BEFORE: I've reached the end of Richard Burton week, and here's where things stand: Richard Burton's been in 5 films this year, but so have James McAvoy, Fred Astaire and Howard Keel. Renée Zellweger's been in 4, but will be in at least 1 more, and Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, Johnny Depp and Jake Gyllenhaal are all likely to hit at least five each before the year's over. But it hardly matters, because in a couple day's I'm starting on the old Sherlock Holmes films, and there are 14 of them, so Basil Rathbone will probably be the most-watched actor this year. I don't think even a pile of Dracula movies with Christopher Lee can beat that.
I'll be on those for nearly 2 weeks. Then I promise I'm on track for some more films from 2016 and 2017.
FOLLOW-UP TO: "The Other Boleyn Girl" (Movie #1,120)
THE PLOT: Henry VIII of England discards one wife, Catharine of Aragon, who has failed to produce a male heir, in favor of the young and beautiful Anne Boleyn.
AFTER: You want to talk about V.I.P.s? They don't come any more important than British kings and queens. I already saw one film this year about a Royal Wedding, so here's another one in preparation for the one coming up in real life (in May, damn it, why didn't I program for that?). This is based on a play from 1948, but the story is relatively timeless, detailing the marital troubles of King Henry VIII, the start of the Anglican Church, and the continuing power of the patriarchy.
Things might have gone differently if Henry could have had a son, or been able to get over his obsessive NEED for a son, or his belief that England could not be ruled by a queen. Ah, history played a cruel joke on Henry, because his daughter, Elizabeth I was one of the greats (not the Queen Elizabeth that's on the throne now, she may be old but she's not THAT old...).
When we first see Henry 8 (or at least at the start of the flashback) he's been married to Katharine for 20 years, which is a super long time for a king to be faithful. Only he wasn't exactly faithful, he had a child, Henry Fitzroy, with one mistress and possibly a couple with Mary Boleyn, too. But once his attention fell on to Mary's sister, Anne, all bets were off and Henry was willing to do just about anything, legal or illegal to marry her. Anne, to her credit, appeared to hold him off until he could get some kind of divorce or deal with wife number 1 before she agreed to become wife number 2.
I'll admit I'm not an expert on British kings and queens - that's a sticking point for me whenever it comes up in trivia competitions. Some people can name all of Henry VIII's wives in order, I can probably name 5 or 6 of them, but ordering them is always tricky to me. Same goes for who was king or queen at what time, and in what order - I have better luck with naming the U.S. Presidents in order. Apparently Henry VIII was succeeded by his son (with Jane Seymour) Edward, who was followed by Lady Jane Grey and then Mary I, Henry's daughter with Catherine of Aragon. THEN came Queen Elizabeth - OK, I've got it straight now but I'll forget it all in a day or two, I'm sure.
Focus, focus, let's get back to Anne Boleyn. When Henry couldn't get the Pope to give him a divorce or annulment, that's when Henry decided that as the royal leader of Britain, he could also be the spiritual leader, and hence the split with the Roman Catholic Church. Suddenly he could grant himself a divorce or annulment, sort of like an executive order. Catherine was out and banished from the court - hey, it could have been worse, at least she got to live. According to this film, the marriage was never a great one to begin with, since she married Henry's brother Arthur, the Prince of Wales, and after he died Henry married her to keep the alliance with Spain strong.
A couple of points - in That Other Boleyn Movie, it's Anne's idea to sleep with her brother in order to conceive a son, since Henry's chromosomes are only producing daughters, though they don't actually sleep together. In this film it's only Henry's accusation that they committed incest, and even then, that's probably just a made-up excuse to give grounds for divorce. That's what historians now believe, anyway, but who can say for sure? People back then were into some pretty kinky stuff, and people probably banged their half-sisters and half-brothers all the time without even knowing it, since they didn't have paternity tests. But getting Anne's FATHER to prove his loyalty to the King by testifying that his son and daughter had sex is still pretty low.
Henry went on to great acclaim and had four more wives - Anne lasted the third longest, with her 1,000 days as queen. (Big deal, I'm getting close to 3,000 days watching movies...). Spoiler alert, it doesn't end well for Anne Boleyn, but does it end well for anyone, really?
Also starring Genevieve Bujold (last seen in "Tightrope"), Irene Papas (last seen in "Into the Night"), Anthony Quayle (last seen in "Hamlet"), John Colicos (last seen in "The Postman Always Rings Twice"), Michael Hordern (also carrying over from "The V.I.P.s"), Katharine Blake, Valerie Gearon, Michael Johnson, Peter Jeffrey, Joseph O'Conor (last seen in "Elizabeth"), William Squire, Esmond Knight (last seen in "Henry V"), Nora Swinburne, Vernon Dobtcheff (last seen in "The Taming of the Shrew"), Brook Williams (also carrying over from an uncredited role in "The V.I.P.s), Gary Bond, T.P. McKenna, Nicola Pagett, Kate Burton, and an alleged cameo from Elizabeth Taylor (also carrying over from "The V.I.P.s")
RATING: 5 out of 10 ladies in waiting
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