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20/08/1968 Drama, History 2h 14m
74
User score

What family doesn't have its ups and downs?

Overview

Christmas 1183, Angevin Empire: King Henry II plans to announce his successor to the throne. Jockeying for the crown, though, is complex. Henry has three sons and wants his boy Prince John to take over. Henry's wife, Queen Eleanor, believes their son Prince Richard should be king. As family and various schemers gather for the holiday, each tries to make the indecisive king choose their option.

  1. Anthony Harvey

    Director

Top billed cast

  1. Peter O'Toole

    Henry II

  2. Katharine Hepburn

    Eleanor of Aquitaine

  3. Anthony Hopkins

    Richard

  4. John Castle

    Geoffrey

  5. Nigel Terry

    John

  6. Timothy Dalton

    Philip II

  7. Jane Merrow

    Alais

  8. Nigel Stock

    William Marshall

  9. O.Z. Whitehead

    Bishop of Durham

  10. View more

Full Cast & Crew

Reviews

A review by CinemaSerf
Written by CinemaSerf on 2022-06-21
Katherine Hepburn is simply superb in this depiction of the truly dysfunctional relationship between Eleanor of Aquitaine, the estranged queen of England's King Henry II and her spouse. Peter O'Toole reprises his characterisation from "Becket" (1964), and together they spar and spat with aplomb. Aided by a wonderful screenplay from James Goldman that is full of sarcasm, pith and some wonderfully effective (and brutal) put-downs, we play through this most bizarre of family dynamics. It all centres around a Christmas court for which the Queen is released from her Salisbury house arrest to join t...read the rest
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Status
Released

Original Language
English

Budget
$4,000,000.00

Revenue
$22,300,000.00

Keywords