|
|
|
Websites
| Books | Museums
| Historical novels | Historical
films
Henry VIII
Anne of the Thousand Days
Britain, 1969
Director Charles Jarrott
Screenwriters John Hale and Bridget Boland
From the play by Maxwell Anderson
Cinematographer Arthur Ibbetson
Music Georges Delerue
Cast Richard Burton (Henry VIII), Geneviève Bujold (Anne
Boleyn), John Colicos (Thomas Cromwell), Irene Papas (Catherine of Aragon),
Anthony Quayle (Cardinal Wolsey), Michael Hordern, Katharine Blake, Peter
Jeffrey, William Squire (Sir Thomas More), Esmond Knight, Nora Swinburne
French-Canadian Bujold tries desperately to give dignity to a film that,
more often than not, descends to woman's-magazine level. Burton simply
walks through his role.
A Man for All Seasons
Britain, 1966
Director Fred Zinnemann
Screenwriter Robert Bolt (from his play)
Cinematographer Ted Moore
Music Georges Delerue
Cast Paul Scofield (Sir Thomas More), Wendy Hiller, Susannah York,
Robert Shaw (Henry VIII), Orson Welles (Cardinal Wolsey), Leo McKern (Thomas
Cromwell), Nigel Davenport, John Hurt, Corin Redgrave, Cyril Luckham,
Jack Gwillim, Vanessa Redgrave (Anne Boleyn)
Well-deserved multiple Oscar winner (best picture, director, screenplay,
actor, cinematography) that deals with Sir Thomas More's objections to
Henry VIII's divorce and his subsequent execution. Perhaps makes More
a great deal more saintly than he actually was.
The Private Life of Henry VIII
Britain, 1933
Director Alexander Korda
Screenwriters Lajos Biro and Arthur Wimperis
Cinematographer Georges Périnal
Music Kurt Schroeder
Cast Charles Laughton (Henry VIII), Elsa Lanchester (Anne of Cleves),
Robert Donat, Merle Oberon (Anne Boleyn), Binnie Barnes, Franklin Dyall,
Miles Mander, Wendy Barrie, Claud Allister, Everley Gregg
Charles Laughton won an Oscar for his larger-than-life portrayal of
the Tudor king, which set the pattern for the public's perception of the
ruler.
Elizabeth I
Drake of England
Britain, 1935
Director Arthur Woods
Screenwriters Clifford, Grey, Akos Tolney, Marjories Deans and
Norman Watson
From the play Drake by Louis N Parker
Cinematographers Claude Friese-Greene, Ronald Neame and Jack Parker
Music G H Clutsam
Cast Matheson Lang (Drake), Athene Seyler (Elizabeth I), Jane Baxter,
Donald Wolfit, Henry Mollison, George Merritt, Amy Veness, Sam Livesey,
Ben Webster
Called Drake the Pirate and Elizabeth of England in the
States, this historical pageant depicts Drake being knighted by Elizabeth
I and defeating the Spanish Armada.
Elizabeth
Britain, 1998
Director Shekhar Kapur
Screenwriter Michael Hirst
Cinematographer Remi Adefarasin
Music David Hirschfelder
Cast Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth), Geoffrey Rush, Christopher Eccleston,
Joseph Fiennes, Richard Attenborough, Fanny Ardant, Kathy Burke, Eric
Cantona, James Frain, Vincent Cassel, Daniel Craig, John Gielgud, Angus
Deayton, Edward Hardwicke, Terence Rigby
Early Elizabethan turmoil: young Elizabeth claims the throne after Catholic
Queen Mary's death, surrounded by enemies and reigning over a country
torn by religion. New take on historical drama by an outstanding Indian
director.
Mary Queen of Scots
Britain, 1971
Director Charles Jarrott
Screenwriter John Hale
Cinematographer Christopher Challis
Music John Barry
Cast Vanessa Redgrave (Mary), Glenda Jackson (Elizabeth), Trevor
Howard, Patrick McGoohan, Nigel Davenport
The battle between Mary Stuart and Elizabeth I, with little respect for
history: in the film, the two protagonists meet twice, when, in
fact, they never met once.
Mary of Scotland
US, 1936
Director John Ford
Screenwriter Dudley Nichols
From the play by Maxwell Anderson
Cinematographer Joseph H August
Music Nathaniel Shilkret
Cast Katharine Hepburn (Mary), Fredric March, Donald Crisp, Florence
Eldridge (Elizabeth I), Douglas Walton, John Carradine, Robert Barrat,
Monte Blue, Moroni Olsen, Frieda Inescort, Alan Mowbray
John Ford turns from the western to historical splendour in this early
epic on the life of Mary Queen of Scots, but ends up with a film that
has as much life as Monument Valley.
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
US, 1939
Director Michael Curtiz
Screenwriters Norman Reilly Raine and Aeneas Mackenzie
From the play Elizabeth the Queen by Maxwell Anderson
Cinematographers Sol Polito and W Howard Greene
Music Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Cast Bette Davis (Elizabeth I), Errol Flynn (Essex), Olivia de
Havilland, Donald Crisp, Vincent Price (Sir Walter Ralegh), Alan Hale,
Henry Stephenson, Henry Daniell, Leo G Carroll, Nanette Fabray, Robert
Warwick, John Sutton
A classic portrayal of the treachery of Elizabeth's court and the queen's
need for someone she can trust. Hardly history, but immensely entertaining.
