Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)

7.4M/PG145 minDirector: Charles Jarrott

1969 British film by Charles Jarrott

Anne of the Thousand Days is a 1969 British historical drama film based on the life of Anne Boleyn, directed by Charles Jarrott and produced by Hal B. Wallis. The screenplay by Bridget Boland and John Hale is an adaptation of the 1948 play of the same name by Maxwell Anderson.

The film stars Richard Burton as King Henry VIII and Geneviève Bujold as Anne Boleyn. Irene Papas plays Catherine of Aragon, Anthony Quayle plays Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, and John Colicos plays Thomas Cromwell. Others in the cast include Michael Hordern, Katherine Blake, Peter Jeffrey, Joseph O'Conor, William Squire, Vernon Dobtcheff, Denis Quilley, Esmond Knight, and T. P. McKenna, who later played Henry VIII in Monarch. Burton's wife Elizabeth Taylor makes a brief, uncredited appearance.

Despite receiving some negative reviews and mixed reviews from The New York Times and Pauline Kael, the film was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and won the award for best costumes. Geneviève Bujold's portrayal of Anne, her first role in an English language film, was very highly praised, even by Time magazine, which otherwise skewered the movie. According to the Academy Awards exposé Inside Oscar, an expensive advertising campaign was mounted by Universal Studios that included serving champagne and filet mignon to members of the academy following each screening.

Plot summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

FAQ

What is Anne of the Thousand Days about?
Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) — King Henry VIII (Richard Burton) of England discards one wife, Catharine of Aragon (Irene Papas), who has failed to produce a male heir, in favor of a young and beautiful woman, Anne Boleyn (Geneviève Bujold), whose one-thousand-day reign as Queen of England ends with the loss of
Is Anne of the Thousand Days based on a true story?
See the production background and source material details on the official Wikipedia article.
Is Anne of the Thousand Days scary?
Content rating: M/PG. See the reviews tab for parental guidance and tone notes.
What is Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) about? Plot, synopsis and ending explained — Screencodex