Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

Suman Roberson It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Derrick Gibbons An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

calvinnme I was only 13 when this series aired on TV back in 1971. Others have mentioned seeing it on PBS, but I clearly remembering it first airing in the U.S. on network TV - I'm fairly sure it was CBS - back in the summer of 1971. Isn't it amazing that in 30 years we went from great historical drama being summer TV fare to schlock like Survivor and Fear Factor? At any rate, this series stars actors and actresses that Americans have probably never seen before since this was entirely a British production. It consists of six episodes - one for each wife - each running 90 minutes in length. My favorite episodes were those about the second and fifth wives - Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard, respectively. Dorothy Tutin plays the long pursued and then quickly rejected Anne Boleyn, mother of the future Elizabeth I. She is executed on trumped up charges merely because she had failed to produce a male heir and Henry could never come up with an excuse for another divorce just a few years after he had come up with a philosophical and religious reason for one to Catherine of Aragon. He would have completely lost face and one with Henry's pride could not have that. How ironic that it was Anne's daughter Elizabeth - not Henry's son Edward - that was the strong and able monarch and heir Henry had hoped to produce, and the one to clean up the mess he made of England's treasury when she assumed the throne. Katherine Howard, Henry's fifth wife, is the other wife that is executed, although the charges of adultery against her are true. Mitchell does an outstanding job of playing the heartbroken king when he learns of Howard's treachery. The thing is, Katherine Howard's treachery is not so much that as it is the expected outcome of a young healthy 17 year-old girl married to an old man 30 years her senior who can no longer be a real husband to her. She was truly a tragic figure, but typical of that era - a young girl treated as a commodity by her family and placed in an arranged marriage. It is odd that with all of the intelligent and beautiful wives that Henry had, the one that had his heart until the day he died was the shy and plain Jane Seymour, his third wife, mother of his only son, and the only one of his six wives to die a natural death while still his wife. Through all six episodes Keith Mitchell plays Henry the VIII spectacularly as he gradually ages from a lean eighteen year old that is full of life into a bloated self-indulgent old man who still has the passions he had a teen, but with a body that does not cooperate. Turns out kings like commoners cannot escape from the ravages of old age. If you enjoy this series, you might want to consider watching "Elizabeth R", starring Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth I. Both of these series are excellent, but that is the one that people have remembered over the years, plus it won an Emmy for Best Drama.

didi-5 This series - and can you imagine the BBC financing and supporting a nine-hour historical drama series these days? - focuses on one of the six wives each episode, an interesting approach which comes off better in some instalments than others. Still, what is here is excellent - and far better than the ridiculously truncated film which followed a few years later.Keith Michell as Henry. What more can I add to the praise which has already been put forward? He is excellent in every episode; we see Henry as a complex character who at times can cause us to sympathise with his predicament. The writing of this series is tight and believable, and the supporting characters are solid. This always helps move a series along when many supporting players are there throughout. Of particular note are Patrick Troughton as Norfolk, Bernard Hepton as Cranmer, and Sheila Burrell as Lady Rochford.Of the six wives, all are excellent in their own ways. Katherine of Aragon's story is rushed, but Annette Crosbie does her best and is both memorable and pathetic ... Dorothy Tutin as Anne Boleyn is more fiery but the trial scene is truly regal and gives a different perspective ... Anne Stallybrass as Jane Seymour is sweet, pious, and just a little bit cunning (and that episode, largely in flashback as Jane lies sick to death at her son's christening, is well done) ... Elvi Hale as Anne of Cleves is extremely convincing, and her episode is full of intrigue ... Catherine Howard, as played by Angela Pleasance, is all gloss and no substance, but you still feel for her as she goes headlong to her fate without recognition ... and Rosalie Crutchley as Katharine Parr is a dull old crow in black, widow of old men, who at first resents her lot and then comes to respect and love the sick king.This series really is remarkable. I would never get bored watching it - and eventually, it led to another top-class BBC drama, Elizabeth R, using some of the same cast and moving the story through the reigns of Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I herself.

dac87 Having been introduced to the absorbing history surrounding Henry VIII and his ill-fated spouses, I decided to try this 9 hour long mini series. THE SIX WIVEs OF HENRY VIII is actually quite entertaining despite its length. The movie its self is made up of six installments, each dealing with a wife. CATHERINE OF ARAGON: Boring and drawn out, I was not at all impressed by this film. The film follows Catherine through her first marriage to prince Arthur and the struggle she goes through to marry Henry after Arthur's death. After all she goes through, Catherine is forced into a divorce when Anne Boleyn shakes her tail at Henry. Finally, she dies a lonely, saddened old woman. Annette Crosbie plays a rather ludicrous Catherine, complete with phony cries of anguish when Henry divorces her. ANNE BOLEYN:I enjoyed this installment a great deal better than the first. Many knows the story of sexy Anne Boleyn who manages to catch King Henry's eye and persuades him into a divorce, only to be tried and beheaded when she fails to produce a son. Dorthy Tutin makes a rather sensual, but not very attractive Anne. We follow her from her life in the palace all the way up to her execution. The audience does not know how to perceive this queen, as she is a trollop, but also, very sympathetic and innocent of the crimes she is accused of committing.JANE SEYMOUR:While many praise this as the best movie out of the series, I found it to be very trying to sit through. Jane is the perfect wife for Henry, she even manages to produce a son, even though it costs her her life. While I agree it is refreshing to have some outdoor scenes in this film, Anne Stallybrass's insipid performance as "Plain Jane" is extremely dull. There is an overabundance of talk and a lack of action. I also found the symbolic dream sequences to be very out of place and utterly odd.ANNE OF CLEVES:I actually quite enjoyed this section, which is based on the relationship between Henry of England and Anne of Germany. Anne is a German princess whom is engaged to the "handsom and dashing" Henry VIII. She is disappointed to find that Henry is a fat, overbearing, old man; to hide the fact the the queen refuses to let him "touch" her, Henry claims that he is disgusted by her looks. This eventually brings about their divorce a few months later. Elvi Hale shines as the "ugly" princess who's personality would outshine all of Henry's previous wives. It is very relieving to have some comic relief in the series, and this segment provides it (especially the wedding night scene where Henry chases an unwilling Anne about the room).CATHERINE HOWARD:My personal favorite of the series. Catherine Howard tells the story of the beautiful, spoiled, promiscuous cousin of Anne Boleyn, who, with the help of her looks and wiles, becomes queen of England. One begins to hate Cate right from the start of the production; she is sly and mean spirited. After feigning virtue, she is married to Henry, only to break his heart later when her infidelity is proved. She and her lovers are sentenced to death and are beheaded. This installment is slightly similar to the fatal love affair between Lancelot and Guenevere; Angela Pleasence is splendid as the bratty Catherine, perhaps the most extraordinary thing about her performance is the change that she shows. At the beginning, she is childish and cruel, and towards the end, right before her execution, she shows great maturity.CATHERINE PARR:I have little to say about this film as I could barely keep awake during it. I found it to be the worst of the films and it seems to me that it left a lot of loose ends

Fong-4 Those with a knowledge of the era will appreciate the care taken in bringing it to the screen, minor bloopers not withstanding. Expect something in the technical range of a soap opera; but the writing and acting are generally underrated. In particular, it is very hard to see how Keith Michell, or anyone, for that matter, could 'over-act' in portraying Henry VIII.