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A Man for All Seasons

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Paul Scofield

Wendy Hiller

Leo McKern

Robert Shaw

Orson Welles

Susannah York

Nigel Davenport

John Hurt

Corin Redgrave

Colin Blakely

Cyril Luckham

Jack Gwillim

Thomas Heathcote

Yootha Joyce

Anthony Nicholls

John Nettleton

Eira Heath

Molly Urquhart

Paul Hardwick

Michael Latimer

Philip Brack

Martin Boddey

Eric Mason

Matt Zimmerman

Vanessa Redgrave

Fiona Hartford

Gay Hamilton

Gina Warwick

Julie Martin

Raymond Adamson

Arnold Ridley

Nick Tate

David Collings

Fred Zinnemann

Robert Bolt

William N. Graf

Georges Delerue

Ted Moore

Ralph Kemplen

Robert Lennard

Terence Marsh

John Box

Joan Bridge

Elizabeth Haffenden

Michael Walter

William Kirby

Patrick Carey

Peter Bolton

Patrick McLoughlin

Connie Willis

Bob Kindred

Roy Walker

Josie MacAvin

Peter Dukelow

Buster Ambler

Bob Jones

Harry Miller

Marcel Durham

George Frost

Eric Allwright

Gordon Bond

Helene Bevan

Jackie Cummins

The agony of the moral high ground.

Fred Zinnemann directs and Robert Bolt adapts the screenplay from his own play. It stars Paul Scofield, Wendy Hiller, Leo McKern, Robert Shaw, Orson Welles, Susannah York, Nigel Davenport and John Hurt. Music is by Georges Delerue and cinematography by Ted Moore. Plot has Scofield as Sir Thomas More, the man who refused to cede to the mighty machinations of King Henry VIII (Shaw).

It's very much an actors movie, beautifully literate and costumed and photographed up to the nines. So not one for those more keen on the action orientated historical epic, then! The story is thriving on the anguish of Thomas More, who is torn between loyalty to his King and his own moral beliefs, the beliefs of his religion system and the potential damning of his soul. The political and religious machinations positively pulse throughout, vividly brought to life by a cast of great thespians (Scofield is as great as you have heard).

Great credit has to go to Zinneman, one of the deserved recipients of the 6 Oscars the film garnered. He never lets the cast run away with things, no chewing the scenery or smell the fart acting, he keeps them in check and they respond by providing an utterly fascinating and compelling historical saga. But most of all, with all the royal pomp on show, it's the intelligence of the writing that shines brightest. The dialogue via the sharp script throws cloaks of suspicion over everything being played out. Religion and politics, huh, it's for the birds. 

Top film making. 8/10

CinemaSerf

Paul Scofield is superb as the Lord Chancellor of England ultimately torn between his loyalty to his king and to his conscience. As Henry VIII (Robert Shaw) becomes more and more infatuated by Anne Boleyn (Vanessa Redgrave) he insists that all of his subjects acknowledge his absolute supremacy over the church. Most, fearful for their lives and property, acquiesce but Sir Thomas More (Scofield) cannot. The King has long relied on the honest counsel of his friend as so initially is content to allow him to retire, but soon those conspiring against More use everything at their disposal to bring him to ruin. Wendy Hiller sensitively portrays his stoic wife desperate to save her husband from the scaffold but cognisant of his overwhelming sense of right and wrong. Leo McKern also stands out as his scheming successor Thomas Cromwell and there is a cameo from Orson Welles as the clearly out-of-favour Cardinal Wolsey. Robert Bolt adapts his own stage play without compromising the genuine sentiment of his original work - fear, honesty, integrity and power - making this a thought-provoking watch from Fred Zinnemann.

A Man for All Seasons ≣ 1966 ≣ Trailer

A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS (New & Exclusive Masters of Cinema) Trailer

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Paul Scofield

Wendy Hiller

Leo McKern

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Orson Welles

Susannah York

Nigel Davenport

John Hurt

Corin Redgrave

Colin Blakely

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