Shakespeare in Love
US, 1998
Director John Madden
Screenwriters Mark Norman and Tom Stoppard
Cinematographer Richard Greatrex
Music Stephen Warbeck
Cast Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare), Geoffrey Rush,
Colin Firth, Ben Affleck, Judi Dench (Elizabeth I), Rupert Everett, Simon
Callow, Jim Carter, Martin Clunes, Antony Sher, Imelda Staunton, Tom Wilkinson,
Mark Williams
This winner of Oscars for best picture, best actress, best supporting
actress and best screenplay tells how young Will Shakespeare's comedy
Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter becomes the tragic Romeo
and Juliet, mirroring his own romance.
The Virgin Queen
US, 1955
Director Henry Koster
Screenwriters Harry Brown and Mindret Lord
Cinematographer Charles G Clarke
Music Franz Waxman
Cast Bette Davis (Elizabeth I), Richard Todd (Ralegh), Joan Collins,
Herbert Marshall, Jay Robinson, Dan O'Herlihy, Robert Douglas, Romney
Brent
Bette Davis is in full authority in her second portrayal of Elizabeth
I, detailing her conflicts with Sir Walter Ralegh.
Edward VI
Lady Jane
Britain, 1986
Screenwriters David Edgar and Chris Bryant
Director Trevor Nunn
Cinematographer Douglas Slocombe
Music Stephen Oliver
Cast Helena Bonham Carter (Lady Jane), Cary Elwes (Guildford Dudley),
John Wood, Michael Hordern, Jill Bennett, Jane Lapotaire, Sara Kestelman,
Joss Ackland, Patrick Stewart, Richard Vernon
Unsuccessful biopic (despite the stellar cast and direction) about the
young girl who tried to succeed Edward VI in place of his sister Mary.
Further afield
The Agony and the Ecstasy
US, 1965
Director Carol Reed
Screenwriter Philip Dunne
From the novel by Irving Stone
Cinematographer Leon Shamroy
Music Alex North
Cast Charlton Heston (Michelangelo), Rex Harrison (Pope Julius
II), Diane Cilento, Harry Andrews, Alberto Lupo, Adolfo Celi
The story of Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel at the insistence
of Pope Julius II.
Aguirre, Wrath of God
West Germany, 1972
Director/screenwriter Werner Herzog
Cinematographer Thomas Mauch
Music Popol Vuh
Cast Klaus Kinski (Aquirre), Ruy Guerra, Helena Rojo, Cecilia Rivera
In 1560, a band of Spanish conquistadors, led by the ruthless and psychopathic
Aguirre, venture up a river in Peru in search of El Dorado, the mythical
city of gold. Unforgettable acting and images.
Caravaggio
Britain, 1986
Director/screenwriter Derek Jarman
Cinematographer Gabriel Beristain
Music Simon Fisher Turner
Cast Nigel Terry (Caravaggio), Dexter Fletcher (young Caravaggio),
Sean Bean, Garry Cooper, Spencer Leigh
Flamboyant film that showed (for the first time on screen) the homosexual
roots of the work of the late Renaissance Italian painter.
Cervantes
Spain/Italy/France, 1968
Director Vincent Sherman
Screenwriters Enrique Llovet and Enrico Bomba
From the novel by Bruno Frank
Cinematographer Edmond Richard
Music Jean Ledrut
Cast Horst Buchholz (Cervantes), Gina Lollobrigida, Louis Jourdan,
José Ferrer, Fernando Rey, Francisco Rabal
As a papal envoy, the future author of Don Quixote persuades Philip
of Spain to join the Holy League, before becoming a soldier and having
various adventures. The film was called The Young Rebel in the
States.
Il Mestiere delle Armi (Profession of Arms)
2000
Director Ermanno Olmi
Story of Giovanni de Medici, a captain in the war of Charles V against
the pope, in the first half of the 16th century when being a soldier was
a professional choice.
Luther
Britain, 1973
Director Guy Green
Screenwriter Edward Anhalt
From the play by John Osborne
Cinematographer Freddie Young
Music John Addison
Cast Stacy Keach (Luther), Patrick Magee, Hugh Griffith, Robert
Stephens, Alan Badel, Julian Glover, Judi Dench, Leonard Rossiter, Maurice
Denham
This film, which tells how the radical teachings of German cleric Martin
Luther led to the Peasants' Revolt in 1525, never fully escapes its theatrical
origins, but is worth watching for the cast.
Mughal-e-Azam
1960
Director K Asif
Urdu film, set in 16th-century India, about war between the Mogul crown
prince Saleem and his father, the great Mogul emperor Akbar, which started
over a love affair between the prince and a court dancer. A highly rated
classic.
Paracelsus
Germany, 1943
Director Georg Wilhelm Pabst
Screenwriters Kurt Heuser and G W Pabst
Cinematographer Bruno Stephan
Music Herbert Windt
Cast Werner Krauss (Paracelsus), Mathias Wieman, Harald Kreutzberg,
Martin Urtel, Harry Langewisch
Paracelsus, a 16th-century Swiss doctor and an important figure in early
medicine, upsets the status quo with new methods of treating illness.
One of three films directed by Pabst for the Third Reich.
Top
|
|
|
