- Film Review
- Reviewed By Tom Hutchinson
-
4 out of 5
This beautifully photographed drama is distinguished by a couple of charismatic performances from Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole. Edward Anhalt's Oscar-winning script from Jean Anouilh's stage play tells of the friendship at the 12th-century English court between O'Toole's Henry II and Burton's Thomas Becket. Henry's appointment of his childhood friend as Archbishop of Canterbury is the catalyst for the movie's battle of wills - and a battle of acting greats as these top-class thespians take the screen by storm. The motivational insights of the power struggle between the two are more modern than medieval, but they make for a wholly engrossing portrayal of the past.
Plot Summary
Historical drama starring Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole. England in the 12th century: when King Henry II appoints his drinking companion and best friend Thomas Becket to be his new Archbishop of Canterbury, he believes it will rid him of interference from the Catholic Church in his affairs. However, Becket undergoes something of a spiritual transformation when he takes up his new office, and this soon brings him into conflict with an impatient and uncompromising monarch.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Thomas Becket
- Richard Burton
- King Henry II
- Peter O'Toole
- King Louis VII of France
- John Gielgud
- Bishop Folliot
- Donald Wolfit
- Queen Matilda
- Martita Hunt
- Queen Eleanor
- Pamela Brown
- Pope Alexander III
- Paolo Stoppa
- Cardinal Zambelli
- Gino Cervi
- Brother John
- David Weston
- Archbishop of Canterbury
- Felix Aylmer
- Henry II's baron
- Percy Herbert
- Henry II's baron
- Niall MacGinnis
- Henry II's baron
- Christopher Rhodes
- Henry II's baron
- Peter Jeffrey
- Henry II's baron
- Michael Miller (1)
- Henry II's baron
- Peter Prowse
- Robert de Beaumont, Duke of Leicester
- Inigo Jackson
- Gwendolen
- Sian Phillips
- French girl
- Veronique Vendell
- Peasant's daughter
- Jennifer Hilary
- Brother Philip
- Geoffrey Bayldon
- Pope's secretary
- Graham Stark
- French tailor
- Victor Spinetti
- Clement
- Edward Woodward
Crew
- Director
- Peter Glenville
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