The Lion In Winter [DVD] [1968]

Here, Henry and Eleanor are in their golden years. Henry is fifty and his wife, whom he has had imprisoned for the last ten years, is quite a number of years older. He brings her out of captivity for Christmas, and she joins him and their three sons, Richard, Geoffrey, and John.

Peter O'Toole gives a fine portrayal of the aging, but still robust and virile Henry, who is in a seeming quandary as he debates a burning issue. To whom of his three sons shall he leave his hard won kingdom? He professes to want to leave it to his youngest, John, as that is the son whom he claims to love the most. One has to wonder, however, what kingly qualities he sees in John, played as a pimply faced, sixteen year old fool by Nigel Terry, who does what he can with this unsympathetic role.

Eleanor, however, tartly played by the always glorious Katherine Hepburn, prefers her oldest, Richard, who is the son whom she has loved the most, though he, too, has his issues. Richard is played as a blood thirsty homosexual by a somewhat wooden Anthony Hopkins in his screen debut.

No one seems to love the middle son, Geoffrey, and he knows it, though he seems to be the one son whose behavior is the most within the bounds of what one might consider acceptable, as he is neither a killer nor a fool. He is merely unloved by his parents. John Castle gives a strong performance in this role.

Eleanore manipulates each of her three sons, as if they were pawns in a game of chess, in her quest for personal power. Henry also plays them like fiddles. They, in turn, seem to care little for either their mother or their father. It is no wonder that they are totally disfunctional as a family.

Also, living in the castle is the beautiful Alais, sister to the young King of France, Philip II, played by Timothy Dalton in a very credible debut performance. Betrothed to Richard fifteen years before at the age of seven, Alais has since fallen in love with Henry, and he has made her his mistress. Eleanor is fully aware of the fact, and Henry flaunts Alais with gusto. Alais, however, is eclipsed by the highly intelligent and ruthlessly clever Eleanor. Yet, it is Alais, played with warm tenderness by the lovely Jane Morrow, whom the King professes to love.

Still, one has to wonder. It seems that Henry and Eleanor have very strong feelings for each other, which are veiled by a mask of supposed hatred and disguised by the venom that they spew at each other. The dialogue between the two protagonists consists of sharp and bitter repartee, which is delivered fast and furious, reminiscent of the dialogue spewed forth in Edward Albee's play "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?".

Eleanor and Henry parry back and forth the entire film, each trying to vanquish the other verbally. The two aging monarchs are aware that they are coming to terms with their own respective mortality, yet each is loath to let go of the trappings of their greatness, no matter what the cost. Hepburn and O'Toole ham it up with over the top performances, though given the excesses of the dialogue, which is often witty and full of ripostes that go for the jugular, it is as the author wished.

This is an interesting and clever film that will be enjoyed by all those who love theatre, period pieces, and historical dramas.