Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Charles Jarrott

Writers:

Maxwell Anderson (play)
Bridget Boland (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

18 December 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History

Tagline:

He was King. She was barely 18. And in their thousand days they played out the most passionate and shocking love story in history!

Plot:

Henry VIII of England discards one wife, Katharine of Aragon, who has failed to produce a male heir, in favor of the young and beautiful Anne Boleyn.

Plot Keywords:

England | Anne Boleyn | Male Heirs | Sent Away | Capital Punishment

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 5 wins & 16 nominations

Cast

Richard Burton	...	King Henry VIII
Geneviève Bujold	...	Anne Boleyn
Irene Papas	...	Queen Katherine of Aragon
Anthony Quayle	...	Cardinal Wolsey
John Colicos	...	Thomas Cromwell
Michael Hordern	...	Count Thomas Boleyn
Katharine Blake	...	Elizabeth Boleyn
Valerie Gearon	...	Mary Boleyn
Michael Johnson	...	George Boleyn
Peter Jeffrey	...	Duke of Norfolk
Joseph O'Conor	...	Bishop Fisher
William Squire	...	Thomas More
Esmond Knight	...	Kingston
Nora Swinburne	...	Lady Kingston
Vernon Dobtcheff	...	Mendoza
Brook Williams	...	Breareton
Gary Bond	...	Smeaton
T.P. McKenna	...	Norris
Denis Quilley	...	Weston
Terence Wilton	...	Lord Percy
Lesley Paterson	...	Jane Seymour
Nicola Pagett	...	Princess Mary
June Ellis	...	Bess
Kynaston Reeves	...	Willoughby
Marne Maitland	...	Campeggio
Cyril Luckham	...	Prior Houghton
Amanda Walker	...	Anne's Lady-in-Waiting
Charlotte Selwyn	...	Anne's Lady-in-Waiting
Elizabeth Counsell	...	Anne's Lady-in-Waiting
Juliet Kempson	...	Cahterine's Lady-in-Waiting
Fiona Hartford	...	Catherine's Lady-in-Waiting
Lilian Hutchins	...	Catherine's Spanish Lady-in-Waiting
Anne Tirard	...	Catherine's Spanish Lady-in-Waiting
Amanda Jane Smythe	...	Baby Elizabeth
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kate Burton	...	Serving Maid (uncredited)
Liza Todd Burton	...	Beggar Maid (uncredited)
Harry Fielder	...	Servant (uncredited)
Elizabeth Taylor	...	Courtesan (uncredited)
Rita Tobin-Weske	...	Midwife (uncredited)

Directed by
Charles Jarrott

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Maxwell Anderson		play
Bridget Boland		writer
John Hale		writer
Richard Sokolove		adaptation

Produced by
Richard McWhorter	....	associate producer
Hal B. Wallis	....	producer

Original Music by
Georges Delerue

Cinematography by
Arthur Ibbetson

Film Editing by
Richard Marden

Casting by
Sally Nicholl

Production Design by
Maurice Carter

Art Direction by
Lionel Couch

Set Decoration by
Peter Howitt
Patrick McLoughlin

Costume Design by
Margaret Furse

Makeup Department
Ron Berkeley	....	makeup artist: Richard Burton
Joan Carpenter	....	hair stylist
Tom Smith	....	makeup supervisor

Production Management
James H. Ware	....	production supervisor (as James Ware)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Simon Relph	....	assistant director
Nicolas Hippisley-Coxe	....	second second assistant director (uncredited)
Nigel Wooll	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
John Feehan	....	property master
Ferdinand Bellan	....	scenic artist (uncredited)
Andrew Campbell	....	sketch artist (uncredited)
Frank Graves	....	scenic artist (uncredited)
W. Simpson Robinson	....	scenic artist (uncredited)

Sound Department
John Aldred	....	sound dubbing mixer
Colin Miller	....	sound editor
Don Sharpe	....	dubbing editor
Robin Clegg	....	boom operator (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Paul Wilson	....	camera operator
Norman Gryspeerdt	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ivy Baker	....	costume supervisor (as Ivy Baker Jones)
Vi Murray	....	wardrobe mistress (uncredited)
Arthur Newman	....	wardrobe master (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Mary Kessel	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Valerie Booth	....	continuity
Inez Easton	....	location manager
Patrick McLoughlin	....	researcher
Mary Skeaping	....	choreographer
Jeremy Taylor	....	horse master (uncredited)
Joan Williams	....	production secretary (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Hal Wallis Productions

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1969) (UK) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (1969) (USA) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1979) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Universal Pictures (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• MCA Home Video (1985) (USA) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (199?) (USA) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)
• Universal Pictures France (UPF)

Also Known As:

Anne of a Thousand Days

Runtime:

145 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (35 mm prints) (Westrex Recording System) | 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (re-rating) (1988) | USA:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:M (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Hal Wallis Productions

Trivia:

Faye Dunaway turned down the role of Anne Boleyn.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: When Henry and Anne are playing chess, the chess board is set up improperly. The chess board has a black square in the lower right square. That square must be white.

Quotes:

Anne: Doesn't do that well. Not as well as I've known it done. But it's the one arm I want- for some God-knows-what reason. You do everything badly- everything awkwardly- and I love it the way you do it.

Movie Connections:

Version of Anna Boleyn (1920)

splendidly acted!

This is one of the most-overlooked movies I've ever seen! It is excellent. This film, based on Maxwell Anderson's play, really makes history feel alive! Richard Burton is fine here, as always, very magnetic as Henry VIII but he absolute joy of this picture is Genevieve Bujold, in her first major picture, as Anne Boylen. How she failed to wina n Oscar is beyond me.

The set and costumes are great and the acting is stellar. This is all aobut henry's quest for a male heir. Since Catharine of Aragon failed to produce one, he dumps her and seeks out Anne. For a thousand days they are happy. But only a daughter, Elizabeth, is born to them. So Henry accuses her, falsely, of adulter and asks annulment, which the church refuses. Henry decides that will not stop him, he puts her to death, having her beheaded and promptly rides off to romance Jane Seymour (the real person not the actress). But Anne can die with diginity for Elizabeth is hers and will be a far greater queen than any king Henry could have sired. Highly recommend for all fans of Burton and historical drama.