The Private Life of Henry VIII film review

Review

Cast & crew

The Private Life of Henry VIII

(1933)

This superb, sexy, roistering biographical drama about the corpulent and much-married monarch was the British movie that finally cracked the American market. It caused a sensation and started the trend for portraying Henry as a roaring glutton — belching in public and tossing used meat bones over his shoulder — after he was immortalised as such by the great Charles Laughton. His subtle and clever portrayal rightly won him the best actor Oscar at the age of 33, the first time a British actor in a British film had been honoured by the Academy. Director and co-producer Alexander Korda pulls out all the stops, and, although the style looks creaky today, the performances are simply splendid, especially Elsa Lanchester — aka Mrs Laughton — who is very funny as Anne of Cleves. The total budget was only {pound}60,000, and, without the success of this film, it's not unfair to suggest that there would never have been a British film industry. TS

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Running time

89min

Country of origin

Genre

Biographical Drama

Original language

English

Screenplay

Lajos Biró, Arthur Wimperis