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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 film of 1968!
more (140 total)
US TV Schedule:
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:
While filming close-ups of Richard (Anthony Hopkins) in his jousting costume, the horse was spooked and bolted. Hopkins fell off and broke his arm. Filming the scene with his sword raised above his jousting opponent was very difficult due to this.
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Goofs:
Factual errors: There was a Christmas Court at Caen in 1182, but not one at Chinon in 1183.
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in A Woman of Substance: Katharine Hepburn Remembered (2003) (V)
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FAQ
Is this movie based on a novel?Is this movie based on real events?
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What were those Academy fools thinking?! They ignore a powerhouse performance by Peter O'Toole and trounce Anthony Harvey's inspiring direction! But the final indignity was in giving the best picture award to an over-praised, undeserving, insignificant musical called OLIVER! If they had a least half a brain in their heads they could've given to FUNNY GIRL but they only shoot themselves in the foot when the deserving go unrecognized. It only goes to show the Academy's just jealous. The script and Kate's performance at least were given the royal treatment but it still leaves bitter resentment when Cliff Roberston, one of Hollywood's most less-than-adequate actors cops the best actor away from O'Toole... possibly Hollywood's most underrated, not to mention unrecognized actors of the highest caliber. Hepburn's Eleanor of Aquitaine had witty lines, quiet but still present anger and fire underneath the surface but O'Toole as Henry II gave the more powerful performance... an aesthetic that echoed Taylor and Burton for WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? only Taylor was the gutsy performer and Burton doled out the cut-lows and the intellect. To coin a phrase from the British... "he (O'Toole) was bloody robbed!"
The story is set in Britain, 1183. Henry II is on the throne and has ten years earlier imprisoned his wife Eleanor of Acquitaine after co-conspirating a civil war against him. She and their three sons (Richard, the eldest, a brave warrior on the battlefield, whom Eleanor wants to succeed Henry as king; Geoffrey, the quietly vicious, unappreciated middle son of whom neither of them love with a plot for every occurrence and John, the piggish, dirty, thieving brat is their youngest whom Henry for some unknown reason wants on the throne) are all requested to appear at their palace of Chinon for the Christmas holidays. Also invited is young King Philip II of France whose elder sister Alais is the treasured and much-loved mistress to Henry. Philip wishes to have Alais mearried off to one of Henry's sons (preferably Richard) in order to form an alliance between England and France made between Henry and Philip's father, the late King Louis. But meanwhile, Philip is also plotting with all three boys and Eleanor to tear Henry's kingdom apart. Eleanor is merely in on it to get back at Henry for loving Alais (whom she had raised as a surrogate daughter) and the late Rosmund, an old rival of Eleanor's whom Henry replaced her with.
This film has it all: infidelity, betrayal, family dysfunction and a script that crackles with venom, wit and plot-twisting motivation. See it if only for O'Toole and Hepburn's first-rate performances.