BECKET (1964) C widescreen 148m dir: Peter Glenville

w/Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole, Donald Wolfit, John Gielgud, Martita Hunt, Pamela Brown, Sian Phillips, Paolo Stoppa, Gino Cervi, David Weston

From The Movie Guide: "This notable improvement over the stage-bound [Jean] Anouilh play recounts the story of two great friends turned unintentional foes, Becket (Richard Burton) and Henry II (Peter O'Toole). Becket is Henry's chancellor until consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury, almost in jest, by Henry. Becket takes the job seriously and defends the church from royal onslaught. The two men drift further apart as Becket goes deeper into his ecclesiastical role, and the king realizes that his former friend must be killed after the two men meet for an attempted reconciliation in a wonderful scene on horseback at a British beach.

"Ostensibly a story regarding the separation of church and state, Anouilh and [screenwriter Edward] Anhalt followed history closely and added their own undercurrent of homoerotic tension between the men, although this is so subtle that it was lost on many viewers. All technical credits are excellent and so are the performances. Many wonderful touches abound, including the scene wherein forks are introduced to the court. [Hal B.] Wallis, whose career spanned six decades (everything from LITTLE CAESAR, CASABLANCA, and GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL to various Elvis Presley films) established himself in the pantheon of producers with this film."

BECKET won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay (Anhalt). It was also nominated for Best Picture, Director, Actor (both Burton and O'Toole), Supporting Actor (Gielgud), Cinematography (Geoffrey Unsworth), Editing (Anne Coates), Score (Laurence Rosenthal), Art Direction (John Bryan, Maurice Carter, Patrick McLoughlin, Robert Cartwright), Costume Design (Margaret Furse), and Sound (John Cox).