiful Anne Boleyn . But after the birth of princess Elizabeth , Henry tires of Anne and wishes to marry another, Jane Seymour . So he decides to rid himself of her presence .Anne was judged and accused of adultery with his brother and four commoners .11 days later Henry married Jane who died 12 days after giving birth to a son , later Edward VI. For political reasons , Henry next selection was Anne of Cleves whom he married by proxy in 154o. She was not to his taste , however , and the marriage was annulled by Parliament 6 months later . Catherine Howard had the misfortune to be Henry' s fifth wife but she was charged with having committed adultery before the marriage. Catherine Parr married and tended the ailing lecher in his last years .Soon after Henry death in 1547 , she married a former lover and died in childbirth.

This is an academic historical spectacle lustily portraying the life and lovers of notorious British Monarch , and shot in scenarios . Charles Laughton's acting as the amoral and womanizer king garned him awesome reviews. Putting this reservation aside, there are plenty of opportunities to enjoy this drama with comedy touches for what it is, largely an entertainment playing on our prejudices and emotions throughout its depiction and treatment of his wives. Including outstanding performances by the entire cast , such as Robert Donat , John Loder , Milles Mander , Merle Oberon as Anne Boleyn , Wendy Barrie as Jane Seymour , Elsa Lanchester as Anna De Cleves , Binnie Barnes as Katherine Howard , Everley Gregg as Katherine Parr .

Henry VIII life has been adapted several times, as TV as Cinema , for example : ; ¨Anne of the thousand days¨ by Charles Jarrot with Richard Burton, Genevieve Bujold , Vanedsa Redgrave ; ¨The other Boleyn girl¨ with Natalie Portman , Scarlett Johansson , Eric Bana , Jim Sturgess . And series as the starred by Keith Mitchell, Charlotte Rampling , directed by Warris Hussein and ¨Henry VIII series¨ 2003 by Pete Travis with Ray Winstone , Joss Ackland , Charles Dance , Assumpta Serna , Emily Blunt . And the successful series starred by Jonathan Rhys Meyers produced by Michael Hirst .

The personal life of England's infamous monarch is portrayed marvellously in this British classic.Starting with the beheading of his second wife the ambitious Anne Boleyn we follow Laughton's masterly performance of King Henry through his subsequent marriages which all end in tragedy,until his last wife outlives him.

Charles Laughton is simply fantastic in his role.Portraying the King of England as a virile,charming but dangerous man when he's young and a crouching,old fool in his latest years.Very good performances also by Elsa Lanchester and Binnie Barnes as two of his wives. Rating: **** out of *****

This classic impression of "Henry VIII" by Charles Laughton is fun to watch. After this, it became impossible to think of the real-life English monarch without picturing Mr. Laughton. However, the unlikable character's "Private Life" makes a dull film. Alexander Korda creates atmosphere, but he and the scenery-chewing star needed a better story. There is some respite, if you endure, during the second half. Things pick up when dapper Robert Donat (as Thomas "Tom" Culpeper) arouses fifth wife Binnie Barnes (as Katherine "Kate" Howard). Also stay tuned as Elsa Lanchester (as Anne of Cleves) visits the castle for a quick marriage and returns, later, to offer the King some good advice. Laughton took home his "Oscar" for this role.

****** The Private Life of Henry VIII (8/17/33) Alexander Korda ~ Charles Laughton, Robert Donat, Binnie Barnes, Elsa Lanchester