A Man for All Seasons (1966)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Fred Zinnemann

Writers:

Robert Bolt (play)
Robert Bolt (screenplay)

Release Date:

1967 (Japan)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Tagline:

...a motion picture for all times!

Plot:

The story of Thomas More, who stood up to King Henry VIII when the King rejected the Roman Catholic Church to obtain a divorce and remarriage.

Plot Keywords:

Thomas More | Divorce | Chancellor | Catholic | King Henry VIII

Awards:

Won 6 Oscars. Another 27 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Paul Scofield	...	Sir Thomas More
Wendy Hiller	...	Alice More
Leo McKern	...	Thomas Cromwell
Robert Shaw	...	King Henry VIII
Orson Welles	...	Cardinal Wolsey
Susannah York	...	Margaret More
Nigel Davenport	...	The Duke of Norfolk
John Hurt	...	Richard Rich
Corin Redgrave	...	William Roper (the Younger)
Colin Blakely	...	Matthew
Cyril Luckham	...	Archbishop Cranmer
Jack Gwillim	...	Chief Justice
Thomas Heathcote	...	Boatman
Yootha Joyce	...	Averil Machin
Anthony Nicholls	...	King's Representative

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Latin | Spanish | French

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Iceland:L | West Germany:12 (nf) | Brazil:Livre | Argentina:13 | Australia:G | Finland:K-12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | UK:U | USA:Approved (original rating) | USA:G (re-rating) (1971)

Filming Locations:

Beaulieu River, Hampshire, England, UK

Company:

Highland Films

Trivia:

Vanessa Redgrave refused to be paid for her cameo role as Anne Boleyn.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: At the end of the film, Thomas More picks the blossom of a tree called Aesculus hippocastanum L., a tree that appeared in Europe only in the 17th century and was introduced by the Turks.

Quotes:

Sir Thomas More: [to the Chief Justice] Death comes for us all, My Lord... even for kings.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in George Stevens: The Filmmakers Who Knew Him (2001) (V)

One of the most intelligent and moving films ever

A Man For All Seasons is an erudite examination of the old Biblical maxim: a man cannot serve two masters. Sir Thomas More (poignantly portrayed by Paul Scofield) struggles to be true to both his faith and his monarch (the lusty and hearty King Henry VIII superbly played by Robert Shaw). I think it is difficult for citizens in our present secular society to truly understand just how central a role religion played in a man's life during the period of the film; it was an age of faith when Christianity exerted the most powerful of influences on one's thinking. On a side note, the American Republic wisely sought a nation that "divided church and state." However, the fine distinction remains that it would be a state informed by faith but not run by the church. The aforementioned exemplary performances by the leads are backed by excellent supporting turns, especially from Orson Welles as the less than saintly Cardinal Wolsey and the eternally ebullient Susannah York as Sir Thomas's daughter Margaret. This is a true masterpiece that richly deserves all the accolades and plaudits it has received.