The Private Life of Henry VIII
Encyclopedia
The Private Life of Henry VIII is a 1933 film
about Henry VIII
, King of England. It was written by Lajos Biró
and Arthur Wimperis
, and directed by Sir Alexander Korda
.
Charles Laughton
won the 1933 Academy Award as Best Actor
for his performance as Henry. The film was the first British
production to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture
.
(Merle Oberon
), King Henry VIII
(Charles Laughton
) marries her maid, the plain Jane Seymour (Wendy Barrie
). However, she dies in childbirth eighteen months later. He then weds a German princess, Anne of Cleves
(played by Laughton's real-life wife Elsa Lanchester
). This marriage ends in divorce when Anne deliberately makes herself unattractive so that she can be free to marry her sweetheart (In an imaginative and high-spirited scene, Anne "wins her freedom" from Henry in a game of cards on their wedding night). After this divorce, Henry marries the beautiful and ambitious Lady Katherine Howard
(Binnie Barnes
). She has rejected love all her life in favour of ambition, but after her marriage, she falls in love with Henry's handsome courtier Thomas Culpeper
(Robert Donat
). Their liaison is discovered by Henry's advisers and the couple are executed. The weak and aging Henry consoles himself--such as he can--with a final marriage to the shrewish Catherine Parr
(Everley Gregg
).
, dismissing it quickly in the opening titles and ignoring the political and religious upheaval that followed the divorce. Jane Seymour did not die in childbirth, but twelve days after her son (Prince Edward) was born. There is no evidence that Anne of Cleves deliberately made herself unattractive to Henry; he annulled their marriage because he felt he had been misled about her appearance. Her motive for wanting an annulment -- to be free to marry her true love -- is entirely fictional (the real Anne never remarried). Katherine Howard was said to have an affair with a man named Francis Dereham
even before she came to court as well as committing adultery with Thomas Culpeper
, and all three were executed. Although Katherine Parr is played for comic effect as an overbearing nag, history remembers her as a patient and loving wife.
and Charles Laughton
's careers. It was Merle Oberon
's first major film role and it began her rise to Hollywood stardom. Laughton would later reprise his role in 1953 in the film Young Bess
, opposite Jean Simmons
as his young daughter, Elizabeth I
. No other feature-length film would deal with all of Henry's wives until Henry VIII and his Six Wives
in 1973.
1933 in film
-Events:* March 2 - King Kong premieres in New York City.* June 6 - The first drive-in theater opens, in Camden, New Jersey.* British Film Institute founded....
about Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
, King of England. It was written by Lajos Biró
Lajos Biró
Lajos Bíró was a Hungarian novelist, playwright, and screenwriter who wrote many films from the early 1920s through the late 1940s. He was born in Nagyvárad, Austria-Hungary and eventually moved to the United Kingdom where he worked as a scenario chief for London Film Productions run by...
and Arthur Wimperis
Arthur Wimperis
Arthur Harold Wimperis was an English illustrator, playwright, lyricist and Academy Award-winning screenwriter....
, and directed by Sir Alexander Korda
Alexander Korda
Sir Alexander Korda was a Hungarian-born British producer and film director. He was a leading figure in the British film industry, the founder of London Films and the owner of British Lion Films, a film distributing company.-Life and career:The elder brother of filmmakers Zoltán Korda and Vincent...
.
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton was an English-American stage and film actor, screenwriter, producer and director.-Early life and career:...
won the 1933 Academy Award as Best Actor
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
for his performance as Henry. The film was the first British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
production to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
.
Plot
In May 1536, immediately following the execution of his second wife, Anne BoleynAnne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn ;c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the...
(Merle Oberon
Merle Oberon
Merle Oberon was an Indian-born British actress best known for her screen performances in The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Cowboy and the Lady . She began her film career in British films as Anne Boleyn in The Private Life of Henry VIII . She travelled to the United States to make films for Samuel...
), King Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
(Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton was an English-American stage and film actor, screenwriter, producer and director.-Early life and career:...
) marries her maid, the plain Jane Seymour (Wendy Barrie
Wendy Barrie
Wendy Barrie was a British actress who worked in British and American films.-Early life:Marguerite Wendy Jenkins was born in Hong Kong to British parents...
). However, she dies in childbirth eighteen months later. He then weds a German princess, Anne of Cleves
Anne of Cleves
Anne of Cleves was a German noblewoman and the fourth wife of Henry VIII of England and as such she was Queen of England from 6 January 1540 to 9 July 1540. The marriage was never consummated, and she was not crowned queen consort...
(played by Laughton's real-life wife Elsa Lanchester
Elsa Lanchester
Elsa Sullivan Lanchester was an English-American character actress with a long career in theatre, film and television....
