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The Lion in Winter (1968)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
30 October 1968 (USA)
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Tagline:
The most significant reserved seat attraction of the year!
Plot:
1183 AD: King Henry II's three sons all want to inherit the throne, but he won't commit to a choice. They and his wife variously plot to force him. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Won 3 Oscars.
Another 11 wins
&
16 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(9 articles)
Swank's 'Amelia' Performance Gets First Oscar Kiss
(From Get The Big Picture. 20 October 2009, 3:02 PM, PDT)
Anthony Harvey Recalls Directing "The Lion In Winter" At Loews Jersey City
(From CinemaRetro. 1 May 2009, 1:14 PM, PDT)
(From Get The Big Picture. 20 October 2009, 3:02 PM, PDT)
Anthony Harvey Recalls Directing "The Lion In Winter" At Loews Jersey City
(From CinemaRetro. 1 May 2009, 1:14 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
The two most powerful people in the world
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Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | Peter O'Toole | ... | Henry II |
 | Katharine Hepburn | ... | Eleanor of Aquitaine |
 | Anthony Hopkins | ... | Richard |
 | John Castle | ... | Geoffrey |
| Nigel Terry | ... | John |
 | Timothy Dalton | ... | King Philip of France |
 | Jane Merrow | ... | Alais |
| Nigel Stock | ... | Capt. William Marshall |
| Kenneth Ives | ... | Queen Eleanor's guard |
| O.Z. Whitehead | ... | Bishop of Durham |
| Fran Stafford | ... | Lady in Waiting |
| Ella More | ... | Lady in Waiting |
| Kenneth Griffith | ... | Strolling player |
| Henry Woolf | ... | Strolling player |
| Karol Hagar | ... | Strolling player |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
134 min | UK:137 min (70 mm version)
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Eastmancolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.20 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) |
Mono (35 mm prints)
Certification:
Iceland:16 |
Australia:PG |
Canada:PG (Ontario) |
Argentina:13 |
Finland:K-12 |
Sweden:11 |
USA:PG |
West Germany:12 |
Germany:16 |
Portugal:M/12 (DVD rating) |
Singapore:PG |
Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) |
UK:A (original rating) |
UK:15 (video rating)
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
This was the second time that Peter O'Toole played King Henry II. The first time was in Becket (1964). He received Academy Award nominations for both performances.
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Goofs:
Factual errors: At one point Eleanor states that the year is 1183. At another point Henry II claims "I'm 50 now, I've even got 10 years on the Pope." However, the pope in 1183 was Lucius III who was born in Lucca Italy in 1097. Henry II was born on 5 March 1133, making him 36 years younger than the pope.
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in Ever After (1998)
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FAQ
Is this movie based on a novel?Is this movie based on real events?
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I was just watching this again on PBS, maybe the 4th or 5th time I've seen this one. I've also seen the play performed and the TV remake. That last is also a worthwhile interpretation -- I even think Patrick Stewart did a better Henry. He showed more of the pure self possessed confidence and power. But Close and the other actors were not nearly as memorable as this cast, with the possible exception of unknown Soma Marko's completely vile moron John (he really shows us why he became the villain of the Robin Hood legends.) This 1968 cast included a brilliant young Anthony Hopkins as the deeply troubled Richard and a delightfully slimy Timothy Dalton as King Phillip of France.
But these are mere bit players opposite two of the greatest characters of their time. The second Welsh Plantagenet took one of the most beautiful, powerful and intellectual women of all from the King of France, (and some say his own father) It was one of the greatest love stories of all time between the two most dynamic individuals of their era. And this is what it's all about and what makes this play and this movie work. Each was really the only one the other could ever really love. Nobody else in their time even came close. And only a Hepburn could pull off Elenore of Aquitaine.
I still like Stewart's Henry better because he gave me more of the Henry we know from History as a completely fearless dynamic powerful King who could do and have
anything he wanted. Even though her youthful beauty had faded, Elenore as always the great love and the only woman who could ever have been his equal. So despite all the scheming, infidelity and dysfunctional family betrayal, those two will always be one of the great matches of history right next to Caesar and Cleopatra. That's what this play is all about and why this cast's rendition will aways remain a classic.