ANNE OF THE THOUSAND DAYS (1969) C widescreen 145m dir: Charles Jarrott

w/Richard Burton, Genevieve Bujold, Irene Papas, Anthony Quayle, John Colicos, Michael Hordern, Katherine Blake, Peter Jeffrey, Joseph O'Conor, William Squire

From The Movie Guide: "A superbly acted costume drama, ANNE OF THE THOUSAND DAYS recounts the story of Henry VIII (Richard Burton), who, in 1526, discards his wife, Katherine of Aragon (Irene Papas), in favor of the younger, prettier Anne Boleyn (Genevieve Bujold), who soon proves to be as crafty and ruthless as her sovereign. Resisting Henry's incessant advances, insisting that any child born to them must be decreed legitimate, Anne plays her cat-and-mouse games for six years, while Cardinal Wolsey (Quayle) collapses into ineffectual senility when he fails to have Anne's marriage to another annulled. ...

"Based on the 1948 Maxwell Anderson play (a star vehicle for Rex Harrison on Broadway), ANNE OF THE THOUSAND DAYS has a touch of soap opera which helps explain its then-substantial gross of $7 million. But it also boasts handsome sets and lavish photography, an arresting performance by Burton --- the epitome of the royal fox and oaf --- and well-judged work from Bujold, Papas, and Quayle, all of which make for a rousing, bawdy, and often enlightening historical film. A successful entry in a series of such features made during the 60s, including BECKET (also produced by [Hal B.] Wallis), A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, and THE LION IN WINTER, the film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture but lost to John Schlesinger's gritty, contemporary MIDNIGHT COWBOY."

ANNE OF THE THOUSAND DAYS won an Oscar for Best Costume Design (Margaret Furse). Besides its Best Picture nomination, the film was also nominated for Best Actor (Burton), Actress (Bujold), Supporting Actor (Quayle), Adapted Screenplay (John Hale, Bridgit Boland, Richard Sokolov), Cinematography (Arthur Ibbetson), Score (Georges Delerue), Art Direction (Maurice Carter, Lionel Couch, Patrick McLoughlin), and Sound (John Alfred).