). This marriage ends in divorce when Anne deliberately makes herself unattractive so that she can be free to marry her sweetheart (In an imaginative and high-spirited scene, Anne "wins her freedom" from Henry in a game of cards on their wedding night). After this divorce, Henry marries the beautiful and ambitious Lady Katherine Howard
Catherine Howard
Catherine Howard , also spelled Katherine, Katheryn or Kathryn, was the fifth wife of Henry VIII of England, and sometimes known by his reference to her as his "rose without a thorn"....
(Binnie Barnes
Binnie Barnes
Gertrude Maud "Binnie" Barnes was an English-American actress. She was born in Islington to a Jewish father and an Italian mother and was brought up Jewish, although she converted to Catholicism later in life....
). She has rejected love all her life in favour of ambition, but after her marriage, she falls in love with Henry's handsome courtier Thomas Culpeper
Thomas Culpeper
Sir Thomas Culpeper was a courtier of Henry VIII and the lover of Henry's fifth queen, Catherine Howard. He was born to Alexander Culpeper of Bedgebury, to the south of Maidstone in Kent, and his second wife, Constance Harper. He was the middle child and his older brother, also named Thomas, was a...
(Robert Donat
Robert Donat
Robert Donat was an English film and stage actor. He is best-known for his roles in Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps and Goodbye, Mr...
). Their liaison is discovered by Henry's advisers and the couple are executed. The weak and aging Henry consoles himself--such as he can--with a final marriage to the shrewish Catherine Parr
Catherine Parr
Catherine Parr ; 1512 – 5 September 1548) was Queen consort of England and Ireland and the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII of England. She married Henry VIII on 12 July 1543. She was the fourth commoner Henry had taken as his consort, and outlived him...
(Everley Gregg
Everley Gregg
Everley Gregg was a British actress.She made her film debut in the 1933 film The Private Life of Henry VIII as Catherine Parr, Henry's last wife...
).
Cast
- Charles LaughtonCharles LaughtonCharles Laughton was an English-American stage and film actor, screenwriter, producer and director.-Early life and career:...
as Henry VIIIHenry VIII of EnglandHenry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France... - Merle OberonMerle OberonMerle Oberon was an Indian-born British actress best known for her screen performances in The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Cowboy and the Lady . She began her film career in British films as Anne Boleyn in The Private Life of Henry VIII . She travelled to the United States to make films for Samuel...
as Anne BoleynAnne BoleynAnne Boleyn ;c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the... - Wendy BarrieWendy BarrieWendy Barrie was a British actress who worked in British and American films.-Early life:Marguerite Wendy Jenkins was born in Hong Kong to British parents...
as Jane SeymourJane SeymourJane Seymour was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII. She succeeded Anne Boleyn as queen consort following the latter's execution for trumped up charges of high treason, incest and adultery in May 1536. She died of postnatal complications less than two weeks after the birth of... - Elsa LanchesterElsa LanchesterElsa Sullivan Lanchester was an English-American character actress with a long career in theatre, film and television....
as Anne of ClevesAnne of ClevesAnne of Cleves was a German noblewoman and the fourth wife of Henry VIII of England and as such she was Queen of England from 6 January 1540 to 9 July 1540. The marriage was never consummated, and she was not crowned queen consort... - Binnie BarnesBinnie BarnesGertrude Maud "Binnie" Barnes was an English-American actress. She was born in Islington to a Jewish father and an Italian mother and was brought up Jewish, although she converted to Catholicism later in life....
as Catherine HowardCatherine HowardCatherine Howard , also spelled Katherine, Katheryn or Kathryn, was the fifth wife of Henry VIII of England, and sometimes known by his reference to her as his "rose without a thorn".... - Robert DonatRobert DonatRobert Donat was an English film and stage actor. He is best-known for his roles in Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps and Goodbye, Mr...
as Thomas CulpeperThomas CulpeperSir Thomas Culpeper was a courtier of Henry VIII and the lover of Henry's fifth queen, Catherine Howard. He was born to Alexander Culpeper of Bedgebury, to the south of Maidstone in Kent, and his second wife, Constance Harper. He was the middle child and his older brother, also named Thomas, was a... - Franklin DyallFranklin DyallFranklin Dyall was an English actor.He appeared in 26 films between 1916 and 1948...
as Thomas CromwellThomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of EssexThomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, , was an English statesman who served as chief minister of King Henry VIII of England from 1532 to 1540.... - Miles ManderMiles ManderMiles Mander , born Lionel Henry Mander , was a well-known and versatile English character actor of the early Hollywood cinema, also a film director and producer, and a playwright and novelist.-Early life:Miles Mander was the second son of Theodore Mander, builder of Wightwick Manor, of the prominent...
as WriothesleyThomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of SouthamptonThomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton, KG , known as The Lord Wriothesley between 1544 and 1547, was a politician of the Tudor period born in London to William Wrythe and Agnes Drayton.... - Laurence HanrayLaurence HanrayLaurence Hanray , sometimes credited as Lawrence Hanray, was a British film actor born in London, England.-Partial filmography:* Beyond the Cities * Her Reputation * The Faithful Heart...
as Archbishop Thomas CranmerThomas CranmerThomas Cranmer was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build a favourable case for Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon which resulted in the separation of the English Church from... - William Austin as The Duke of ClevesJohn III, Duke of ClevesJohn III the Peaceful, Duke of Cleves and Count of Mark was a son of John II, Duke of Cleves and Matilda of Hesse, daughter of Henry III, Landgrave of Upper Hesse.John III became Regent of the United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg in 1521, and Lord of Ravensberg in 1528.John represented...
- John LoderJohn Loder (actor)John Loder was a British-American actor. He was born William John Muir Lowe in London.-Early life:Loder's father was General W. H. M. Lowe, the British officer to whom Patrick Pearse, the leader of the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin, Ireland, surrendered...
as Thomas Peynell - Everley GreggEverley GreggEverley Gregg was a British actress.She made her film debut in the 1933 film The Private Life of Henry VIII as Catherine Parr, Henry's last wife...
as Catherine ParrCatherine ParrCatherine Parr ; 1512 – 5 September 1548) was Queen consort of England and Ireland and the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII of England. She married Henry VIII on 12 July 1543. She was the fourth commoner Henry had taken as his consort, and outlived him...
Inaccuracy
Historically, the film is wildly inaccurate - with the possible exception of the Anne Boleyn storyline at the beginning. It does not portray Henry's first (and longest) marriage to the Spanish princess, Catherine of AragonCatherine of Aragon
Catherine of Aragon , also known as Katherine or Katharine, was Queen consort of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII of England and Princess of Wales as the wife to Arthur, Prince of Wales...
, dismissing it quickly in the opening titles and ignoring the political and religious upheaval that followed the divorce. Jane Seymour did not die in childbirth, but twelve days after her son (Prince Edward) was born. There is no evidence that Anne of Cleves deliberately made herself unattractive to Henry; he annulled their marriage because he felt he had been misled about her appearance. Her motive for wanting an annulment -- to be free to marry her true love -- is entirely fictional (the real Anne never remarried). Katherine Howard was said to have an affair with a man named Francis Dereham
Francis Dereham
Francis Dereham was a Tudor courtier whose involvement with Henry VIII's fifth Queen, Catherine Howard, in her youth was a principal cause of the Queen's execution.-Life:...
even before she came to court as well as committing adultery with Thomas Culpeper
Thomas Culpeper
Sir Thomas Culpeper was a courtier of Henry VIII and the lover of Henry's fifth queen, Catherine Howard. He was born to Alexander Culpeper of Bedgebury, to the south of Maidstone in Kent, and his second wife, Constance Harper. He was the middle child and his older brother, also named Thomas, was a...
, and all three were executed. Although Katherine Parr is played for comic effect as an overbearing nag, history remembers her as a patient and loving wife.
Reception
It was hugely successful as a commercial film and it advanced Alexander KordaAlexander Korda
Sir Alexander Korda was a Hungarian-born British producer and film director. He was a leading figure in the British film industry, the founder of London Films and the owner of British Lion Films, a film distributing company.-Life and career:The elder brother of filmmakers Zoltán Korda and Vincent...
and Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton was an English-American stage and film actor, screenwriter, producer and director.-Early life and career:...
's careers. It was Merle Oberon
Merle Oberon
Merle Oberon was an Indian-born British actress best known for her screen performances in The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Cowboy and the Lady . She began her film career in British films as Anne Boleyn in The Private Life of Henry VIII . She travelled to the United States to make films for Samuel...
's first major film role and it began her rise to Hollywood stardom. Laughton would later reprise his role in 1953 in the film Young Bess
Young Bess
Young Bess is a 1953 biographical film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer about the early life of Elizabeth I, from her turbulent childhood to the eve of her accession to the throne of England...
, opposite Jean Simmons
Jean Simmons
Jean Merilyn Simmons, OBE was an English actress. She appeared predominantly in motion pictures, beginning with films made in Great Britain during and after World War II – she was one of J...
as his young daughter, Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
. No other feature-length film would deal with all of Henry's wives until Henry VIII and his Six Wives
Henry VIII and His Six Wives
Henry VIII and His Six Wives is a 1972 film version of the famous BBC television series The Six Wives of Henry VIII, it was written by Ian Thorne and directed by Waris Hussein.-Description:...
in 1973.