Anne Of The Thousand Days [DVD] [1969]

While not historically accurate, it is still a sublime historical drama. It centers around Anne Boleyn's rise to prominence and her ultimate demise at the executioner's sword. While at court one day, Anne caught the King's eye. She, however, was in love with a courtier whom she wanted to marry. The King, besotted by her, refused to grant her permission to marry, and her courtier was forced to marry another. The King pursued Anne, while still married to the aging Katherine of Aragon. Anne refused, however, to give in and become his lover, knowing that once she did, she would be yesterday's news. Holding Cardinal Wolsey responsible for the loss of all her hopes and dreams, Anne played him like a fiddle, eventually bringing about his downfall. With Cromwell on the ascendancy, however, little did Anne know that her troubles were just beginning.

Angry at the turn that her life had taken, Anne became a doyenne of intrigue and, as she did with Wolsey, played the King like a fiddle. Her actions set into motion the events that would bring about the great Reformation, which would transform England from a Catholic country into a Protestant one. While Anne finally succeeded in marrying the King, she failed to produce the son that Henry VIII so desired, though the fault was Henry's and not hers, as we now know that it is the male who determines the sex of a child. The terms of Anne's reign would cost her dearly, and her legacy would be a bloody one. What had started out with high hopes would end tragically for her and set a precedent that would make all future wives fearful of coming to the same end. Ironically, Henry would never know that his child with Anne would become the greatest monarch that England has ever known, Elizabeth I.

This is a film that all lovers of period pieces and historical dramas will enjoy. It is simply a great movie.

Anne has freshly returned from the Court of France. Her family, the Boleyn’s, are riding high at the court of King Henry, largely due to the favors that Anne’s sister, Mary (Valerie Gearon) provides him with. Henry however is bored. His wife, Katherine of Aragon (Played majestically by Irene Papas) has failed in providing a male heir to secure the Tudor dynasty. Anne, who is secretly betrothed to Henry Percy (Terrance Wilton) catches the Kings eye, and so begins the most passionate and shocking love story in history.

With outstanding performances from Anthony Quayle (Cardinal Wolsey), John Colicos (Thomas Cromwell), Michael Horden (Thomas Boleyn), and William Squire (Thomas More), Anne of the Thousand Days paints a colorful and startling picture of one of the most fanatical and ruthless periods in English history. We are taken on a journey into the past, through the court rooms which denied Henry’s right to Divorce Katherine of Aragon, into the Bedroom of Anne whose affection he won after so long, and onto the Scaffold on Tower Green in which Henry ended Anne’s thousand day rule.

Bujold and Burton never gave better performances. Henry is portrayed by Burton as a spoilt, desperate man, who will do anything to secure his succession, and does. Anne is a complex, and powerful being who is determined and willful up until the sword descends. This is a film that has its inaccuracies historically, but captures the time perfectly. Margaret Furse’s Costumes won a deserved Oscar, and Georges Delerue’s musical score complements Charles Jarrott’s photography perfectly.

This has to be my all time favorite film. Having been out of print for some time, it has now been restored to DVD. I certainly would recommend that you invest in a copy… and some tissues!